If you place any images on the internet, including portfolio sites, blogs, Facebook, websites etc, do you watermark them? If not, pop onto Pinterest and search 'illustration'..... there are thousands of images on there, most of which are not watermarked.
How difficult is it for someone to use an illustration from Pinterest or any other site for a website header, Facebook meme (you know those sweet little 'have a nice day' pictures people post up with a load of inspiring or humorous text), or to use the image for some sort of online advert / promotion...... I'll tell you how difficult it is.... a big fat zero in the score of difficult.
What are the chances you know where your illustrations are being used? A very slim chance unless you are constantly doing a reverse image search.
Artists, illustrators, designers and photographers are finding their images on sites including Pinterest, available for free sharing and ultimately ending up as free advertising for businesses. In some cases people are stripping the metadata, cropping away watermarks, erasing signatures etc, just to make it look like the images on their site or advert are legitimately licensed and paid for.
Most portfolio sites offer the option for 'pinning' (adding the image to someone's Pinterest pages... online scrapbooking type idea). What happens when you remove that image from the portfolio site? The image stays on Pinterest without the 'source' website showing your illustration.... ripe for becoming an 'orphan work' if someone chooses to remove your metadata, especially if you don't have a watermark ACROSS the image.
If you are concerned about the prospect of your work ending up an 'orphan work', watermark ALL images you put on the internet. Don't think that putting low resolution images will stop your work being used without your permission.... Consider this, how big a resolution do people need for a meme on Facebook? How big a resolution do people need for a website banner, background or advert?
Yes, having your work on Facebook, Pinterest, Blogs etc DOES get you exposure if you're a commercial artist, illustrator, photographer, designer etc...... but only if YOUR name is still attached to YOUR images.
If you think this only applies to commercial artists and photographers, think again. How would you feel if your photos were used for a political party with whom you had no affiliation? Or for a type of business that you didn't like because of their particular business ethics? Don't you think you deserve to know when your photos are being used by someone for profit, advertising or promotion? If so, watermark them... it's not hard and there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube!
Showing posts with label copyright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copyright. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Thursday, 27 June 2013
June Cross Stitch News
Two exciting bits of news this month!
Firstly Bothy Threads have licensed two Pepper and Friends designs for their counted cross stitch kits. Pepper the playful puppy was first licensed for paper-craft in 2010 and I'm thrilled to see the little cutey in stitch now!
I will be running a competition on my Facebook page next month to win a kit, so please remember to follow me HERE!
Secondly, the lovely team at World Of Cross Stitching turned one of my Riverbank Revels illustrations into a cross design. The mouse caravan is in issue number 205 and looks fabulous as a stitched design!
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Do you place images on the internet?
Everyone should watermark all images they place on the internet.... professionals and non-pros :) If your images cannot be traced back to you, they can become an 'orphan work' which means no known owner. In the future, orphan works MAY be used by a company for an advert etc. (even low res images on the net can be used!!) It's possible it might be used for an advert (eg a political party / arms manufacturer etc) and you totally disagree with the morals of that campaign!
Also make sure you resize images so they are 72dpi (I tend to make the largest side 7 inches max) and save files with your name in the files name (eg Helz Cuppleditch Zoo 2013). This file data is stripped and replaced when you place an image on Facebook, so all the more reason to add a watermark.
To keep up to date with the news about the UK Government's Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act, visit the Association of Illustrators campaigning page on a regular basis.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Copyright and the Internet
Some people seem to think that the internet is a free source of images, which allows them to profit from.
I've recently found 1000's of images are being copied onto CDs, as printable materials for crafting use, all for sale on Ebay.
This is an illegal form of copying, and it's called copyright infringement.
Having contacted a couple of the Ebay seller who are doing this, they appear to believe that the images are in the "public domain" (in the words of one seller who I contacted, the images are on the internet and in books) so are free for usage.
COPYRIGHT means the "right to copy" or reproduce work. People pay the creators for that right to reproduce work, and that's called a Copyright Licensing Agreement.
If you see CDs of images on Ebay, please ask the seller if these are licensed images and who the manufacturer is. If in doubt, please contact the designer who will be thrilled to know we are all looking out for one another. And report the item!
Art does not need to have the copyright symbol on it, for it to be copyright protected.... if you did not create it, then you don't own the rights to it.
Just because an image is found on the internet does not mean it's copyright free and in the public domain. It's never ok to use artwork without the creators permission... period.
If you think my artwork is being reproduced illegally, please let me know.
Please also remember the following:
Ask permission from the artists / designers when putting their work onto your blog, and credit them!
Make sure the images are small jpgs so they can't be easily copied.
Make sure the images have a watermarks / copyright information on them.... it all helps to protect images from being used without YOUR or my permission!
Thank you, Helz x
I've recently found 1000's of images are being copied onto CDs, as printable materials for crafting use, all for sale on Ebay.
This is an illegal form of copying, and it's called copyright infringement.
Having contacted a couple of the Ebay seller who are doing this, they appear to believe that the images are in the "public domain" (in the words of one seller who I contacted, the images are on the internet and in books) so are free for usage.
COPYRIGHT means the "right to copy" or reproduce work. People pay the creators for that right to reproduce work, and that's called a Copyright Licensing Agreement.
If you see CDs of images on Ebay, please ask the seller if these are licensed images and who the manufacturer is. If in doubt, please contact the designer who will be thrilled to know we are all looking out for one another. And report the item!
Art does not need to have the copyright symbol on it, for it to be copyright protected.... if you did not create it, then you don't own the rights to it.
Just because an image is found on the internet does not mean it's copyright free and in the public domain. It's never ok to use artwork without the creators permission... period.
If you think my artwork is being reproduced illegally, please let me know.
Please also remember the following:
Ask permission from the artists / designers when putting their work onto your blog, and credit them!
Make sure the images are small jpgs so they can't be easily copied.
Make sure the images have a watermarks / copyright information on them.... it all helps to protect images from being used without YOUR or my permission!
Thank you, Helz x
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