George Zimbel | Multimedia > A Freelance Photographer vs The New York Times:
'via Blog this'
I'm sure, after you read this article, you will be as outraged as I am. The New York Times management should be ashamed of their actions. Instead, they admit no wrong-doing and instead, defend their illegal actions.
Mr. Zimbel, a freelance photographer, had to fight the Times' legal counsel to retain ownership of an image that is clearly his.
Artists, we need to remember that when we sell our images for 'one time use' a follow-up is necessary to make it clear that the image belongs to us, and not to those who bought usage rights.
In this information age, the image ownership waters become murkier and murkier as copyrighted images are passed around and republished, often without the owners' consent. Think about social networking sites, image and art sharing sites, online magazines, slide shows, Google images, and more. Once an image is 'out there' it is practically impossible to get it back, so we need to make sure that we register our art with the copyright office, provide legal, binding contracts for those we do business with, keep tabs on where our images are used, and make sure we take every precaution possible to avoid losing our images to public domain.
Did you know that you can put your copyright information into the Exif data in a digital image? Some cameras allow you to set up copyright information in the camera so every time you click the shutter your images automatically have your copyright embedded in the data, and you don't have to do anything afterward to adjust the Exif data. If in-camera copyright isn't available you will need to do it after capture, and that works too, albeit much more slowly when it is necessary to adjust each image individually.
www.plagerismtoday.com has a great list of things you can do and tools to use in protecting your images including managing Exif data and watermarking images you plan to upload to the internet.
One caveat for Exif data...some websites like Flickr and Facebook strip the Exif data when images are uploaded to their sites, so watermarking your images might be your only protection in those cases, unless you've already registered your images with the U.S. Copyright office. Still, taking that extra step to watermark your images before uploading them to the internet could save you lots of time (money!) and legal hassles later.
I know, it's so much to think about; and if you're running a business like I am, it's difficult to find time for everything that needs to be done in addition to creating the beautiful art/photography that I started the business for in the first place. BUT, once you've added Copyright Exif data and watermarking to your workflow for uploaded images, it's not that difficult.
I also use a websizing step to make online copies harder to use because the quality isn't as good as full sized images. Prints from websized digital files will look grainy and somewhat blurry from the reduction in file size, encouraging people who really want the excellent quality images I'm known for, to purchase prints or full sized files from me directly.
It's how I earn a living, and how I preserve my reputation as a high-quality photographer.
I make no excuses and feel no shame about protecting my rights, and neither should you.
