Tuesday, August 28, 2007 2:06 AM
can someone tell me what is wrong with the following photo? (props to my boss,
the amateur genius himself)
(click for an insanely larger view)
this billboard is currently on display at the corner of east 6th street and the bayfront connector (
map).
in case you didn't notice, here is a partial closeup of the top billboard:
(click for an insanely larger view)
see it now? yes, that's a watermark on that photo. in fact, it's on BOTH of the photos in the top billboard. it's from a stock
photography site called
shutterstock.
stock photography is becoming more and more popular lately, as many other micro-stock
photography sites are popping up all the time. it's a nice way for someone with a camera to make a few bucks. many photographers earn their living solely by selling stock photographs.
to go about using a stock photo, a person would sign up at a stock
photography site and browse for a particular photo. at these micro-stock
photography sites, some photos sell for about $1. other sites, such as shutterstock, have a subscription based model. either way, you get access to small versions of photographs with a watermark. these images can be used in mockups and in drafts only.
"Does the image I download have a watermark on it?
Only comp images have watermarks on them. Photos downloaded with a purchased subscription will not be watermarked." (via shutterstock's faq)
so a couple different things could of happened. 1) the designer paid for the image and accidentally sent the draft to lamar (the billboard company), or 2) the designer stole the image from the shutterstock site and is illegally using it to promote the business.
either way, what is lamar doing allowing a printing of a watermarked image to occur in the first place?
the photo on the left (
as seen on shutterstock) is copyrighted to a kutlayev dmitry. amazingly it came up on the first page of a search for "bathroom" under the "interiors" category.
the photo on the right (
as seen on shutterstock) is copyrighted to a stephen coburn. once again, on the first page of results for "bedroom" in the "interiors" category, this photo appears.
the photos in the bottom billboard do not have the watermark included, but here are their copyright owners anyways.
and guess what? first page of search results for "kitchen" and "living room". seems like the designer was a little lazy.
shutterstock does not allow direct contact with the photographers, or else i would have contacted them about this improper use of their work. so instead, here is the contact information for the other parties in question:
tom baumann carpetworld
721 parade st
erie, pa 16503
814-464-6604
lamar advertising (corporate)
5551 Corporate Boulevard, Suite 2-A
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
1-800-235-2627
http://www.lamar.com/
tdoran@lamarhq.com
lamar advertising (local)
1565 w 12th st
erie, pa
814-454-6435
shutterstock, inc.
155 w 19th st, 2nd floor
new york, ny 10011
1-866-663-3954
copyright issues
copyright infrigement is a serious issue (just ask
eden, or
sk0t), and is affecting photographers, pro and amateur alike, on a huge scale. i don't care if you are a mom and pop carpet shop or a large corporation, you shouldn't steal other people's work. but, if you decide that is your only option and you have no other way around it, don't be dumb and leave the watermark on your billboard.