Thursday, June 11, 2009

Creativity!

Some people on Fark.com are having quite a bit of fun with one of my photos. There is a link back to my photo on Flickr where it is getting thousands of views. Some people might get upset but it seems like they are having a good time not at my expense!

What do you think about unauthorized use on a blog or 'just for fun' website?


Here are some other blog articles showing my work (with links to my websites) but without my permission. It is fine with me.


There are many more but you can see how it typically goes.

Patrick
patrick at patricksmithphotography.com


6 comments:

  1. While I enjoy Fark from time to time I personally wouldn't want my photographs up there like that. The exposure could be seen as a good thing, but the odds of anything productive coming from those that "photoshop" on Fark is slim to none. The downside is likely greater as a widely distributed altered version of the photo could irreparably hurt chances of being able to license or sell prints of the image. Sure this likely is less likely for a seascape/landscape photo versus a photojournalism photo, but its something to consider none the less.

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  2. I definitely agree with JIM on this issue. You are not doing them any favor and you are doing yourself a dis-service. Even an image of this size would be worth something. By not protecting your images you have NO idea what other sites they are on or what they are being used for. Do not ASSUME that all uses are just for fun and not for profit.

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  3. Hmm... I see your points. I'll have to do a bit of research about that. I will say that the metadata is following those images around and if they remove it, that could be lawsuit time. However with international issues like this, lawsuits and copyrights mean nothing. There really isn't a way to protect yourself without doing what Jim does with his watermarks. And even then.....

    Thanks!

    Patrick

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  4. I don't think they should be using your images w/o permission. I'd be upset if they were my images being used. That said, I like alteration based on the Portal game.

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  5. I enjoy your images, subscribe to your Landscaping news (& suddenly to your blog).

    It's not always easy to protect images. I've found several online which i have used for paintings, with permission. In my experience, photographers are more than happy to allow their images to be used as painting references.

    I particularly enjoy your beaches/seascapes, and so many are familiar to me because i live in Marin County, CA.

    Your images give a lovely perspective!

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  6. This one can be a harder one to determine, one one side you can look as it as a bad thing, with them not getting permission, on the other side it is promoting your photos,

    as long as they reference the original and aren't doing anything "harmful" to your work than i personally wouldn't worry about it too much,

    Though i do feel that anybody that is going to use your work (anybody's work for that matter) on their site should have the courtesy to ask permission, its just common respect for you as an artist, not to mention the legal issues with using copy righted material.

    as for me, i would not care who was using my photos as long as they 1) reference the original. 2) dont use it to bad mouth/make me look bad as an artist. which from i can tell from the links they are either 1 just having some fun and creating their own form of art using your photo (which i guess some people would view as a bad thing) but as long as they are not trying to sell the final piece than i dont see much harm in it) and the other two are promoting your art by sharing it with other people and artist should be happy about that

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