Many artists and photographers fear marketing their work online, because other web users or online businesses could copy the digital images and use in unrelated marketing campaigns. However, if the images are properly protected this won’t happen. Unfortunately, most artists and photographers believe that once they render or capture an image it immediately belongs to them. But this isn’t necessarily so. You must claim ownership of an image to have legal ownership over it and this means there are certain copyright processes you must follow.
Watermarks and Copyright Symbols are Important
Many artists and photographers forego the image protection symbols, simply because placing them on digital images seems somewhat complicated. However, to protect these images and claim your right in any infringement suit you may need to file in the future it is important that you add the appropriate information to your images.
– Be sure to add a copyright symbol: ©
– When posting your images to the web be sure you include the date of the photo’s publication in the description.
– Include a professional photography business name.
– Add an appropriate watermark to make the image more difficult to copy.
– Add your geographic location to the image description
– Be sure to add the statement “All Rights Reserved” below the image
What’s Next?
Once you have performed these actions then you may want to register your photograph or image with the U.S. Copyright office. However, there are certain requirements the Copyright Office has for photographs and artwork seeking copyright protection: –
– You have to register the image with the Copyright office within three months of publishing it to the web.
– You must register photos before an infringement suit
– Your work must be tangible, in other words, it has to be on media, in print, or on some type of material (not just an idea) and it must be original.
Registering an image or art work copyright costs about $45 but can protect your work and future profits from it.
Once Copyrighted You Can Market Your Images
Once you have effectively completed the copyright process then you can safely market your images or artwork online. This marketing strategy should include social media marketing, SEO, article marketing and online reputation management offered by reputable companies like www.reputation.com. By copyrighting the image first, you can use it on all types of marketing material, including many other websites. But at the same time, you have protected the images, thereby keeping other marketers and online business owners from using your images for their own projects.
Author Bio: This Guest Post is written by Samantha Peters, who enjoys writing for tech and career blogs covering topics such as social media within the workplace. Sam believes in the importance of staying confident and believing in yourself during an interview.
Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
RSS
Hey Praveen,
Through this post, you have thrown light on a very crucial yet essential issue which has been left in abeyance as of now. I totally agree that many of the artists abstains from putting their work online, out of the fear of getting copied or stolen. They are not really aware about the protection mechanism available, which is going to bear fruit in their favor. Thanks for writing on this niche. This post will help in showing the right path of success for many artists out there.
Nowadays, you can do magic tricks with Photoshop and / or other photo software.
Radu recently posted…Jennifer Lopez Cavalli Club Look