Copying, image theft, copyright and the sort of ugliness that goes with it

 

I’ve written, re-written, chopped and changed this blog post several times, and there’s really no nice way of saying what I need to say.  Those of you who read my blog know that I am in general, a really happy person, and I don’t get dragged down by negativity or nasty things.  Things might bug me, but it’s my theory that you don’t need to hear about it, that’s not why you’re here reading my blog.  You’ve probably got enough of your own stuff going on in your life and reading blogs is a way of escaping!

But recent happenings have meant that I can no longer stay silent about an issue that for several years, I’ve dealt with on and off in some way or other.

It’s not pretty, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops, hearts and roses, holding hands and singing kumbaya.  Please bear with me as I write what I know is going to be the longest, but probably the most important, post I’ve written on my blog since I started blogging, back in 2007.  But know that it is from my heart, and with sadness that it is even necessary to do so. 

Ok, now you can go put the kettle on, make a cup of tea or coffee or whatever tickles your fancy, and come back when you’re ready because I’m going to tell a story, show you some examples that will surprise you, give you some resources and links, and correct some misinformation that is “out there”.

 

I was going to write a whole lot about this in particular, but I believe these next two images speak volumes. 

What I will say is that when I see things like this, I cannot sit and watch and just let that be.  It confuses me as to why talented people with obvious artistic ability feel the need to duplicate someone else’s design and pass it off as their own?

Recently, a very well known public figure in the design world had one of her products copied and sold by someone.  The way the story got so twisted that the copier and her many friends painted the copier as the victim, made me feel so sad for the designer.  It seems that when caught out, the copiers play victim.  And people fall for it.  It’s just plain wrong.

 

Another example.  I posted this photo shown below, on my blog in 2009 (last photo in that post).  Then a friend of mine happened upon something online, only….my watermark was cropped out…and someone was offering MY designs from MY photo… FOR SALE!  Interesting!

Oh, yeah, I kept a screenshot of it, and you can see where the N and the B from my name just show and weren’t cropped out properly.  I drew some pink arrows for you.

 

Also doing the rounds of the internet are images on tons of Facebook pages, Pinterest, and wherever else, without the links or credits. 

A few years ago there were lots of problems with sites like Polyvore where I found literally hundreds of my images alongside thousands and thousands from other people out there, where people created inspirational pinboards or moodboards. Thankfully, after a while things changed there, and now anything that gets pasted on a board has a link. Cool! That’s how it should be!

Posting someone else’s image without their permission is a breach of intellectual property. Did you know this is against copyright law, internationally? Did you know that copyright is implied as soon as art is created?  Did you know that photos people took that they then post belong to them, and you can’t take them without consent?  OR at the very least, you should credit them? 

I have several places where I state this on my sites. I’ll give you some more little pink drawn arrows.

Here on my blog, right sidebar…..

 

On my website at the bottom of every page you visit on my site

 

Also, on my website, in the policies section, I spell it out again

 

And on my Flickr photos I have 99.9% of them set to Copyright All Rights Reserved, as you can see here on my snowman print

 

Just FYI, the 0.1% where I have not marked it All Rights Reserved was for this image, where, in the description I wrote “sharing this for you to use in your paper crafts”.  But that’s about the only time I’ve ever marked anything “some rights reserved”. 

 

So, back to the whole posting pictures without crediting/linking. I’ll let you in on a little secret.  If you have snagged one of my photos, added it to your blog/site/Facebook page, and written in the description a link to my site/my Facebook biz page/my blog/or even just my name, and did so without asking ~ I’m probably going to comment under it, “Thank you!” or “So glad you like it!”.  Yes, it IS flattering when someone likes your work enough to share it with their audience!!!  But it’s only flattering when the person whose work it is or whose photo it is, is credited!

Allow me to give you some examples of some misinformation out there.  Here are some examples of the ignorant comments I’ve seen, that I need to answer, and correct.  And I don’t use the word “ignorant” to insult the people who might have written comments along these lines. I mean to use it in the context of “unaware because of a lack of relevant information or knowledge” (definition source)

 

“If you don’t want your image shared, don’t put it out there in the first place”

There are five things I want to say to comments like this one. 

1. It’s my image.  Not yours, not theirs, not hers, not his, not my next door neighbour’s.

2. The image is “out there” in the first place because it is on a website, an online shop.  Online.  I sell stuff from these images.  It’s my business, my bread and butter, as well as being something I love doing.  How am I supposed to sell a print of a snowman painting, without posting a photo of it?

3. Saying this to justify someone taking MY image is the equivalent of you walking into a clothes shop with a pretty window, stealing the dress you like, and when you get caught, telling the police that the shop shouldn’t have put the dress in their window display if they didn’t want people to take it.  It was ASKING to be stolen.   Stealing something that belongs to someone else, even something as simple as an image online, is the same as stealing a product!

4. I do want my images “SHARED”.  Please DO hit the share button on Facebook on my business page photos! It credits me as the photo owner!  Everyone loves their photos being shared the right way!

5. Again, it’s MY image. Always will be. It’s not anyone else’s to take.  No matter how much someone likes it!  No matter how much someone thinks it will “inspire” their Facebook fans.  Like I said in 4. above, sharing the right way, is cool.

“The internet is free”

No, it’s not.  It’s not a free for all, where images, paragraphs of text and designs can be pilfered and plundered.  My screenshots, where I showed the circled areas of my sites where I talk about using my images, show how the internet is not free.  Also, see the “shopping for a pretty dress” example in 3. above.  The internet can be a great resource for everyone when used correctly.

If the photos were not taken by you, or not paid for by you for the rights, or permission not given to you by the person who took the photos, you actually do not have any legal right to upload those photos! Saving a photo to your hard drive for your own inspiration is something that cannot be stopped or monitored, and I doubt there’s a person out there who would really be upset that their photos are inspiring to people.  Downloading the image, saving to a hard drive, then uploading to a page/site, and not linking does not credit the owner of the photo/owner of the intellectual property/copyright owner.  It is stealing someone else’s intellectual property, and that it is illegal.

“I have lots of photos & I don’t know who they belong to now, to credit or link”

This one is simple. If you don’t have the link/credit or know whose photo it is, don’t post it on your site.  As much as you love it and want to, you don’t have permission to do so.  Think of it like an item in a shop, that hasn’t got a price on it.  Just because it doesn’t have a price on it, doesn’t mean it is free.  Maybe it is free, but you cannot presume it is.  You’d go ask the shop assistant how much something was, wouldn’t you?  If you can’t find the shop assistant, then you can’t buy the item.  You wouldn’t just walk out with it, because that’s stealing.  Just like if you can’t find the photo owner, you can’t link/credit therefore you can’t post their image.

(A little hint if you are someone who saves images to your hard drive ~ when you name the image file, save it as the URL where you got it from, or the name of the website! Easy! You’ll know later on when you need to know who owns it!)

 

And for those who have criticised me or others like me with insults like

“Some people have too much time on their hands”

Protecting my rights, my art, my brand, is not having too much time on my hands.  It’s a damn inconvenience and a huge time waster, and I wish there wasn’t a reason for me to have to trawl through thousands of photos, and end up finding a bunch of my own.  In fact, I’d just love to send through an invoice for my time, charging an hourly rate, for the time spent looking through a whole lot of everyone else’s photos. Maybe that would work?

 

And one last thing on this subject ~ if you’ve taken someone’s image and they find out and ask you to add their link/credit to the description of their photo that you posted, either do that, or take down the picture.  I’m amazed at the behaviour of some people in this instance.

 

……………………………………………………

 

So now I’d like to make a few suggestions and give you some links to further reading and some handy references.

 

Watermark images in a position where it is obvious.  I have a love-hate relationship with watermarking.  I want my photo to be seen as it is meant to be seen, without distractions.  However, this is the only way to credit yourself with the image you’re posting.  I’m sure there are loads more sites than the ones I have seen with my images on them uncredited.  Of this I am certain!  I can’t find them all, and never will.  So if someone else doesn’t credit you for your property, then you should get in there and do it first.

After my recent findings of images online, I had Heather Bluhm, of Bluhm Studios, design a beautiful watermark for me {she’s also the designer who did my website graphics and business cards}.  Heather is amazing and fast, and she’s offering half price watermarks to my friends, so tell her I sent you!

(my new watermark shown below)

 

If you’re on your smartphone a lot, posting photos directly from it, get an app called InstaFrame. It adds text to your images and it’s free (with ads) or 99 cents for the full version (probably cheaper outside Australia!). It will upload to social media and also save to your phone photo album.

 

Pinterest has a great little “Pin It” button that you can install, and when you’re on a site you can pin directly to Pinterest from it. It automatically links for you, saving you the job of copying and pasting URLs, and therefore, linking/crediting correctly.

 

(image credit)

 

Inspiring, informative and interesting reading on the subject by other artists

• http://decodivadebi.blogspot.com/2012/06/be-original.html

 

• http://velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/andreasingarella/2008/07/being-authentic.html

 

• http://shabbyfufu.blogspot.com/2008/11/with-dignity-and-grace.html

 

• http://jpd.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/11/copy-cat-dirty-rat.html

 

• http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-and-is-not-okay.html

 

• http://www.droozdoodles.com/2008/11/why-why-why.html

 

• http://identityseven.typepad.com/themessynest/2009/11/find-your-own-muse-please-mine-is-already-taken.html

 

Some Helpful Resources

Creative Commons Copyright Licences – click here for great info on each license

World Intellectual Property Organization - http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp

Copyright Artists Rights Group on Linkdin - http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CopyRights-Artists-Rights-3781193/about

Deb Kennedy’s blog on her right bottom sidebar has a WEALTH of information and links that are worth spending a few hours reading!

10 big myths about copyright explained is essential reading!

 

(image credit)

 

Thank you for reading this. I hope it has been helpful.  This blog will go back to regular pretty things next time!

I will end on this most apt quote from ShabbyFufu’s image above,

“Integrity is what you do when no one is looking….

Or you think that no one is looking”

 

Until next time,

Natasha xx