Dear Reader,

Yesterday I told you about a few online sites where you can upload, sell, and share your photos without giving away your rights to sell those photos. If you missed that issue, you can read it here.

While there’s never a 100% foolproof way to protect your photos, there are additional measures you can take. Watermarking and registering your copyright are two of these precautions.

You’ll find more details below…

--Lori
Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division

P.S. Do you like taking pictures of people, landmarks, household objects, and everyday life? If you answered yes, you could start profiting from your hobby sooner than you think. Take a look at our Ultimate Stock Photo Workshop At-Home Package where you’ll hear directly from professional stock photographers Shelly Perry and Lise Gagne on what you need to do to start selling your photos (and making money while you sleep).

You have until Sunday, July 18, at midnight to get this entire workshop package for the special closeout price of just $99. After midnight on Sunday, you won’t find these recordings for sale anywhere. Get your copy today.

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The Right Way to Travel
July 16, 2010
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SECURE YOUR PHOTOS: COPYRIGHT, WATERMARKING, AND TIPS FROM THE PROS

When it comes to copyrighting your photographs, you should know that you own the copyright to your photos the instant you press the shutter button on your camera.

You don’t need to register your copyright or write it on your photo before it becomes yours.  It’s yours the instant you create it.

That said, it’s always smart to put things in writing.

Professional Photographer Efraín Padró uses the following copyright line on all of his photos: © Efrain M. Padro, All Rights Reserved.

He embeds this information in the photograph itself with photo-editing software like Adobe  Lightroom when he imports the photo from his camera onto his computer.  And he also writes this under his photos when he posts them online and in e-mails to editors.

Writing your copyright on or under your photos doesn’t provide you with any more rights to your image than you have without it.  But it does deter others from stealing it from your website when they’re reminded that you own the copyright and that taking your image without permission is a violation of copyright law.

Some photographers also choose to “watermark” their images before posting them online or sending them to editors.

A watermark is a faint image that you imprint onto your photo to discourage others from using it illegally.

With a watermark, even if someone uses the picture without permission, it will look more like a proof that alerts viewers that the picture is probably not owned by whoever is displaying it.

Here’s an example:

Many photo-editing programs like Lightroom, and online sites such as Zenfolio and SmugMug,  allow you to easily add watermarks to your photos.

Professional photographer Shelly Perry doesn’t use watermarks.  But the online stock photo agency where she sells her work, istockphoto.com, does.

Shelly recommends that if you plan to use a watermark, you make sure it’s faint, and unobtrusive. That way, your customer will still be able to get a good idea of what the photo looks like, but they won’t be able to use it without purchasing it.

Efraín Padró doesn’t use watermarks either.  To protect his photos, Efraín displays only a small amount of them on his website at any given time and reserves the others for clients on request.

Professional photographer Rich Wagner also avoids watermarks.  As you read yesterday, Rich takes advantage of all the levels of protection that his online photo sharing program, Zenfolio, has to offer. All of his galleries are password-protected so he doesn’t need to watermark his photos. However, he does recommend a small, faint watermark if your photos aren’t safeguarded by a password.

[Editor’s note: You only have two days left to get the Ultimate Stock Photo Workshop At-Home Package for just $99. With this package you’ll hear from a wide-range of industry experts, who are ready to introduce you to the life of a stock photographer. Their presentations will teach you how to get your foot in the door, and start profiting from your photos. Reserve your copy today.

If you already have an interest in stock, or you just want to learn more, sign up for our FREE weekly Breakfast Stock Club newsletter. Each week, you’ll receive new tips, techniques, and trends in the world of stock, as well as updates on what your fellow Breakfast Stock Club Members are up to and interviews with the pros. Click here to sign up for the Breakfast Stock Club FREE newsletter.

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