Protecting your copyright

Mikegarveyblues

Cream Crackered
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
3,060
Location
Warrington, Nr Liverpool UK
Just searching for any new SE Bernie Marsden vids on Y'tube when I came across a familiar sight. My Guitar! Seems someone has downloaded the photo (After clearly searching for Whitesnake / Bernie Marsden photos for uploads of their songs) and came across pics of my guitar. Flattering in a way but overall i'm a bit pi55ed that he/she didn't ask my permission. Depending what he wanted to do with them I may have said yes but as he's using them to upload original tracks by an artist i'm even more annoyed.

http://www.youtube.com/user/djsredred/videos?view=0

Thinking about it I should probably start watermarking any photos. Anyone else do this?

What steps do you take to protect your work, be it photo's, videos or audio?

I'm not too worried about audio as I can easily prove I own the works if the situation was to arise. I have all the original files, etc, which would be hard for anyone to duplicate. But is this enough?

Just curious to hear what you guys do and is it worth my while chasing this up to get it removed?
 
Probably the easiest way to watermark your videos if you have a computer with Windows is Windows Movie Maker. It allows you to add txt to your videos.
Kind of odd that someone would do that really.
 
Probably the easiest way to watermark your videos if you have a computer with Windows is Windows Movie Maker. It allows you to add txt to your videos.
Kind of odd that someone would do that really.

Not too bothered about the vids.. I use Sony Vegas for any editing, although WMM is perfectly good for basic editing considering it's free.

I am going to start watermarking photos though. Simple enough but just looks a bit ugly! :(

I've reported the vids to Y'tube. I would have left it but i'm not easy with someone using my photos on vids that infringe copyright... Makes it look like I have a connection to that channel.
 
I know how you feel. I have posted some vids on YouTube to then find that somebody else just copied it to their channel even with the description. Unfortunately it is something very hard to fight for removal if the claims don't come from a big company.

In some cases I have sent nastygrams to the channel owners and at least get credit for it in their videos. I really hate how people get away with it so easily.

I suggest you talk to the channel owner and at least try to get them to reference your channel or site. Probably the person just googled the image and is using it not really considering who owns it.
 
I know how you feel. I have posted some vids on YouTube to then find that somebody else just copied it to their channel even with the description. Unfortunately it is something very hard to fight for removal if the claims don't come from a big company.

In some cases I have sent nastygrams to the channel owners and at least get credit for it in their videos. I really hate how people get away with it so easily.

I suggest you talk to the channel owner and at least try to get them to reference your channel or site. Probably the person just googled the image and is using it not really considering who owns it.

Did they actually reupload your video to add it to their playlist? I have a Creed channel on youtube and thought that my videos were taken when in fact it was just another channel that made playlists and used all of my videos on it.

When my SE Angelus Custom comes in I plan on making a 10 minute demo of it and will most likely use win media player to put captions when different tunings and such are used.
 
When my SE Angelus Custom comes in I plan on making a 10 minute demo of it and will most likely use win media player to put captions when different tunings and such are used.

Yup, that's pretty much what I do. Name and vid title at the start and credits at the end. makes it a little harder for them to steal the vid unless they edit that out.

Give me a shout when you've done that vid as I'll be in the market for a good quality acoustic next year, so i'll be very interested.

@Artist:

That's normally what i'd do but with this guy i'm a little more wary because he's uploaded original Whitesnake and/or Bernie M tracks so I don't want to be seen to legitimize that in any way.

I issued a takedown notice via Google. Wasn't given an option to state geographic locations but the email stated GB only. Hey hoe, maybe he'll take the hint and take it down anyhow. Had to give my full legal name... Let's hope he's a reasonable guy, lol!
 
Problem with watermarking pics is, unless you put it right across the guitar - people can and will easily remove it. But who like looking at a beautiful guitar with a watermark on it?
 
Here are a few general copyright pointers to consider (I say this since the topic is "protecting your copyright"):

1. While you own a copyright once it's affixed to a tangible medium, it can't be enforced in the US in court until it is registered with the Copyright Office. The federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over copyrights, by the way. Registration is required in order to take a matter to court, so an unregistered copyright has no "teeth."

2. There are a lot of urban myths about how to "prove" you have a copyright, such as mailing something to yourself, etc. This is nonsense. See #1. If you have a copyright, register it. The process is simple and can be done online by anyone intelligent enough to participate in this forum.

3. Many sites, such as You Tube, have a mechanism to remove an offending post violating copyright laws once a claim to the copyright and a notice of violation is brought to their attention.

My background includes litigation of copyright and trademarks, and I have guest lectured on the topic of music rights at the university and law school level.
 
Here are a few general copyright pointers to consider (I say this since the topic is "protecting your copyright"):

1. While you own a copyright once it's affixed to a tangible medium, it can't be enforced in the US in court until it is registered with the Copyright Office. The federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over copyrights, by the way. Registration is required in order to take a matter to court, so an unregistered copyright has no "teeth."

2. There are a lot of urban myths about how to "prove" you have a copyright, such as mailing something to yourself, etc. This is nonsense. See #1. If you have a copyright, register it. The process is simple and can be done online by anyone intelligent enough to participate in this forum.

3. Many sites, such as You Tube, have a mechanism to remove an offending post violating copyright laws once a claim to the copyright and a notice of violation is brought to their attention.

My background includes litigation of copyright and trademarks, and I have guest lectured on the topic of music rights at the university and law school level.

Indeed it is simple enough to register copyrights online, this i'm aware of. Also aware of the ability to contact Y'tube - as well as other sites - to issue a DMCA takedown. This action has been taken.

If you have anyone infringe your copyright on Y'tube you'll find the necessary form here:

http://www.youtube.com/t/copyright_notice

Interesting you bring up the point about 'mailing to yourself' as this is one I have seen used time and time again even by people who work in the music business.

It is indeed the case that it offers no protection in the US, however it does offer some protection in the UK.
 
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