All artists and photographer need to act now. Please read this.

[StreetRacingOnline]

Please write your congressmen. We have to stop this bill from being made. Its already past the Senate.

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2008/09/...han-works-act/

What are 'Orphan Works'?

As described in a 2005 report that the Copyright Office prepared for Congress, an "orphan work" is a work (such as an image) that is protected by copyright but whose copyright owner cannot be identified and located. It is clear that such a situation harms both creators and users. However, the remedy that was proposed to the 2006 Congress was needlessly unfair to creators, leading ASMP and many other groups to seek changes when the bill was introduced.

ASMP lobbied the issue all year long, presenting our case to Congressional staffers, testifying before the House and Senate committees and, at one point, asking our members to fax letters to their elected representatives. ASMP also helped form a coalition of creator associations (including overseas groups) to press for amendments to the House and Senate bills.
The 2006 bills died in committee. But even then, it was clear that the issue would be raised anew in the next Congress. The forces in American culture that want easier access to copyrighted material have not been stopped, merely delayed.

for more info check out http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2008/09/...han-works-act/


***this means if someone wants to use your work, and they cant "find" you, the creator, they can just use it for free*** You lose your copyright.

[.:Chris:.]

None of your links work.

[StreetRacingOnline]

fixed

[.:Chris:.]

Maybe it's just me being cynical here, but isn't this all standard practice anyway?

Don't cmopanies generally end up using whatever images they want until you find it and send them a letter? At that point they can claim ignorance and then steal someone else image.

Any thoughts on this?

[spoolinspyder]

cant we just put our signature on it i mean where they cant take it off or something maybe be wrong dont feel like reading all of it lol

[btuner]

cant we just put our signature on it i mean where they cant take it off or something maybe be wrong dont feel like reading all of it lol

If you wanted to you could remove the signature from pretty much any picture.

[BoosTedEj25]

^Joe Donno would love this

[.:Chris:.]

Joe Dono did exactly that.

[CEMAYHALL]

If you're worried about piracy, big watermarks across the pictures will help with that! Sure with enough time an patience it too can be edited but its a lot more likely they'll move onto the next picture!

Another way to protect your images is to block them! IE: Try to "right click save-as" any pictures off of my website and use them . You will get a nice message stating ~> "Please contact us via e-mail if you're interested in purchasing any photographs from CEMayhall Photography. Unauthorized use is prohibited."

[kumar.]

^ Excellent idea.

[extatic002]

^^sure that helps...until somebody uses the printscreen button and just crops it out

[CEMAYHALL]

^^sure that helps... until somebody uses the printscreen button and just crops it out

Meeh... Very True! But... Read the last line in my quote! It clearly states "Unauthorized use is prohibited." So, if it ever came down to legal action, it wouldn't be hard to "prove" what they did!

[.:Chris:.]

Yeah, but do you have te money and time to put into it? I know of someone who took a picture of a Pagani Zonda F and the picture ended up on paganiautomobili.it. As soon as he got ahold of them they claimed ignorance and replaced the image... with another one from Google images.

Morally wrong and frusrating as could be, but realistically what are you going to do? Probably bitch about it and move on, I'd guess.

[CEMAYHALL]

Yeah, but do you have te money and time to put into it? I know of someone who took a picture of a Pagani Zonda F and the picture ended up on paganiautomobili.it. As soon as he got ahold of them they claimed ignorance and replaced the image... with another one from Google images.

Morally wrong and frusrating as could be, but realistically what are you going to do? Probably bitch about it and move on, I'd guess.

True Story but... Did they have "Unauthorized use is prohibited" attached to their picture? ~> If you were "dead set" on suing them, You can print screen their website/ where ever its posted and go from there!

Would I go through the legal complications: Nope .

[StreetRacingOnline]

I dont know about you, but to display my images im not going to put a huge stamp over the images. The thing is that piracy does happen, but to make it legal!? Who will be the judge to say whoever wanted to use your photo "looked hard enough" to find you?