Protecting my collection...

[D_Dutch]

Hello,

I hope that there is some understanding here for the following problem.
Today, I got shocked while I was doing some research on the internet.
My photo albums of Oberleutnant zur See Günter Werner Schmidt are being used by someone who claims to have bought these from a Dutch collector. They are on a Russian website and I do not know who has the nerve to just use items from someone else his collection.
According to a fellow member of this forum I discovered that photo’s from the same albums are being sold on various internet auction site’s. To warn everybody who reads this, these photo’s are fakes, I shall never, NEVER sell those two photo albums. I already knew that my photo’s were being used by other people without permission, but now whole photo albums are being used, and the person who put them on the site even claims to own them!
Another example, I am in the possession of a rare, privately made portrait of Arthur Kullmer, Coincidentally I saw that the exact same photo was placed on Wikipedia, again, without my permission. I tried to complain about this, but in the reply I received the person told me that this photo was free to be used because of it’s age.
What the h*ll is wrong with these kind of people, pretending to even OWN my stuff, not even asking any kind of permission!?
What can I do about this? Would it be better to stop uploading photo’s?

To see it with your own eyes:

Photo albums of G. W. Schmidt

http://sammler.ru/index.php?showtopic=60781&st=20

Photo of Arthur Kullmer

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...Bockenheim.jpg


With kind regards,

Koen.

[D_Dutch]

the most simple and effective way is to just put a "watermark" on it with an image editor program, whenever you post pictures online.

you can always send un watermarked ones if you really want to by email to people you trust.

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.
Lately I have been using watermarks, but in the past I have not done this since I didn't know how to do that, and sadly enough it were exactly those photo's that are now being used by others.

[Akira Takiguchi]

Unfortunately your complaint is inherent and irresolvable in 99.99% of photo collecting. Ownership doesn't give you copyright; deletion request based on the right of ownership is legally meaningless. Never, ever put your stuff on public (or even to friends) if you want keep it yours. Then again, you will learn that not a few copies of good photos are around.

[panzer1432]

Album

Hey, Really nice, great pics

[J Hardy]

Here's easy to follow instructions if you have Photoshop CS4 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqb1z6cxVRc

[PzV]

Koen, this has happened to me also and someone was even selling prints of my photos (which were shown here on the forum!) on Ebay!!

Needless to say, I now scan in a lower resolution and use watermarks for all photos shown. It is a shame to have to do this but necessary.

Jim

[Gran Sasso]

Ownership doesn't give you copyright;

Dont know about other states / countries, but in germany you have the copyright if you are the owner.

[PBR]

Just crop big chunks of the photo in the central area, and scumbags won't be able to reproduce them: watermarks are useless and easy to clean out.
It happened to me, and there's nothing you can do, except beat the brain out of the thief: the problem is that even well known authors do this, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

I personally don't post pictures from my archive anymore.

Gran Sasso, once published on the net the picture is actually not covered by copyright. There's no way to prove that your copy of the picture is the only one existing in the world.

[Gran Sasso]

Gran Sasso, once published on the net the picture is actually not covered by copyright. There's no way to prove that your copy of the picture is the only one existing in the world.

Thats right - I meant you have the copyright if your foto is not posted on the net.

Also I do the same as you when postings pics, its the only way, to "cut" areas out - watermarks are to easy to remove. When parts of the foto are missing, its a lot harder for the fakers.

[PBR]

Thats right - I meant you have the copyright if your foto is not posted on the net.

Also I do the same as you when postings pics, its the only way, to "cut" areas out - watermarks are to easy to remove. When parts of the foto are missing, its a lot harder for the fakers.

I agree, the only way is crop chunks or don't post anymore.

[Kuifje69]

Dear Koen,

I have the same "problem", pics from my collection are even used by Peter v Lucas (The document of Jurgen Wagner) and I do not care.

I did not protect them if people are happy with them.

It is matter of civilisation to ask before.

Best regards,

Rene

[PBR]

Rene,

I kindly disgree.
Why should I spend several hundreds euros for some ultra rare pictures just to see them published by such kind of sc authors without any permission given\requested?
This is not a matter of civilisation, is a matter of money.

[Akira Takiguchi]

I think you are talking about something other than copyright as the legal term.

Under German copyright law, the copyright itself may not be transferred (*), or has it changed since 1999? Of course a lot have changed though.

On the other hand, we are possibly infringing moral rights of the photographer by adding watermarks or cropping the photographs.

But from the practical point of view, watermarks have been widely used on the net and I don't have any objection against it.

* Copyright and Photographs An International Survey, London 1999 pp.152-

Dont know about other states / countries, but in germany you have the copyright if you are the owner.

[Simon O.]

A print is just a copy itself. you cant own the copyright to an image by simply owning a copy of that image.

In addition to the advice on wartermarking and cropping i'd also advise not posting images in high resolution. ie. so that good quality print copies could be made.

[PBR]

Akira,

I think that for an unmarked\unsigned picture you can claim the right of copy\publishing for it, as far as you did not put it on the net: in this case you can ask the publisher of the pictures to prove in some way (f.i. showing the original copy in his possession) that he actually own such a picture.
Even today, press pictures are bought from paparazzi by press agencies, and they became property of the agency, so copyrighted to them.

In some countries in Europe, copyright is not valid for images posted on the net.