Please Watermark Your Work!

I've been in the broadcast TV industry for 25+ years and I continue to be amazed at how many people post their videos and still images on the web without any sort of copyright protection. Here's my plea from a professional in the business to other pros, amateurs and hobbyists. Please watermark your work!

When you post your still images or video online you are giving it away to the world without any compensation and if you don't provide a watermark or copyright info others won't be able to trace your work back to you. Being in the business I can tell you that if someone says "Give me this for free this time and I'll hire you next time" is a bold faced lie. Why should they pay you when you are already doing the work for free and posting it on the web? When you upload your video or stills without watermarking you are giving your work away and I promise it is highly unlikely that someone will then want to pay you when it's already free for them to use. I know of at least one production company that does work for Discovery & History Channel that will, without hesitation, grab video off the web to fill in missing video in their productions.

Have you ever read YouTube's Terms of Service, item 6C? Here it is;
"For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submissions. However, by submitting User Submissions to YouTube, you hereby grant YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the User Submissions in connection with the YouTube Website and YouTube's (and its successors' and affiliates') business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the YouTube Website (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each user of the YouTube Website a non-exclusive license to access your User Submissions through the Website, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such User Submissions as permitted through the functionality of the Website and under these Terms of Service. The above licenses granted by you in User Videos terminate within a commercially reasonable time after you remove or delete your User Videos from the YouTube Website. You understand and agree, however, that YouTube may retain, but not display, distribute, or perform, server copies of User Submissions that have been removed or deleted. The above licenses granted by you in User Comments are perpetual and irrevocable."

Simply put this means that anyone, anywhere can do anything with your video that they want and you won't be compensated one penny while they make money off of your hard work. These terms of service are basically the same for Vimeo, Veoh, Metacafe, etc. and the for the still photography sites where you upload pictures. All of them make money from advertisers and from your work. Most of you will never see a dime of the profit they make off your intellectual property.

I'm also amused when someone says to me; "They can't download my work. My settings don't allow downloads." Not only is this funny it's completely untrue. Simple rule - if you can see it or play it from the web there is a way to download or capture the image or video. There are tons of programs, add-ons and utilities for capturing web video, screen grabs, etc. Also, most of the online video sites poach each others videos while stripping the info from them. This means that while your video may have contact info with it on YouTube it won't on Metacafe after it's poached and there is no way to then find you as the copyright owner.

So what can you do? The easiest thing when posting your video or picture is to superimpose your website, name or email within the 4:3 title safe area (center of the screen about 1/3 of the way from the bottom or top of the frame). Do not put your watermark at the corners or at the very top or bottom of the frame. All you have to do to defeat this is blow up the image just a little and the watermark is gone. Will this stop all theft or misuse of your images or video? No, but it does provide you some protection and someone may actually see your image and want to pay you for it. The only credit that counts is your name on a check and 99.99% of us will not get famous posting things on the web. You've spent time and money on your equipment, software and skills and should get compensated for this but when you post on the web without a watermark you give your work away.

So please, watermark your intellectual property!

I completely understand everything, however there are other issues to consider. The first is that many of us just don't care. I am not a professional, not even close, so I am actually flattered if someone uses my work for something. Hopefully it means they enjoyed it and I don't care if I am compensated. I seriously doubt that anything I make would ever be used on a commercial level anyway so most likely there is not any money to be had anyway.

Remember some of the most valuable paintings in the world today came from artists that were all but unknown in their time and were not usually compensated well for their works. The term "Starving Artist" is very true and pretty universally known. Not that their work doesn't have value, it is just the reality of the world. Most artists do it for their passion, money would be nice, but do it because they feel the need to express themselves through their media.

The other issue is that watermarks just plain suck. It makes it imposable to fully enjoy what the artist is trying to show in their photo or video. It also makes it very frustrating and annoying to the audience as it takes their focus away from the subject.

Watermarking is also not the most difficult thing to remove using Photoshop or a similar tool. It does not guarantee that your work won't be used and will not necessarily hold up in court if it came to that.

So I say, what is more important to you as an artist, sharing your work with others or preventing it from being used commercially? Unfortunately it seems as you really can only have one or the other.

I hope my being forthright didn't offend you as that was not my intention. I was only trying to give you a view from my perspective.

I watermark everything using iWatermark....REALLY easy to use.

If it is cinematic type imaging, it goes in the lower corner in a 16:9. I know it can be cropped out there, but like Ace says, plastering it in the 4:3 zone really messes things up.

Great 4:3 safe zone image by the way..very helpful.

For non cinematic images, such as newsworthy photos, I watermark it right in the thick of things.....

Great post, thanks for adding it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Publisher

If it is cinematic type imaging, it goes in the lower corner in a 16:9. I know it can be cropped out there, but like Ace says, plastering it in the 4:3 zone really messes things up.

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Uh, that's the point. Otherwise why bother? Looking back at the YouTube Terms of Service (and others) anyone, can do anything with your video. You give them that permission when you post your footage with the website. If you don't "mess it up" then you have no protection because putting the watermark in a corner is ineffective.

Why would you watermark your still images in the center of the frame but not your video? What makes video different?

Of course, but no one is forcing you to post on YouTube. There are many alternatives. YouTube was designed with amateur videographer in mind giving them an easy way to share things with others. It was really never intended as a sales tool for a commercial videographer. Usually people in business spend the money to host their own videos, where you are in more control.

With scenic still images, I place it in the lower corner so it does not interfere with the image...for products, I plaster it right in the middle of everything....

HD videos are the scenic thing typically, so I about the same as what the Discovery Channel, History Channel, NatGeo etc do, all in the lower corner.

Even with plastering things right in the middle, I watched a tutorial using Photoshop 5 where the speaker took an image he shot of a hair ghost pipefish, talked about how deleting it from the image would take hours, then proceeded to remove in in 30 seconds, and worse, he used some tool that filled in the background behind where the hairy ghost pipefish used to be to make it look like a real overgrown reef just like adjacent background areas of the original photo.

That makes it REALLY easy for image thieves to delete a watermark right in the middle of everything....

But I know what you are saying....

iWatermark has an embossed 3D tool so it uses the image itself rather than blotting it out....

Photoshop has a tool and plug in vendor that allows you to embed a invisible watermark then trace it wherever it goes....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by acelockco

YouTube was designed with amateur videographer in mind giving them an easy way to share things with others. It was really never intended as a sales tool for a commercial videographer.

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Seriously? I can show you 100,000 examples of video posted by recording artists, networks, artists, corporations, etc. to promote their work and drive sales.

My point continues to be that if you decide to post video or stills on the web (whether on your own website or others) be smart and watermark your work. Can watermarks be defeated? Yes, but at least don't make it easy.

For those who shrewdly employ all marketing avenues, Youtube has evolved into the most cost effective commercial marketing platform.

I think most music videos can be found there from record labels.

But for every pro video, there are probably 50 amateur vids....but what a great resource it has become.

Give me this for free this time and I'll hire you next time" is a bold faced lie. Why should they pay you when you are already doing the work for free and posting it on the web? When you upload your video or stills without watermarking you are giving your work away and I promise it is highly unlikely that someone will then want to pay you when it's already free for them to use. I know of at least one production company that does work for Discovery & History Channel that will, without hesitation, grab video off the web to fill in missing video in their productions.?
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If somebody used my photos I’d be chuffed to bits, I’m a hobbyist underwater photographer and if one of my photos made it to print that would be payment enough. However if I was a professional and relied on my work paying my bills I agree initially, but then I would be posting them on professional sites not open internet forums. If you don’t want to share something then you should make that clear by using a watermark or similar as you say. So I guess I can see both sides of the points that have been made

Please browse my photos and enjoy.