Opinions sought

Dockerills · Posts: 30

Advice on watermarking! With the popularity of pinterest etc. it seems like it might be good idea to watermark the pictures on my listings. Actually it seemed like it might be a good idea to try to positively use them as advertising. I've been trying out various ideas like http://dockerills.ecrater.com/p/20032074/franklin-airman-series-original-car. Is it too intrusive? Has anyone come up with a better way of doing it?

MaggietheCatsMeows · Posts: 2853

Google won't accept watermarked photos so you are doing yourself a disservice by marking them. This policy came into effect a year or so ago.

Dockerills · Posts: 30

Oh, OK. Glad I asked then.

Do you know what the rule is exactly?

There seems to be something of a problem here for sellers of paper ephemera, antique prints etc. If you're forced on the one hand to include large images and on the other you can't include anything to show ownership, what's to stop them being used by others for any purpose they see fit. It would be very easy for someone to run through all my antique prints or original advertising for example, compile a cd and sell it elsewhere.

Is it the use of a watermark with a URL that's the problem or is just any type of written information?

FoxAndFish · Posts: 1585

Dockerills · Posts: 30

Thanks for that link. I think I've gained a good idea of what's allowed and what's not. I notice, though, that there is no minimum image size specified. Is that required by ecrater rather than Google?

AudioGasoline · Posts: 1015

One work around another record seller does: he uses little strips of paper with his website addy printed on them, and lays a couple randomly across the album before photographing. Ostensibly, if it's part of the original image, the image bots can't home-in on the extra text. At least that's his story (I can't confirm or deny the claim myself).

theartsandlettersofmaggiethecat · Posts: 2099

I would be more concerned about items that you have created and have ownership of the design, etc. You do not have the copyright for old ephemera. You just own your photos of the ephemera. Do you sell the actual ephemeral or are you selling photo copies of the pictures?

Dockerills · Posts: 30

I only sell original items and no I don't own the copyright. I wasn't even trying to protect the image (except in the cases where it's possible to print out a reasonable facsimile of the original item direct from the listing). I would of been happy with just my initials in the corner of the image. I actually try to 'recycle' my pictures by making them available for free via blogs etc after use. It seems a waste if they just sit on my hard drive.

Obviously my original thought was well outside Google's rules. I'll have to have a rethink. I'd still like the pictures to be recognizably mine.

I take it that the rules only apply to the first image on a listing and that there is more freedom with additional pictures?

SheilaDeesPostcards · moderator Posts: 4620

Dockerills, I sent you a PM (private message). You will need to log into the forum to check your messages.