Hi all,

we shot a bunch of girls recently, and they are all corresponding on The Knot. We noticed last night that one had grabbed one of her gallery pics as an avatar, and it has our watermark about 40% up from the bottom.

So, no problem, it gets our name out there, right?

This morning, the image has changed. She has simply cropped the watermarked section out, and is using the top half of the pic. Anyway, I wrote to her, I wanted to ask if anyone thinks this is being to fussy. Here is the email.



Hi Wendy,

hope you had a nice 4th!

Just a quick one. Someone brought it to my attention that images we had taken were being used as online Avatar's in The Knot.

Images that have not been purchased by a client are still protected by copyright, it's pretty much a standard situation in the photographic industry. Non purchased images should never be reproduced in any way, shape or form.

If a client purchases a DVD of images, then they have the right to reproduces whatever they want, whenever they want, but only after they own the rights.

To this end, we watermark our online images, but circumventing this procedure by simply cropping out the watermarked section is in direct infringement of copyright laws.

That said, we are always happy for our clients to use an image or two, provided that they give the photographer a credit for said images.

I have prepared and attached a version of the image in question with a small logo on the bottom, something that is not written right across the center, and therefor does not effect you in the photograph.

This image can be used as an Avatar if you wish.

I hope that you understand the situation - at one time we did not use watermarks, until we discovered that a client was taking screen grabs and printing photographs from them. This is why we must be consistent in asking that only credited images may be used.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Hugh




Opinions appreciated. Thanks!

Hugh

I think it's extremely reasonable, especially since you gave her a copy of the image with a small watermark that should be fine for her avatar. How can she possibly be upset with that?

Perhaps it could have been a little nicer:

Dear Bride,

We recently heard that you were using one of our images as your avatar for online forums.

Since screen grabs are usually not of the best quality to reflect the artistry and dedication we put into making the images of your happy day, we'd like present you with the new, attached image file.

This file is specifically optimized for web avatar use, and will showcase your special day -- while it still allows the viewer to know who you trusted with your wedding memories.

You have our permission to use this image... blah blah blah per our agreement in the original wedding contract.

Of course, if you desire to use any other images in your blog or other online forums, please drop us a quick email with the image number. We are always happy to prepare a few of your favorite images for such a purpose.

Thanks again for your support of our art online!

Good point. At the same time I am trying to get across the point of it being unacceptable, but without being to hard. Tricky sometimes.

Hugh

We've lost that battle as an industry. Look at the music industry. How many people (including photographers) rip songs off CDs and share them with friends and family? Photos are just another thing to be shared, copied, emailed and ripped off.

I appreciate the effort to keeping the copyright secure, so getting policies in place to allow various uses - and set up a method for them to request such will probably be a good plan for all us.

i gave up on this battle a long time ago - as long as they have paid for their session/wedding, i'm not going to lose sleep over it.