Image Author Signature NOT Allowed?

1. 82

   Mark Ewbieposted 11 years ago

   Bizarrely in some ways - I can 'watermark', OK...sign,  my drawings.  So what really is the difference?
   
   
   
   

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   1. 59

      Mark Knowlesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Nothing. Let's hope no one is watching this thread and spots the loophole.

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   2. 84

      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Probably that no one has flagged your hubs.

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2. 78

   derek gulbransonposted 11 years ago

   The main reason we don't allow watermarks on images is because the majority of the time a watermark means that you do not have the right to use that image. We would rather use our valuable and limited moderation resources to focus on text content, rather than trying to track down wether you legally can use the watermarked image.
   
   There's definitely a case to be made for using our or your own watermark. Though, with HubPages it's somewhat confusing. Since you own the images, not us, it's incorrect to put our watermark on them. Also putting the Hubber's watermark on them would prevent some new photo sharing features we'd eventually like to develop.
   
   If you plan to generate revenue by selling your images on a stock photo site or otherwise montetize your imagery using the same low resolutions that are served on your Hub, then you are probably best not publishing that imagery on the web, anywhere. Once it's on the web, people are really on their honor to use it as you specify in your license. (The only real remedy for copyright violation is litigation, and that's generally prohibitively expensive unless you are a stock photo agency or the Creative Commons Foundation. The only way to make 100% sure it's never used is to never publish it.) You can also file a DMCA complaint.
   
   If you do not plan to sell your imagery, then allowing others to use your imagery freely would likely bring more traffic to those Hubs. Including a watermark would limit that.
   
   Please feel free to voice your opinions on this. If someone has a really good reason why we should allow some kind of watermarks we might consider it.

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      Millionaire Tipsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Even with a photo sharing site, especially with the proposed HubPages photo sharing feature, I would prefer to be able to watermark my photos to make sure that they are not shared. My hubber name is fine to make it easy to check.  I would prefer not to have all of my photos available for sharing.  If I go through the trouble of taking a photograph to showcase on my hub and profile page, I want it to be unique to my hub.  I would make photos available for sharing, but I would prefer to choose which ones I am willing to share and which ones I am not. A watermark makes it easy for you to see where I stand on the issue.

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   2. 84

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I understand why HubPages does not allow watermarked images, and changing that would only encourage illegal use of photos even more.   If a change is made, it must not create extra work for the moderators.
      
      How about allowing a watermark provided it exactly matches the Hubber's user name?  That would be easy and quick to check.
      
      I'm concerned about the proposed photo sharing feature because I do not put the source of my photos in the photo capsule.  If one of my photos is shared, the attribution won't be.

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