Speeding said:Thanks Peter. You sound like you know your stuff! This started as a hobby about 6-7 years ago when I first started wheelin' with my dad, I loved to take pictures every trip out. A few years into it I started posting my pictures online for our local 4x4 club and it went from there! Now that I've gotten more professional and more serious with my photography I've run into a lot of copyright issues. People cropping my name off and sending my photos to magazines, I even had a problem with a local club claiming ownership since the photos were of thier club. :So that pushed me into finally setting up this site, and I get to make a little money on top of having a secure place to share my photos. So...yeah, little useless history i'm sure most of you really don't care about.
But yeah man, hit me up this summer when you get back into town, I'd love to talk to you about this stuff.
Photography is definitely an interesting animal when it comes to hosting a gaggle of images for folks online while making sure no copyright infringement occurs and that is the primary concern (especially with events photography).
Copyright issues are always a problem because people want something for nothing and this is particularly true in photography. People don't realize the time (both pre- and post-processing whether it is film or digital) involved and they certainly don't realize the expensive invloved.
It is all about security of ownership rights these days with photography and a little credit is nice to receive every once and a while too.
I am not sure how familiar with Photoshop you are, but one quick way to help solve people "claiming ownership" is to embed your images with a non-destructive meta-data (your copyright info). You can get really specific with this and this deters people about ninety percent of the time from moving forward (because it is an acknowledged breach of contract). This ensures that wherever your images may go, the digital file will always be locked from manipulation. Also, I don't believe it is a concern yet (and I do mean "yet"), but if someone knowingly uses your digital photographic images without prior consent (with your meta-data embedded within the image) be sure to say something because they need to pay for your time and efforts. This is important and you can find a lot about the issue and most photographic endeavors over at www.dprreview.com, which is a great resource for need to know information.
It's a little off-topic, but a guy decided he would try to obscond with our images (happens every now and then) and we had to remind him that copyright infringement of images and the associated fines can be fairly steep in the professional world. (Between 500-2500 bucks an image). That is a considerable amount when 30-40 professional images are manicured for professional use. I only say this because I am totally interested in the photographer and pro-photographer. Way too many people taking us for granted just because they think they own a business, magazine, wedding catalog, or some other advertising venue.
Also, we are a genuine Canon representative and vendor. So, I am not sure what equipment you might be utlizing, but if we may lend a hand whether it be equipment purchasing discounts, larger prints sizes (we specialize in large, archival prints 40X60" plus), or simply some tech/advise about the ins and outs of ftp web crap, just give my pops a ring at (205) 381-1100. He is self-employed so anytime is good for him...heehee. I warned him too that you may call. You could give me a ring, but it would probably costs both of us more than we are willing to pay right now (US to Germany and Austria, well, can be expensive...as me how I know).
I don't know if that helps any, but I believe it always helps to have friends in the business and it definitely can't hurt when you need something.
Peter Kupfer
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