This has come up before but when I searched for the thread I couldn't find it. Unfortunately, when you put a photo out there - even into a photobucket or webshots account - it's fair game for anyone to use. If you 'right click' on any image on the web you can copy it and do whatever you want with it. Without copyright protection, it's there for the world to use.

I've always meant to start putting my name or a copy right symbol on my photos but haven't done it. One of the people who used to post pretty often did that and that's what generated the first discussion about it. Wish I could remember who it was but I don't.

I think you would have to go into Photoshop or some other photo editing program and paste the image of your signature or copyright symbol onto each photo. I don't think there's a way to edit it after it's in Photobucket although that would be a nice feature for them to add to the editing function, wouldn't it?

Search the photobucket website and you might find something there that describes your rights! I will give that a try tonight but won't be able to get to it during the day.

Good luck!

Kate

Here's how you report it to eBay

Here's eBay's notice about copyright

Since I knew who the seller was you were referring to.... he has removed the photo. The thumbnail for the gallery picture is still showing but the actual picture in the listing is gone.

Yes, Minibim, he did remove the photo. And I emailed him to thank him for doing that. But still, its pretty unethical. As I said before, if he had ASKED, I would have probably said yes. Or even had it been just a generic plant photo. But I don't want photos with my daughter's face on them used for any purpose.

I am pretty sure though that if you publish something that is yours it is still copyrighted. This is one of the reasons I do not like the Creative Commons license that is floating out there.

Bihia, check out the cooking forum's gallery site. Someone had posted how to add text to your photos. Maybe you can figure out how to do it. The cooking forum is on That Home Site.

Copyright law as regards the Internet is a new area that is being tested and dealt with. We were told in my master's classes that anything you publish to the Internet especially writing is considered copyrighted from the moment you post it. You can always post a tag to anything you post that basically states this material is copyrighted and can not be used without permission of the poster or owner. If you have issues you can always remind them of the implied copyright law and tell them that you will persue legal action if they do not comply with your request. Linda

I was under the impression that if you posted to a public site such as Photobucket they were up for grabs.

Scents, I have read that numerous times as well. I will look around today for things regarding copyright law. I post on my blog that all content is copyright and am considering watermarking my photo's. Or at least just writing on them at the bottom or something. So far I haven't seen my photo's stolen, however on Flickr I had it where I could share the photo or someone could blog it but I took that option off after someone did blog it though they credited me. And again, I'm not into the Creative Commons license

Copyright myths

Copyright and the internet

I think it is common sense and moral value. You can't just copy someone else's paper in college and expect to get an A. You can steal the work from other people, published or unpublished. It's plaigirsm. The simplest and easiest thing to do is ask! Ask if you can use the photo on ebay or wherever and they either will say to credit you or they may watermark it and then let you use it. There is even huge issues with painting other people's photograph's.

So, the internet is a form of publishing and the laws are being built around it. Err on the safe side and do the easiest thing and ask!!!

Since we were doing distance learning and my area is informaion studies my professor has the latest in Internet copyright issues. Someone took her work and she won the lawsuit. Thus one of the legal findings. Linda

Very interesting! Thanks for posting all this up to date information. All of us who post photos should be aware of our rights. Thanks.

hate to bring this back up a month later

just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.
The moment you 'publish' something by putting it online or doing something with it you create an implied copyright

however if you want I can teach you how to add watermarks to your images
just mssg me- its really easy with any basic image editing software.
However this doesn't change anything because someone who knows what they are doing can still remove it.
I sell my photography online and its an issue I deal with every day.
putting the water mark on it helps prevent ppl like that guy using your pictures though cause he wouldn't bother to go through the hassle of taking it off.
He actually could get in trouble for using the image of a minor without written consent from the parent.
anyway
thats more like 10 cents so ill zip the lip now

My DH had a similar issue, also on eBay. He sells there frequently, always takes his own photos of merchandise and posts them. Another eBayer used his photo (which does NOT have to have the copyright watermark) and when DH asked him to remove it, he sent DH a reply to basically go f*** off!! This after DH offered to let him use another of his photos. DH contacted eBay and noted that they could also be liable for copyright infringement for allowing his auction to stay up w/ the stolen photo. eBay took the thief's auction offline and apologized to DH. DH has since placed his copyright on all his photos. Bihai, I can only guess how upsetting to see your child's picture on a stranger's eBay auction...creepy.