Should this concern me? Photo theft?

[BEphoto]

Ive recently just got a website launched and i was going through the detailed activity where it shows visitor information, where they visited, their IP address etc. when i came across this line in the activity (highlighted).

Should this concern me, or is this maybe just that they clicked on that particular photo to enlarge it or something. Its one of my product shots, so i just dont want someone using it in a catalog or something without permission obviously.

Hopefully im over-reacting. I dont know a whole lot about this website hosting/designing stuff yet.




Also, im trying to see if there is any way to do the right-click disable on the site. Any squarespace users know if thats possible?

[ngoduyviet]

Does your website require a login & have a cart system to download purchased file? if it does, then yeah you should look into it and find out why or how they could download it.

I know some logging system display it as "download" something, but in reality it is the client's browser pulling things off your server to display on the other end. More information is needed to figure this out for sure.

As far as right-click disable or any methods to prevent from downloading, you are pretty much out of luck. Anything we show the clients, they have a way of copying it. Disable right-click and other tricks only deter them. Slap some logo / watermark on it if it makes you feel safer.

[Rson]

First I would watermark your images ASAP with copyright symbol.
Second, having them on the internet opens you up to anyone being able to download and/or screen print.
Third, convert the images to flash display not html. Not fool proof bet better than html.
4th, There is a HTML command to disable right-clicking save Here is one: http://www.hypergurl.com/norightclick.html

5th, you will go crazy wondering if someone downloaded your image and what will they do with it.
6th, you are overreacting.

Copyright the images properly and if they get published without your consent, fire off a letter or let the PPA(if you are a member) unleash the hounds on them. I would set extremly high prices on your website for commercial use. That way the precedent is set.

[BEphoto]

No, no logins or anything. The login that you see on the log is from myself logging in. I'm thinking maybe it's just if they enlarge the picture it shows as a download since, like you said, it's requiring the server to output additional info. I'll try to recreate it tomorrow by clicking a picture in the gallary and see if that's how it shows in the log.

I'm guessing this is nothing harmful, but was just curious. I really don't want to go through the trouble of watermarking all of the images I've already uploaded to the site, nor do I really even know how to, but I may start doing it to images before uploading in the future.

[CaptainTom]

I just now copied one of your flower photos to my hard drive.
Check your log and see how it recorded it.
I'm off now to sell that image to a magazine for $25,000.......just kidding of course, I'm deleting it immediately.

[BEphoto]

haha. Thanks tom! Can I get a portion of the $25k at least? My car needs some work.

Really though, it wouldn't bother me to have someone copy a pic to use as their desktop wallpaper or something. it was just the fact that it was a product shot that I though was fishy. Who wants a set of skateboard wheels on their desktop? :)

I'll check when I'm not on my iPhone to see if the picture showed up as downloaded and report back.

[epoh]

Definitely start watermarking. And I'd look into a Flash or Java-based photo gallery, makes it a little tougher for ppl to download the photos.

[BEphoto]

So i just got to work and checked my detailed activity, and there are a bazillion logged with the same [Picture Download] line. Oddly enough, quite a few of them were products again, but there were also a few from the other sections as well. Im going to stick with the assumption its just when someone clicks on a picture in the thumbnails to view them. I'll definitely keep an eye on it though and see if its repeat IPs that are "downloading".

Amy- That sounds great about the flash/java, but i have absolutely idea how to do that or if i can even insert it into my website.

The one and only thing i like about it being all HTML is that its viewable from iPhones, since they dont accept flash (hopefully coming at some point though).

Thanks for all the advise everyone. This is my first true website and ive never really built one before. Still getting my feet wet with how to optimize it.

[ggeen]

It might be a web crawler like google images. I was on a commercial web site last weekend. I bumped the right mouse button and got a dialog box saying that function was disabled. I will check their web site to see if the code is inline/readable or called. If inline readable, I might be able to determine the function that disabled the right mouse button.

Sending myself reminder message now. :) -G

[Rson]

Code:

"<script language="JavaScript">
// distributed by http://hypergurl.com <!-- var popup="Sorry, right-click
is disabled.\n\nThis Site Copyright ©2000"; function noway(go) { if
(document.all) { if (event.button == 2) { alert(popup); return false; } } if (document.layers)
{ if (go.which == 3) { alert(popup); return false; } } } if (document.layers)
{ document.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEDOWN); } document.onmousedown=noway; // -->
</script>"

[BEphoto]

blah, i just tried inserting that script but my work computer still has IE6 installed and squarespace require a newer version of the browser. Web Marshall denies me from installing the updates needed to install IE8, so i'll have to wait until i get home to try the right-click disable code. Going to try to get ahold of my IT guy here and see if he can at least update the browser. No excuse to have a 8 year old version of IE still installed.

I've always wondered why a lot of websites dont display properly on here, including my own.

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by BEphoto

Really though, it wouldn't bother me to have someone copy a pic to use as their desktop wallpaper or something.

If you do register your work with the copyright office, and embrace this philosophy, you may be shooting a hole in the bottom of your boat. If it can be shown you do not enforce your copyright, you may not be able to when the time comes that you want to.

This is not offered as legal advice, and I am not an attorney, but it has been said on PPA by those who are intimately aquainted with copyright and trademark protection.

Something to consider.

[BEphoto]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

If you do register your work with the copyright office, and embrace this philosophy, you may be shooting a hole in the bottom of your boat. If it can be shown you do not enforce your copyright, you may not be able to when the time comes that you want to.

This is not offered as legal advice, and I am not an attorney, but it has been said on PPA by those who are intimately aquainted with copyright and trademark protection.

Something to consider.

Very good point. Thanks for posting.

[alamoshutterbug]

If you do decide to register your images with the copyright office, expect a long wait. The NYT just did an article on the serious (like 18 month) backlog the copyright office is currently facing.

[PrinceOfEgypt]

Originally Posted by Rson

Code:

"<script language="JavaScript">
// distributed by http://hypergurl.com <!-- var popup="Sorry, right-click
is disabled.\n\nThis Site Copyright ©2000"; function noway(go) { if
(document.all) { if (event.button == 2) { alert(popup); return false; } } if (document.layers)
{ if (go.which == 3) { alert(popup); return false; } } } if (document.layers)
{ document.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEDOWN); } document.onmousedown=noway; // -->
</script>"

Hey guys, some friendly advice on this (I work in web development)...

it takes less than 2 seconds to get around this type of thing. Any web developer plugin for firefox or ie has the ability to disable this type of javascript... I wouldn't count on it for stopping anybody willing to spend a few minutes researching how to get around it..