Copyright

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Everybody,

Just wondered who has copyright over pictures we post on this site. In doing so do we automatically hand over copyright to Model Boats?

The reason for the question is simple. I searched Google Images for 'Resurgam'. Some of the images were of my boat posted from my album on model boats. Gosted across the pictures was the text 'Model Boats'.

It was quite a surprise to see a picture of my boat in my bath on Google!

I intend to publish a book about Resurgam and am worried about who has right to the pictures.

Len

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

If you took the picture, You do . However once you put a picture on the WWW, should not really be surprised as that is what google does.

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

Len

Scroll right to the bottom of the page, past all the ads on the right hand side. In the "footer" box you'll see a heading "Terms & Conditions". Click on that and open it, I think para 3 will be relevant reading.

Keith

[mark69Participant @mark69]

Regarding paragraph 3 ,Basically they can anything they want with our pictures !!!..the choice is yours of course if you put them up on the site but that's the point ,your sharing what your doing with others !!…mark

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

You gain copyright by the simple fact of creating an image or set of words. This cannot be taken from you, and you do not have to mark the copyrighted item in any way – though putting a 'c' sign on it obviously informs people that copyright is claimed. You always have all the rights to any work you did, unless you specifically sell the copyright (called 'assigning' it). Even then you retain some rights, called 'moral rights', so that no one else can pretend that they did the work, etc…

You cannot actually run an information society if people aren't allowed to mention things other people do, of course, so most jurisdictions have provision for limited use of other people's work in some way. This is often called 'fair use'.

The Model Boats website handles its use of your images by making it a condition of use that you grant a license for publication of the words and images. You do not lose copyright – it's just that Model Boats has a license to display them. Looking at the legalese, I suspect that the boiler-plate total license claim (including sub-license!) mentioned in 3) does not fit well with the statement on permissions in 3.1), and if it came to fighting a case the assumed agreement for para 3) might well be thrown out as excessive. But it seems highly unlikely to ever come to court – a image would have to be REALLY valuable before such a fight would happen, and I'm sure that Model Boats operates this website in good faith. Note that the license to display on a Model Boats website is non-exclusive, so you are quite at liberty to license another publisher to display the same image elsewhere.

Google is a search engine. I guess that it does not claim to claim to own copyright on any pictures it displays, but temporarily processes and displays them under fair use rules. The pictures are directly linked to where they have come from, so Google is just showing you that Model Boats is displaying your picture.

 

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 01/07/2016 19:30:19

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Yes para 3 makes it clear that you are sharing your content when posting it. However Larry is also correct in saying that Google's web bots are constantly trawling the web and indexing stuff so it can appear in general searches as well.

I don't think this makes any difference to your ability to use your own photos if you are writing a book. However I tend not to put up images on the website that I might be including in a magazine article. Then again, if the article is published then it might also appear as a feature article on the website and proliferate from there! By that time the author will have been paid of course!

Colin

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Len,

You certainly hold the copyright of your own pictures. Often, images put on forums look fine on the forum, but are far to low in resolution to print successfully. In most cases, it is not worth bothering about. I often see my images all over the place on the internet, but just see it as a beneficial advert. I have even seen my images appear in books, and the national press, but again, I do not pursue it, as it would only generate a lot of worry and expense with no guarantee of success anyway if it went to law, as it can be difficult to actually "prove" anything!

A couple of days ago, somone asked permission to use some of my images in a book and I just said OK, and sent them some high resolution images, and asked them to credit them to me. I felt quite flattered that they felt they were worthy of publication!

Bob

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I certainly agree with Colin here. If you are going to publish a book (or have your boats in the magazine), you do not want them to be splashed about the `net. It is why all my new builds (the ones that I might submit as articles) are all just "projects, and I do not stick photos of them on site until after the event, and then only ones I did not submit to the magazine. From the publishers viewpoint, I don't suppose the editor wants to publish an article that has already been well documented on the forum along with loads of photos, and the general public do not want to see an article that they have already seen in piecemeal elsewhere.

​I also go along with Bob, as amateur boat builders it is nice to see your work on sites or indeed in magazines. To know your handiwork is in print and viewed all over the world is very gratifying.

If you are a professional and do this for a living it might be a bit different.

Ashley

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Your comments make a lot of sense, Ashley

But it is a little frustrating reading your progress notes on the forum and with no pictures to make more sense of the cryptic clues

I've noticed a lot of my pictures are used elsewhere, but like Bob W says……….It's not a problem

Considering the magazine is available world wide, we don't seem to get many overseas comments?

As for gratification……..The GE saga always bring a feeling of satisfaction

As for Royalties………….They were signed away

Bob

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob I realise the posts are a bit cryptic, however I don't mind sending pictures to regular forum members of these projects, and once you know what sort of animal it is, the comments start to make sense!

To have your boat on a national television program Bob is something to be well proud of, any royalties would probably hardly have paid for the paint and glue on the thing let alone the villa in Italy and super yacht.

Ashley

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

While we are on the subject of writing, I wonder how many of you have heard of the ALCS. (Authors Licensing & Collecting Society). If you are even a small-time writer like me, I would recommend you join immediately. Here is the website link: **LINK**

I was told about it a couple of years ago. I joined and it didn't cost me a penny. They said they would take their fees from whatever they collected on my behalf from libraries, copying etc. My first payment amounted to about £60, after deduction of their fees. My last payment in September was in excess of £300 (after fee deduction) , and didn't involve me in doing anything at all! It is paid direct into my bank once a year. I even phoned them up aftyer the last payment and asked if they had made a mistake as it was a rather high payment. They assured me it was correct! I have been a member since August 2012, and my royalties have gone up every year since then. I have recommended the ALCS to a number of hobby/leisure writers like myself, but as far as I know, not one of them has bothered to follow it up, thus missing out on hundreds of pounds royalties that they never even know exist from libraries etc!

Bob

 

Edited By Bob Wilson on 02/07/2016 13:36:57

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

Alternatively, if, like me, you prefer to put information out on the net for free, you might be interested in putting your work out under the Creative Commons copyright. **LINK**

This enables you to share your work freely with hobbyists and other people such as academics, who aren't commercial and able to pay licensing fees to copyright lawyers, while retaining your rights in the commercial field if anyone feels that they can make money out of of your work.

A lot of the data on the web is now out under the Creative Commons copyright, which is why so much is freely available. The Linux operating system and all of its open source software, for instance, can be downloaded for no payment for this reason…

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Everybody'

Well, that touched a nerve! But, I have my answer and thank you all. I am quite flattered that google should publish a picture of soldered up tin cans floating in mi bath! My concern was simply that come the day when I want to use them, a man in a suit would arrive waving his finger. I actually find it quite funny that the pictures in my album any true enthusiast / anorak would truly appreciate have been totally ignored! The big thing about a book is that it's the words that matter at the end of the day. Thanks to all.

Len

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