Had something happen the other day which made me cringe!!
I e-mailed a friend of mine a link to someone’s profile ‘cause I really loved the work. My friend is not a photographer. He was very enthusiastic about hte work and the images and later told me he’d set one of the images as his desktop background. My heart sank, I panicked and freaked! What the hell!! How can he be copying images! He shouldn’t do it in the first place, but it was innocent actually. So I went and checked whether my stuff can be copied.
It can! Easily. Shift print screen. Right click & copy … whichever way you please – all possible!! And I’ve selected my settings as per below:
Other Preferences
Discourage people from right-clicking or saving my images by placing a transparent image over the top of them. Please understand it’s impossible to prevent downloading of images displayed on web pages, but activating this feature will make it more difficult. Please note: Your original high-resolution images are never displayed on the website, and cannot be downloaded
So then I thought, well, if someone comes to RedBubble, can they actually search for my BubbleSite, or do they only find my profile and works internally. If I put my Bibble Site in it draws a blank. So it’s my profile that comes up. Whether it’s a user who is registered and logged in or not does not make the slightest difference to the security of my work. It can be copied with great ease. Maybe not at a file size which would allow for printing as wall art, but certainly at high enough a resolution to use the image in a variety of other manners and mediums!!!
My question – can these images not be protected further?? PLEASE? Or am I missing something here and should be iploading my stuff differently or chosing different settings? In flickr I’ve got small file sizes for view so only my authorised contacts can view larger images. Also in flickr you can right-click and come up blank because there is a layer over the image.
I’ve now included the big watermark here, which I didn’t want to do, but … well … I’m wanting to know really how best to protect my stuff here. And … well … if I can protect it more, then I guess I need to re-evaluate, but I don’t like the fact that people can pull my stuff off here without so much as a mention to me …
Anyone got any ideas? Please?
Thanks a mill!!
Tina
lazydaze
wow…i hav the water mark on my work so maybe that will put ppl off…..i guess u cant do much about that sort of stuff happening…:)) oh well :)) atleast as an artist i can always paint another :)
BettinaSchwarz:
lol … can always paint another? … chuckles you’re funny!! … ok … maybe I should take a page outa your book … Go capture another image, make it more of a stunner and … well … let go of this possesive attitude that makes me think my work is mine to begin with ;) …
Von McKnelly
If your going to post anything on the net the chances are it’s going to be copied by someone somewhere. We could have smaller sizes visible here on RB with a big X in the middle to prevent people from doing what your friend did…but.
BettinaSchwarz:
hmmmm yeah … I hear you …
lazydaze
well ur work IS YOURS but…i dunno…im more concearned about my poems as they are soo personal and only ppl on RB read them….i dont show any1 else…id b devistated if sum1 ‘stole’ them !!
BettinaSchwarz:
hmmmm I suppose someone connecting with the energy of your work on such a level can be seen as flattery …
Simon Duckworth
I agree its a shock to realise that your work can be copied and used without ones authority, unfortunately the world is full of phlagarists, its a reflection of the world we live in and the individuals that are out just for themsleves. There appears very little that we can do to protect our images and works.. I do think that RB could reduce the image size that they display our artwork at, so that copying and printing is not an option unless its postage stamp size.. images can be seen at good resolutions but not print well. Therefore RB could do more to help protect us and our work.
BettinaSchwarz:
well yeah … the thing is, I thought the overlay was present within RedBubble too … but it’s only there on the external site … You know what I’m saying? … so yeah – bit of a shocker … but the watermark is now on … though I know that nothing is ever “safe” or airtight … Anyway – I guess now I know.
I just feel like my stuff is more protected in a place like flickr, where I’m not actually displaying any of the stuff I think is potential sale material …
Anyway … it is what is is I guess, though I’m not totally comfortable with it all yet …
Arla M. Ruggles
Watermark and clear overlay are about the only options, and they don’t do much.
If I am going to show my work anywhere online, I must be willing to accept the risk.
I like the larger images, because I think people are more apt to buy something they can see clearly. 800x is a great size for viewing. Not great for printing …
A couple of years ago, I just decided to feel flattered, hope that my name stays with the work, and think of the theft as “free advertising”. I have enough things to worry about.
BettinaSchwarz:
well yeah, but the overlay isn’t present within Bubble, only on the external bubble site, if you created one … So as long as someone has a username / sign-in to Bubble, everything’s pretty much free game …
… but yes … I guess “letting go” has it’s benefits to sanity … I was just shocked to realise, particularly ‘cause it was someone else’s image and I was the one who’d sent the link on … … I just felt really rubbish about it all and that made me check it out further