How to protect my web images from theives? (1 Viewer)

[David Baranyi]

I noticing for some time that my web site have been looted by theives stealing my images. Even by putting in copyright notices, disabling right mouse clicking, disabling image caching, and watermarking the images, the thefts still continue.

Is there a way to protect my web images from theives?

 

[Tom Brennan]

No, there isn't.

 

[Evelio Figueroa]

The only thing I can think of is not putting any images at all.

Even if you disable the right click, they can still look at your source code. I don't think there is a way to stop them. If there is, I'd like to know.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

What about embedding images in something like a flash file? I am embedding MP3s in flash files on my site, and they can not be extracted from the flash file then.

 

[Artur Meinild]

No, there isn't.

Wrong! Digimarc has a solution called Imagebridge.

http://www.digimarc.com/products/IMA...GE/default.asp

With this you can implement a digital watermark in your images, and find it again using the MarcSpider software. Of course it costs a neat sum, but there is a way...
With this you have the law on your side, and is fully able to sue everyone who steals your images, just like if they stole anything else from you.

 

[Brian Mansure]

A digital watermark will help you locate your images if someone else has them displayed online but it can't keep them from taking the images in the first place.

There are more ways to take an image from a web page then there are ways to protect them.

It sucks but there's not really much you can do about keeping unscrupulous people from stealing web images.

For copyrighting and watermarking to be effective you have to follow up and contact the "image theives" to have them remove your images from their web pages.

If they are hot linking your images you may be able to get your ISP involved.

Brian

 

[alan halvorson]

Well, I certainly am no expert in these matters, but if you take a gander at this page and right-click to copy one of the images, it won't let you. Perhaps there is way around the restriction but I don't know what it is.

 

[David-S]

If they are hot-linking, there are also ways to see where the link referral came from, and put up a "don't steal my bandwidth" picture... (NEVER, EVER, hotlink from somethingawful.com)

 

[Sam Posten]

Now you know how the studios/record producers feel =)

Seriously tho, you CAN track down stolen images but there is no viable way to make any digital media theftproof.

Sam

 

[Dave Poehlman]

What if you were to use a screen capture and cut out the image with editing software? Any digital watermark is lost.

My rule of thumb is to have only crappy images on my website and make them free to everyone.

BTW, what is your website, David?

 

[Artur Meinild]

A digital watermark will help you locate your images if someone else has them displayed online but it can't keep them from taking the images in the first place.

I would think a Digital Watermark and an explanation of how the watermark will be used to track any thief's ass down and sue him would have some kind of preventive effect.
In general, threatening with legal action tends to be very effective against internet crimes. Especially if you have all the proof to back it up.

 

[Brian Mansure]

Artur,

I agree that a digital watermark could prevent someone from stealing an image.
It is my experience however, that if someone wants to take something (illegally or not) they will find a way to get it regardless of consequences.

Regards,
Brian

 

[Jason_H]

What if you were to use a screen capture and cut out the image with editing software? Any digital watermark is lost.

That is EXACTLY what I was going to say. Basically, if you can display the image on the screen (which I assume is THE POINT!) it can be stolen/captured. It is as easy as copying a screen dump to the clipboard with the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard and then dumping it into Paint or Photoshop and cropping the junk out.

 

[David Baranyi]

Alan, I went to the Russ Meyer photo page and I was able to right click on the images and save them. The JavaScript pop-up window warning me did not appear. This form of copy protection is ineffective, especially if you use Mozilla. Inserting this tag:

oncontextmenu="return false"

in the is more effective in preventing right mouse-clicking. However, like others had said, there are ways for thieves stealing one's images. Let us list the ways:

a) right mouse-clicking
b) Web page, complete
c) Source code
d) Cache folders (Interent Explorer only)
e) Drag and drop
f) Image Toolbar (IE 6.0 only)
g) Webpage downloader
h) Adobe Reader
i) Screenshots
j) Clipboard

Someone told me that flash and Java Applets provide better image protection.

 

[David-S]

Onewebsite i saw cut it's images into a grid of ~100 different squares, each with only a part of this image, this way you would have to go to the trouble of a screenshot to get the entire image together... (or download all 100 files)

 

[MikeFR]

Simple answer, dont put your images on a public website, thats your only option.

 

[Cees Alons]

I agree with Brian W. Ralston and the other person who told you about Flash being a rather good protection. Most people won't be able to copy those pictures anymore.

Cees

 

[Jan Jessen]

What if you were to use a screen capture and cut out the image with editing software? Any digital watermark is lost.

I don't know exactly how digital watermarking works, but I think the watermark will stay even after a screencapture. One would think that the watermark is embedded within the pixels so it is unnoticable to the eye, but detectable by the watermark software.

 

[Evelio Figueroa]

Well, I certainly am no expert in these matters, but if you take a gander at this page and right-click to copy one of the images, it won't let you. Perhaps there is way around the restriction but I don't know what it is.

He/she disabled the right click, but he/she didn't disable the image toolbar.


Here is a good site that'll teach you how to disable right click and the image toolbar.

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex9/

 

[Greg Rowe]

As has been said before the only solution is to not post your pictures publicly. You can disable right clicking and toolbars all you want but that accomplishes nothing.

Just look at the source of the page (and no it is not possible to block this either, the idea makes no sense), find the URL of the image, and then fetch the image.

So, don't post publicly, or state that you do not wish for people to use your images and hope that most people obey your wishes.

Greg