A cheap, easy way to protect your work

It's been about a year since Orphan Works has been at the forefront of discussion in many circles. It seems like its only on the table of awareness if its finally come to go to battle. None the less, more and more I see images on folks websites with "(c) Artist Name" below the image. This is all fine I guess as long as a big ugly watermark isn't blinding me. I've found a more simpler solution to this problem.

I was screwing around with photoshop this morning before starting a piece for school and I found something interesting. Every scanned painting or digital painting you create has metadata, that tells you different things. It tells you the size of the file, the height and width, ect. Did you know that you could also put your contact info, copyright and a whole lot more in it?

Also, if someone pulls your image off the web, and deletes that data to claim that they made the image before you, you can show them the modification dates in the file. This then shows you in fact did make the file before they just tweeked the metadata to try and claim it as there own.

So yeah, continue putting "(c) Artist Name" on your images if you want, but this is a layer of protection that will help you in the long run and it takes 5 minutes of your time before you send a file off to a client or throw something on the web.

You can do this in any Adobe program. Just go to File > File Info and then fill in everything you need to fill out.

Make sure to keep a PDF of all your images as well. PDF's can't be changed at all and hold up in court alittle better and only add to your protection of your artwork.

Orphan Works - Prepare for another fight everyone

Brought to you by the Illustrators Partnership of America.

Call and Write your Senators and Representatives in your respective state!

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Orphan Works: Back Again

6.17.09

In Orphan Works Land, no news has been good news, but that's about to change:

www.ip-watch.org

US Copyright Register Marybeth Peters told Intellectual Property Watch that orphan works legislation is expected to be introduced within the next 10 days. It is her understanding there may still be some issues in the House version to be resolved, and there are some stakeholders - such as illustrators and other artists - "who are probably going to lobby pretty hard against it."

Last year, we proposed amendments to the Orphan Works Act that would have made it a true orphan works bill. The amendments were drafted by the attorney who was chief legal counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in drafting the 1976 Copyright Act. The amendments were co-sponsored by the Artists Rights Society and the Advertising Photographers of America. They can be found HERE

We urge this Congress to listen.

- Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner for the Board of the Illustrators' Partnership

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For news and information, and an archive of these messages:
Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog: ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com

Over 83 organizations opposed the last Orphan Works bills, representing over half a million creators. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses.

If you received our mail as a forwarded message and wish to subscribe to the IPA mailing alerts, click on the link below, "Join Our Mailing List" and follow the simple directions on the webpage.

Google, Drawger, and the New York Times

I made this in January and encourage everyone to make an anti-google illo

If you all have not heard about it, many well known illustrators/designers, like Gary Taxali, Melinda Beck, and Brian Stauffer have gotten contacted by Google, to have their work posted on some new part of Google for free. It's another scheme for Google to take artist rights to use for their 1.4 billion dollar quarterly profit, along side with its support of the Orphan Works Bill.


You can read the New York Times article here.

* Take Action Now! *

Here's my contribution to the Illustrators Partnership movement on the Senate bill for the Orphan Works Act. We should all make our own, and post them everywhere!

Everyone, please go sign {HERE}, it only takes a minute! This is SUPER important!

Sincerely,

~Chogrin~

P.S. Also go HERE to keep yourself updated and read more about it!

To the streets...

Philadelphia's Guerilla art duo "Low + Cordel", created a collaborative 3 color silk screen print, to protest and bring awareness to the Orphan Works Issue to unaware artist and non-artist.

They posted these throughout Center City Philadelphia. (but they weren't pasted that well.)

They asked me to post these photos to the blog.

Keep Writing Letters to Your Representative Guys.

;)