ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Copyright Your Photographs The Easy Way

Updated on December 10, 2015
LuisEGonzalez profile image

I enjoy photography and have been doing so professionally and independently for over 30 years.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/ | Source

There are several ways to protect your photographs from being used without your permission. Although this really applies to their use in a commercial venue and not really when used for personal reason, there are a few simple things that you can do to add an extra level of protection to your images especially if they are of your best work and can have a sale value.

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use. Wikipedia

Copyright does not solely apply to images. It also applies to books, writings, and even to unpublished images if you value them.

Keep in mind that the protection usually entails preventing the use of your property for distribution where someone else besides you can stand to make money from their use.

If they are to be used to make a point, show a technique, teach or illustrate, even critique, the Fair Use Doctrine may offer some leeway to whomever uses your images.

Source

Although your work is mostly protected under copyright the moment you post it on a web site , your blog or in any print medium it is wise to add the copyright symbol and some wording declaring what you allow and what you do not. This serves as an added level of protection which may be prove useful in the event that you have to take legal action against anyone using your image improperly.

However the best way to protect your work is by registering it with a government agency that handles this type of action. This is great should you wish to receive compensation from anyone using you work without your permission. Keep in mind that even in these cases you will still have to wait until the user of your work proves that their use of your work falls under some type of protected use like Fair Use.

Start by contacting the U.S. Copyright Office. This takes three steps; The first is to file an application. The second is to pay a fee and the third is to submit copies of the work that you want protection for. Copyright for visual arts may be sent to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office- VA
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20559-6000.

In the event that you find it necessary to sue for damages you can expect to receive amounts starting at about $2,500 to up to $25,000 if your legal action proves successful.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en | Source

Another very method to keep your images safe is to add a watermark. Not the best way to display your images but good enough to make them not attractive to "steal".

Make sure that the watermark is not too obtrusive and affects the way that the image is viewed and appreciated by potential clients.

Here is a good site that shows you how to create a watermark in Photoshop: http://digital-photography-school.com/create-your-own-watermark-using-a-custom-shape-in-photoshop/

Some other really effective methods to keep your work from being used without your knowledge and permission are to disabling the right-click option which prevents users from quickly saving the image on a computer.

Instead of the “save as” option opening what anyone trying to save a copy of the image will see is a notice stating that the photo is protected by copyright.

The second way is to use a hidden foreground layer. To do this you place your photo on a blank foreground image and whenever someone right clicks to save it, they will download the blank image instead.

There is also a third method but it is rather complicated and time consuming so it is worth it not to even mention plus you really need to be handy with Photoshop or any other similar editing program.

You may get more information as well as exploring other methods to twart the use of your images by going to the following link: http://photosecrets.com/thwart

Found this helpful?

See results

If you are unsure if any of your images are being used you can do a search quite easily by using any of the several system that are currently available. One of the best is http://www.tineye.com/. It is a free service and counts with a large data base.

One more key factor to keep in mind is that Copyright is a legal right given for a fixed period of time. In the United States work created from January 1978 and after is protected the moment it is copyright register during the life of the author and 70 years after the death of the creator.

Remember that when the copyright expires the work becomes part of public domain and it is free to use for any purpose whatsoever.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ | Source

Nothing will keep a well versed individual from using your work without your permission if they want to do so strongly enough but by taking some added precautions you can at least minimize the chances that your photographs will be used rampantly without regards to ownership.

Since most of today's advertising and business takes place in the Net, you need at least some level of protection before posting your most valuable images for the world to see.

© 2015 Luis E Gonzalez

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)