QUICK QUESTION... (copyrite logo)

[Steve Parr]

I notice on many of the photos I see posted here that they have a copyright on them, a signature, what have you.

How do you do that? What software would I need?

Steve

[w10d]

Lots of graphics packages allow you to add type to an image, what software do you have?

[Steve Parr]

Lots of graphics packages allow you to add type to an image, what software do you have?

And this is where my ignorance shines through:

The only "package" I have is software that I got with my scanner years ago. It's a cartoonish program, but it allows me to resize if needed, adjust lighting, cropping, etc. It's called iPhoto Plus. I think the "Plus" means "plus you get to buy some real software".

I've been knocking around the idea of upgrading the software I use. Suggestions?

Steve

[Conk]

You can try photoshop elements. That would be a good start.

[Mike Panic]

i created mine in photoshop on a transparent layer and then added it as part of a batch action utilizing the paint bucket tool to insert it during the batch.

for legal reasons, it must be as follows:

© 2005 Your Name

copyright / year / name or business

[blinking8s]

i havent used it much, so i dont know if it does text...but its great for quick photo editing

http://www.picasa.com/index.php

[RockSlut]

How I do it is by keying in (c) in MS Word, which unless you've altered the default settings, will autocorrect to a copyright symbol. I then copied it into photoshop and incorporated it into a transparent background logo that I use as a watermark on my web published images.

[Mike Panic]

angus - the © by itself usually works, but if you want to be technically 100% accurate, your logo does not meet the standards of © / year / name

also - you can make the symbol in windows by holding down the ALT key and pressing 04521 (do it on the keypad, its 0 followed by a clockwise circle :))

[RockSlut]

Mike: It may not entirely meet "the standards" however, I've seen the standard expressed on the Australian Copyright site, www.copyright.org.au expressed as © / name / year. As Australia, the USA and other countries are signatories to the Berne Convention, as well as other relevant treaties, I cannot see that my mark is likely to cause me any problems.

I'd love to see it argued in a court of law that my rights were not recognised for displaying out of order with my web address included. Not only are my rights clearly established, but any infringer would not be able to argue that they did not know how to contact the photographer (me) to arrange permission to use the photo/s.

Further, as I understand copyright law:

1. The copyright-holder's rights in relation to a photo are established when the photgraph is created (captured).
2. The copyright notice is not required to be displayed for the owner's rights to apply.

If my understanding is flawed, I would be grateful if you could advise how.

[Mike Panic]

you are correct on points 1 and 2 :)

[scottbergerphoto]

This might be useful:
http://www.asmp.org/commerce/legal/copyright/
Scott

[RockSlut]

Any full version of Photoshop will allow you to add text. That, however, will change the file to a PSD file which may not be accepted in some applications. You may have to change the format.

Bloo, that's true, however I've found that if you save for web after you've watermarked the photo it will allow you to save the PSD as a JPG (without the additional steps of flattening etc). I have found that really useful, because I only watermark the images that I'm publishing to the web anyway.

[Avalonthas]

If you dont do © / 2005 / Name Here format then your copyright has a chance of being invalid as you must follow the convention, so dont make it fancy and change it up. Simple is always better, and legally it will save ur behind. Also if your doing a watermark, include the copyright/year/name and then under it put your email address, phone #, or website, depending on what use and/or what kind of privacy you want. If someone likes your work and all they see is "John Doe" on the pic, how are they gonna find you, as there are a million John Doe's out there. If you put some sort of contact information, you may slightly increase sales.

[vwpilot]

Angus, while just taking the photo does make you copyright owner, in order to get any reasonable damages, then you must have them registered and they MUST be marked with the convention the copyright office designates or you can lose out on the protection it affords you.

While it may seem silly that if you have it in the wrong order it IS the way its outlined and that means that they CAN refuse to award you entitled damages.

IMO, its not worth screwing with. While it might seem unlikely that it will happen, is it really worth it to make it pretty? I'm not taking the chance and it seems silly to do so.

www.copyright.gov is the site where its all outlined if you want to look into it more.

[KennyG]

Simple answer to the copyright method folks. Open a blank document, create your copyright logo, flatten layers, edit - define brush, give it a name. You now have a brush which is your logo that you can adjust in the same way as any other brush.