What’s mine is not yours.
I apologize for this non-food related post but there’s something that I need to air.
The internet is a big, broad expanse and it is impossible to keep track of it all as there is simply no way of doing so. Therefore, when putting my words and images online, I realize that there is a chance that some stranger can come along and reproduce my content elsewhere without attributing it to me.
Now, some might argue that when putting my photos somewhere like Flickr, it’s bound to happen and it’s not that big a deal, but I beg to differ. As many of my fellow food bloggers are well aware, many of the photos that we take are not just 5 second snaps taken on the spur of the moment. We do things like specially plating the food, seeking out ideal lighting, shooting multiple shots to find the best…many who are more dedicated than I am set up elaborate scenes and table settings in which to take these photographs. A lot of time and effort goes into creating and maintaining the content for these websites, time which we willingly give to be a part of this community.
It is understandable that other people who come across this content may like it enough to print it or save it to their hard drives for later viewing, and this is no problem. The problem arises when you take content and then distribute it to another public forum/location without attributing it to where you got it from. This is even more of a problem when the forum that you are distributing this material has the expectation that all content that is shared by it’s members is their own work.
This is not me being crochety or mean - this is just a statement saying that I put a fair bit of work into what is posted here, and that just because it’s on the internet does not mean that it’s a free-for-all. I’m happy for my work to be republished elsewhere, but only if I’m asked to do so (for a vastly public forum such as Slashfood, who already practice this) or I’m credited/linked (in the case of it being put up on something like an online bulletin board).
Further discussions on this topic can be found:
http://foodblogscool.blogspot.com/2007/03/photography-how-can-i-id-my-photos_6335.html
http://stilllifewith.com/2007/03/26/watermarking-your-images/
If any food bloggers reading this don’t already watermark their images, I’d highly recommend this line of action as it’s one way of deterring image theft. I’m no graphic design genius, but if you need one then I can create a watermark that you can just paste on top of your photos before loading them on the net. Email me if you want to take me up on this offer 
Technorati Tags: theft, watermark, photos, copyright, copyright infringement, flickr, problems, food blogging
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Comments
Well said! I often link to favorite blogs, blog posts or photos in my own (non-food) blog, but to my knowledge, I have never taken a photo from an online source without permission and attribution. (I do use photos that are available in the public domain if such permission is granted in writing.)
If people are thieving your work… let your readers know. We’ll bombard the jerks with nasty comments and report them to their ISPs.
I just wanted to say that things has got better since I shortened my rss feed, boring for my readers but the scavenging has almost ceased!
I have been reading a lot about this lately. It seems to be a widely spread problem these days. How sad that people have to go to such extents. I should really think about doing a watermark, even though I’m not sure my pictures are going to be stolen!! (but you never know these days!) How do you find when your pictures are stolen? Especially if they aren’t credited for it? Just random chance that you run across it?
I completely agree with you, I’ve gone back and forth with the idea of watermarking my photos just because it could be easily cropped, I think it comes down to giving credit where it is due but some folks just don’t get it. Hopefully this will change.
I was going to mention the rss feed that Ilva mentioned…..plagarism is plagarism no matter what or where. And for you to hear about it or see it somewhere is just by accident. It is a sad world but how can we police it.
I had the same issue when I was running full RSS feeds. I haven’t seen anything pop up since I switched to partial feeds, but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere, and I’ve been toying with the idea of watermarking as well, though it would mean changing image sizes, etc.
I’ll second Ellie’s offer. If anyone who wants a watermark done for their images needs one, and Ellie is unable, I’d be happy to throw one together for you.
watermarking is definitely the way to go. I know whoever stole your stuff is going to get “bachi” (bad luck).
I’m sorry to hear this happened to you. =( Good idea about the watermark, though - thanks for the heads up. Did the person who took your photos remove them? I hope so!
Hugs
xoxo
There are two types of theft.
1. Plain image theft: Taking images and re-publishing them elsewhere.
2. Bandwidth theft: This is more insidious. They steal the image by linking to the version on your website from their web page. So each time their page is loaded, it calls on your server to provide the image.
Sometimes you can discover thieves by checking your web server logs or traffic reports. Getting a suspicious load from a particular website? Check it, as it may be hotlinking your images.
The Copyright Act 1962 (Commonwealth of Australia) automatically protects your images legally, and this Australian Act is recognised in most other countries. I have had numerous images of mine stolen, and a quick email to the webhost demanding its immeduate removal or provide attribution often works. If you cannot find who owns a website, try a “whois” search on a web domain.
If they refuse to remove the content, you can then email their web hosting company and ask them to intervene. The whois will tell you who that is.
Anyway, I hope this information is useful, from someone with some experience of this problem.
I also use watermarks on some images, but usually at 50% transparency so they’re visible but don’t interfere with the image too much.
Hope that helps?
Cheers,
Adam
The person in question did remove the images, and was she also apologized for posting them so I’m not too upset about that (I think her actions were just borne of ignorance). The thing that actually prompted this post was a discussion that arose on another discussion board where I posted a warning message to the other members as I noticed that this particular Flickr user had also stolen quite a few images from there.
Though majority of the populace of this board agreed that the actions of this individual were wrong, many jumped to her defense and said that I was overreacting and that I be happy that someone liked my images enough to nick them.
I frankly don’t care whether others think I’m overreacting, I just want my work to be protected, and believe that others would feel the same way about their own efforts
Thank you to everyone for your comments/suggestions and support
Hi Ellie! Firstly, don’t apologize! Secondly, you aren’t over-reacting! We are all in the same boat, and we can all sympathize with you. I think you are right - some people just lack knowledge about what is acceptable (although common sense should play in there, with all due respect to them). But there are obvious perpetrators that continuously (and even blatantly) re-offend, and this is what irks me. I agree with the others strategy of shortening RSS feeds, and have done that from the get-go.
Also, I wanted to say that I think it is so thoughtful of you to offer to help others watermark their images…
hey dude i totally agree with you! i never used to watermark my images but found ppl were putting them on their own blogs WITH my watermark still on it! and then last year someone told me “oh hey my girlfriend had this nutrition assignment due so we just stole some of your pics hope you dont mind she got a distinction tho!” boy was i peeved
Gilly - I’ll have a look into the RSS thing As for helping others, aww shucks! It’s only fair that I do what I can to help!
Suze - Ahh heck, that’d tick me off something horrible 
Though we call it ‘common courtesy’, by the sounds of things it really isn’t so common anymore!
I hear ya. Yesterday I found a site that has been copying my posts and photos too. I’m going to spend some time watermarking my images tonight.
I don’t think you are over-reacting. I can completely understand you.
I’ve just left a comment to whom stole my whole contents (8 posts), literally from title to my own opinions word for word.
It is totally viperous.
Ari - I think that’s a really good idea. Of course, those who are intent on thieving can get rid of the watermark, but I think it does deter a lot of folks from nicking them
Sue - That’s disgusting - I hope they ended up taking it down
Not that my pictures are too good but I would like a watermark design if it isn’t too much trouble. Something that says Cuis-Zine on it, with maybe a little c or trademark on it.
Thanks for the suggestion