Copyright Protection and Why

I've been getting a few comments lately about my use of a copyright mark on my photos; some asking how I do it, and some asking why, or just outright expressing displeasure at having to look at it. I guess the time has come to discuss the subject of copyright protection and why I use it.

As I've mentioned here before, I used to work as a professional portrait photographer. The only reason I am not still working in a studio is proximity to the general population (or lack of it in my case) since I moved to the Pacific Northwest. That said, once a pro, aways a pro. My photography was my livelihood, and lack of respect for copyright was an issue we dealt with regularly. Try making a living selling your photographic works, only to find that a client who purchased a single $20 picture now thinks he/she has the right to scan it and make as many copies as desired to pass out to family and friends. Post that same photo online, and the problem reaches astronomic proportions. Copyright theft is rampant on the web. Do a Google image search and hundreds of images are there, seemingly for the taking, mine as well as many other pros included, but how many people actually stop to think before uploading or linking to an image found in a web search or on someone's blog that it might be stealing to do so? (There is a right and a wrong way to link to photos found on the web.) Many people have attempted to protect their work by placing their signature, or a small copyright mark in the corner, but that only protects your work from theft by the most honest of people. Many photos get lifted, copyright and all (a big problem on places such as ebay), and the less scrupulous retouch them out, and present the work as their own to greeting card companies, stock agencies, or just to use them on their websites.

I use a fairly intrusive mark as the most aggressive measure of protection I can without totally defacing the photograph. It is my only assurance that I am reasonably protected against theft of my work. Shown below is a typical watermark at a level of opacity that still allows the picture to be enjoyed.


Now, for anyone who thinks that this photo is ruined and that my watermark is interfering with the enjoyment of it, I give you the other option:

I appreciate the fact that people like to look at pretty pictures and not have the first thing they see be the copyright mark, and I do try very hard to respect that to the degree that is reasonable. I would imagine that there will always be those who just don't "get it" and will continue to express their dislike of copyright marks such as mine, and that's just fine, but you won't be finding any apologies here. On the occasional snapshot I post I usually don't bother with it, but for the most part, it's here to stay.

In the not too distant future, I will be offering prints of my work for sale. As may be expected with professionally taken pictures, they will be copyrighted; not intrusively as posted here for the masses to enjoy, but unobtrusively, with taste and respect for the art.