With the advent of digital cameras, photos on CD and Internet-submitted printing requests, the task of trying to determine which shots are copyright-protected is an increasingly tough one.As scanner technology renders ever-sharper digital images and Internet users grow more comfortable with pulling pictures from online sites, photo labs and professional photographers are preparing themselves for prolonged copyright difficulties.
In the past, photo technicians were able to sort the professional images from the amateur pics based on subjective criteria such as image quality and overall look, as well as on factors such as possession of negatives or proof sheets.
But with the advent of digital cameras, photos on CD and Internet-submitted printing requests, the task of trying to determine which shots are copyright-protected is an increasingly tough one.
In response, many photo labs have become almost paranoid in their quest to protect themselves from copyright-infringement suits brought by photographers or other copyright holders. Often, they are rejecting photos that are simply too professional-looking, even if a customer insists that they're the photographer.
"Figuring out whether images could be copyrighted or not will become more challenging in the years ahead," said Steve Noble, who oversees regulatory affairs at the Photo Marketing Association.
It is likely that photo labs will become even more strict in the near future, Noble predicted, even if they are less able to determine what's professional and what's not. That could lead to frustration among amateur photographers who happen to take sharp photos.
"Somehow, we have to hit a happy medium, but we're a long way from that," Noble said.
Some professional photographers have decided not to leave copyright enforcement in the hands of photo lab technicians, leading to an array of tactics to keep their work from being replicated.
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Jeff Hawkins, a Florida-based wedding and portrait photographer, doesn't provide paper proofs to customers. He favors CDs that don't have individual images on them, but instead present photos in a Quicktime format.
"With Quicktime, you can't do a screen capture," Hawkins said. Customers also have the option of viewing photos online, but Hawkins disables the right-click keyboard option that would allow the photos to be downloaded without permission.
"As consumers get more technologically savvy, we find that we have to come up with new ways to protect ourselves," Hawkins said.
Another option for some photographers is to depend more heavily on digital watermark technology, offered by companies such as Digimarc Corp.
With its MyPictureMarc software, Digimarc gives professional photographers and other creative professionals the ability to protect their images from being replicated by embedding identifying information directly into the image file. The company has seen a sharp uptick in use of the software, which is also embedded in Adobe Photoshop.
"Photographers want exposure for their work; they want people to be able to see their images, especially online," said Nicole Elovitz, product manager for MyPictureMarc. "But they don't want to get burned. That's leading them to think about protection more than ever before."
