pictures lifted from travelblog and used on other websites.
What can we do as bloggers on Travelblog to protect the images we post here? I published a blog that was pretty popular, it had a lot of hits last month. I was just googling around to see if there was anyone else who had written about a similar topic and found my photos on someone else\'s website! 😞
Is there something Travelblog can do to stop the images from being lifted? Is there something I can do to protect them?
Reply to this Send the URL in - to webmaster att travelblog.org - I send them a threatening email - and give them a phone call from my lawyer (I don't think impersonating a lawyer is a crime in Malaysia!) - so far - everytime - the thief has removed the photos.
Unfortunately - the site doesn't have the cash to follow up with real lawyers (unless there is a bored one reading!) - but that is an option if you personally feel that strongly.
Hope that helps.
Reply to this I dont care if people on other sites use my photos, but if I did I would put a post on their forums with a link to the blog with the stolen photos on it and point out that those are mine and I did not give permission to use them and I would put a link to the TravelBlog copyright information on my blog.
Copyright notice.
The text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Mell). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Mell). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please Contact Mell.
If somebody posted something like that here on TravelBlog about me using their photos, I would remove the photos, because it is not worth getting compaints about. Maybe the person who is using your photos or the owners or moderators of the site they are on will see it that way too.
Reply to this One thing to consider is adding a "watermark" or copyright to your pictures so that each picture says your name on it like a signature. While this can be taken away by cropping the picture it significantly reduces the likelihood that someone will use your pictures. Some of our bloggers like :
Two3deroad use a watermark. I have started making my pictures smaller and adding a frame like this:
Reply to this I also came across one of my photos on someone else's site but then felt sorry for them after reading their memory card got lost. Oh well.. but yes, it can be annoying. Doing a watermark is a good idea in theory but there is nothing stopping someone clicking 'save as' on your image and cropping it.. it's really easy to do. You need to make sure they can't save your photo.. not sure how you can do this? I'd just stick a copyright notice up and then email that person. If that was me I'd take down the photo.
Reply to this There is no technical way to stop someone taking photos as they appear on screen.
It's as easy as "print screen", or drag and drop.
If you see your photos "stolen/borrowed" - etc - send an email to the site and complain.
Remember that this works both ways - and only use photos in your blogs that you have taken or have explicit permission to use.
Reply to this Is there an easy way to put a copyright watermark on a photo? Something that can be done 'on the road' as well as at home? I know picasa lets you add a watermark, but only when you upload pics. Or you can add something as text (whats the 'Alt' + ??? code for the copyright symbol too please?!), but that is only ok if I am using my computer at home. So is there anything to be used easily from any internet cafe? Thanks.
Reply to this I did some quick research a la Google and was unable to come up with a non-program specific way to put a copyright symbol n a picture. But, I did find out that Ctl + Alt + C does equal a copyright symbol for PC text documents. Here's a link to some useful info but I'm not sure it helps much:
Copyright Authority
Mike T.
Reply to this I know that Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 lets you watermark your photos with whatever text you want. Lightroom is an amazing package.. I have the 30 day trial and am now addicted so might have to buy it. Sadly it's for a personal pc so you can't use it in internet cafes.
Reply to this First of all... put © on your photos along with the year. To get the copyright symbol hold the ALT key down and type 0169.
Next get
a good and small program to place your copyright info where ever you want on the picture. It's extremely easy to use and it's a shareware so you don't have to give them money up front. You can find it at Reply to this PartyofFive-----worrying about copying and copyrights can consume all your free time. I started as a Marine Corps photographer in 1954 and later had my own studio. "Copyright" usually means the involvement of a lawyer. I soon found out that unless I was going to be a very large owner of photos I made, I was wasting my time getting into the "copyright" arena. That is not to say I approve of others taking my photos. The only person that wins in this battle is the lawyers. One of my photos was published as part of a national calendar in 2008. I let the organization have it for nothing and let copies me made for nothing. My reward was seeing the pictures on thousands of calendars. If I was still a professional photographer and made my living by selling my pictures I would most likely take a different approach.
TeamTurner----you photo 101 series is excellant
Reply to this The good news is that TravelBlog has now made it a lot more difficult for photo thieves to copy photos. Many will now be unable to make copies of the photos to pass them off as their own. You can try it out by attempting to copy somebodies photo now if you want.
Also, if somebody tries to hotlink with photos on TravelBlog on another site, they will get a message which will hopefully discourage them. The message will say that hot-linking is not fair-use and implying that the website displaying the image is breaking the law.
Reply to this A note on the anti-copying features; it will only deter casual theft and hot-linking - anyone with some technical know how will be able to steal the images quite easily.
eg. print screen - and crop in a graphics package.
But it will hopefully stop people posting your photos in random forums and blogs... they'll steal the next image in the google search instead 😞
Reply to this Hello I know its been a while, hopefully Mell will stil reply to this post. I have posted an article "10 downsides to African Travel" and when i google it, I see about 6 or 7 other websites headlining my article and then linking it to travel blog. Why is this happening? Is travel blog allowing it or is it plagiarism? Please google 10 downsides to african travel and see the results. Should I be contacting these sites?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Reply to this Hi goatsontheroad - I took a look at the google results, on each of the pages I saw it was a small snippet of your blog followed by a link back to the original. This is considered fair use, though clearly of dubious benefit to anyone.
I personally wouldn't worry about it, you'll get a trickle of extra readers from the links.
If however you find the complete article copied - that's a different matter - let us know the URLs of the complete copied blog, and the URL of the original on TravelBlog and our expert legal team* will take care of it.
* I file what is known as a DMCA against the site, the host, the advertisers and google, it's a pain, but usually gets results.
Reply to this Hi Ali, thanks for your quick reply.
We appreciate the info and advice. We will keep our eyes open to see if anyone is copying the complete article on their sites.
Thanks again.
Goats On The Road
Reply to this I think links back to your blog are a positive, so the more the better - as long as it is appropriate - i.e. - an extract and/or photo with a link for the full information. My blogs with the highest views are those with some form of links, though I am often unaware where those links are coming from.
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