Protecting Freelance Photography

[Fortune Hunter]

I have taken some good photography on a recent trip I made overseas and my graphic designer suggested I sell some of the pictures in one of the places like istock.com or something similar. I am interested in doing this, but I want to protect the work (copyright) it somehow first. I have heard there is a way to digitally mark photos with a copyright to prove they belong to you, but I am not sure how to do it. Anyone know how?

Second, should I file a copyright on the photos with the U.S. Copyright office before selling them?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Google it
[google.com...]

You don't have to file a copyright but it can help if there was ever a dispute.

You also have to be realistic about this. If someone steals an image are you willing to spend the money required on lawyers, etc. to take them to court?

[Fortune Hunter]

Thanks for the search criteria. I guess I should have thought of that myself :)

If someone steals an image are you willing to spend the money required on lawyers, etc. to take them to court?

Realistically you are correct, I don't have the excess cash or patience to find an attorney every time some hack steals an image. However with a digital copyright I can always have my attorney send a simple letter telling them the image is copyrighted and we can prove it in court and they are in violation of international copyrights etc. It won't be expensive to do this and may stop a lot of the pirates. Probably only the most egregious ones will ignore the letter and pick a fight at which time I have to decide if the use and expenditure of cash to fight is worth it.

[Fortune Hunter]

Another question. I used BBDU's link above and after doing some other research discovered how I can add a bunch of meta data to a photo with Photoshop. So far so good. However after I added the info it didn't appear to be accessible in anyway except opening it back up in Photoshop and clicking on the link that said "file info". Is there no way for the laymen who just grabs this photo to see any of this meta data before illegally using your picture?

In other words is there any way to make all this meta data visible to anyone that views the picture who may not have Photoshop?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I am not sure of this and I am no expert but I do know that if someone is determined to copy your images they will find a way to do so. For example I would not think that using ctrl-prt-scrn transfers any type of digital signature. Does it?

[purplecape]

is there any way to make all this meta data visible to anyone that views the picture who may not have Photoshop?

You have a strong copyright policy linked to from every page on your site and include in it a warning that the images have hidden code identifying them as belonging to you (or something along those lines...).

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

You could also disable the right click. This does not stop anyone from copying your material but when anyone tries it you could display your copyright message.

[Fortune Hunter]

You have a strong copyright policy linked to from every page on your site and include in it a warning that the images have hidden code identifying them as belonging to you

I guess I should have stated my purpose for doing this on my first post. I realize there is no full proof way to stop theft. BBDU's idea of disabling the right click is good and I have heard that one before.

My purpose is so much to absolutely stop theft, but rather to insure that if/when theft occurs to be able to definitively prove the photo is mine and not just a picture someone else took and claims as their own. This gives me the option of legal action if I choose to take it. If I am able to hide and show meta data for each photo then I can prove it is mine if it suddenly appears on someone else's web site.