Protecting the Photokina Images from Theft
I can't keep marveling at the great images in the Photokina gallery. However,
a little voice in my head says "someone is going to steal them...."
Of course, it's easy enough to "right click" on the panoramas and save to a desktop.
There's very little we can do to prevent that. And anyone can do a screen grab/snapshot.
I haven't check all the images but I believe most of the photographers put a logo/copyright
message in the bottom (nadir) position of the panoramas. The next step is to COPYRIGHT
the images, by registering them with the appropriate copyright authority in your country.
Because, given a chance, companies and individuals WILL STEAL your images.
If they use them internally you will probably never know, but from my experience these
thieves often have the audacity to use your great images as their own. That is where copyright
protection comes in. In the USA, if you have a registered copyright on an image (through
the US government), and someone uses your image without permission, you can request
payment in the form of damages and penalities = $$$. (My personal record is one equirectangular
image image has been stolen 3 times...)
I would be interested in comments on how to protect all the images on the IVRPA site, and individual images
on the IVRPA website --- if possible.
re: 'drm'
Those into scripting their own can implement a poor man's sort of DRM, wherein the QTVR file checks its delivery domain (URL) from the one hard-coded to it.
But isn't it true you can always remove that type of DRM with Quicktime Pro? Remove the sprite track and you're done.
re: drm / save-disabled QT movies
Hey Aldo:
If your movie/QTVR is "save disabled", then folks shouldn't be able to save it out without the sprite. That is, even copying and pasting just the VR into another new movie won't work.
AFAIK. :-)
Obviously, this only stops the casual user -- a real black hat could get around it easily enough.
Patrick Cheatham
--
CheathamLane | spinControl:VR
Berkeley, California
VR Photography
QuickTime & Web Development
Image Protection, not possible
Michael,
It's a good topic, as old as the first photo taken or drawing made. It seems to me that it is impossible to fully protect an image once it's displayed. And I agree, if you display it, it will be copied. The only "solution" is to be vigilant in looking for your images being used by someone else and to make it harder to steal. It's why to date I've only posted extremely small copies of my panos, not VRs, on my site, it's a bit frustrating though as the small highly compressed jpg's don't come close to really showing the work.
Also, I'm curious how you found out your personal best stolen image had been used by others?
And, there are some promoted solutions for marking and tracking image used on the Internet. Does anyone use Digimarc?
Regards,
Robert Harshman
How I found the bad guys
Like many -photographers I check cutlines/photo credits often before the photo itself. It's an
old habit from my pre-VR days. Actually other people found the "bad guys" because the stolen
image itself was so unique (3d space represented on 2d). Moral of the story: be vigilant, ask
people you know to keep watch for your images, reward those who help you, and have a GOOD
lawyer should infringements happen.
resources on copyright
http://www.editorialphoto.com/copyright/
Including a link to my lawyer, Drew Epstein :-)
Copyright/IVRPA-posted images
One way to protect the individual QTVR images from out-and-out theft would be to deliver them in a 'shell' QuickTime container; downloading the container would result in an empty file for the thief. Those into scripting their own can implement a poor man's sort of DRM, wherein the QTVR file checks its delivery domain (URL) from the one hard-coded to it.
--
As for copyright -- posting an IVRPA Web site use policy would be a step in the right direction; a policy that states acceptable use of the site, and also mentions copyright for IVRPA members' posted material.
As for individual's journals and postings -- In the past I edited and produced a Web based poetry 'zine, which had an ISBN number assigned to it. It is very easy to submit electronic material to the US copyright office, and I bet they have specific provisions in place for 'blogs and such. My recollection is that one can also easily submit for copyright registration entire bodies of work via digital media.
See Copyright Registration for Online Works, which states
Registering one's photos, images, writing and other work is extremely important nowadays. The Internet wields a double-edged sword, by making so much information so easily accessible by casual users and black-hats alike. :)
Patrick Cheatham
--
CheathamLane | spinControl:VR
Berkeley, California
VR Photography
QuickTime & Web Development