DTB content being stolen

[SBell]

Yeah, there are ways to copy the text and images for anyone who wants to put in the effort. At the end of the day it's just public html and image files so it's impossible to completely stop someone stealing it.

I understand and it's a shame considering the quality of the reviews
Random idea : what do you think about adding DTB watermarks on the pictures ?^^

I would be opposed to watermarks. As I put in the effort to create my reviews I did so with the intention that they be free use content.

As someone that has, more than once, needed to have my images pulled down from eBay auctions, I personally appreciate at least adding a difficulty to copying. It's fine if people want to see the photos or use them as reference, but that's my work and I didn't make it for others to use for sales and scams.

[BlueKrono]

Yeah, there are ways to copy the text and images for anyone who wants to put in the effort. At the end of the day it's just public html and image files so it's impossible to completely stop someone stealing it.

I understand and it's a shame considering the quality of the reviews
Random idea : what do you think about adding DTB watermarks on the pictures ?^^

I would be opposed to watermarks. As I put in the effort to create my reviews I did so with the intention that they be free use content.

You really don't mind if someone copy-pastes your reviews from the Dinosaur Toy Blog onto their own website?

I mind!

What's to stop them? Or from doing the same with an article in the New York Times written by a professional? DTB reviews are not copyrighted material; why are we suddenly treating them as though they are? In posting reviews on the internet at large I am striving to spread knowledge of something that I find interesting. I am very grateful to all the others who have done the same. Maybe there's some technological wizardry I'm not aware of, but I've yet to come across a website that I couldn't copy information from. Photos are even easier: I usually just take a screenshot. The only way I can think of to prevent such actions would be to make the site very, VERY private.

[DinoToyForum]

Yeah, there are ways to copy the text and images for anyone who wants to put in the effort. At the end of the day it's just public html and image files so it's impossible to completely stop someone stealing it.

I understand and it's a shame considering the quality of the reviews
Random idea : what do you think about adding DTB watermarks on the pictures ?^^

I would be opposed to watermarks. As I put in the effort to create my reviews I did so with the intention that they be free use content.

You really don't mind if someone copy-pastes your reviews from the Dinosaur Toy Blog onto their own website?

I mind!

What's to stop them? Or from doing the same with an article in the New York Times written by a professional?

We can't stop them, but we can (and have) made it more difficult for them to steal. And with some degree of success. Some of the stolen articles now show "?" where the image would be, because I was able to stop the images being hot-linked.  The sites doing the stealing usually get taken down after a while because they steal from places more litigious than the DTB!

DTB reviews are not copyrighted material; why are we suddenly treating them as though they are?

Because they are. Copyright in the digital age is a bit of a minefield, but my understanding is that all creative content is automatically granted copyright to the creator/source. So, all content on the Dinosaur Toy Blog is implicitly copyrighted to the Dinosaur Toy Blog. As far as I'm concerned the rights for guest reviews is non-exclusive, in that the reviewers also retain the right to repost their reviews elsewhere if they want to. But that doesn't give everyone else the right to take content from the DinoToyBlog without permission.

I think posts on social media (and forums) are copyrighted to the poster, not the site (unless the platform specifies otherwise), which is why I'm legally obliged to provide forum members with an option to download all of their content.

In posting reviews on the internet at large I am striving to spread knowledge of something that I find interesting. I am very grateful to all the others who have done the same.

Me too! But the thieves are not taking our content because they want to spread it. They are taking it to pass it off as their own to give their dodgy websites a sense of legitimacy, and make money out of it. This hurts the DinoToyBlog in the process.

Maybe there's some technological wizardry I'm not aware of, but I've yet to come across a website that I couldn't copy information from. Photos are even easier: I usually just take a screenshot. The only way I can think of to prevent such actions would be to make the site very, VERY private.

The thieves are lazy. They (or scripts) do the bare minimum of work when they steal the content by scraping. So, when there are hoops to jump through, even simple hoops like the ones I've implemented on the DTB, they often opt to steal from somewhere else instead.

You can't stop a highly committed burglar but it's still sensible to lock your door.

[andrewsaurus rex]

The best you can do is keep honest people honest by making it more difficult for people to steal.  Anyone really determined will find a way around any block.

However, legal action is an option, at least in Canada.  If someone even uses another person's text messages for their own purposes, usually to make money in some way, they are in violation of the law and can be sued for damages and compensation.

[Halichoeres]

Yeah, and with watermarks, it won't stop a really committed plagiarist, but it at least make it so if they're doing it in a lazy way, the original source is still clear. How hard would it be to apply a watermark to all the images hosted on DTB, though?

[DinoToyForum]

Yeah, and with watermarks, it won't stop a really committed plagiarist, but it at least make it so if they're doing it in a lazy way, the original source is still clear. How hard would it be to apply a watermark to all the images hosted on DTB, though?

I experimented with automated watermarks a while back but found the results to be too distracting/ugly. Manually placing the watermarks or credit works better as it gives greater control, and I did this in the early days for the AnimalToyForum, see below. But it was manually intensive, and I gave up in the end. It's just not practical to implement manual watermarks retrospectively, and automating the process can produce messy results.

[Protopatch]

I experimented with automated watermarks a while back but found the results to be too distracting/ugly. Manually placing the watermarks or credit works better as it gives greater control, and I did this in the early days for the AnimalToyForum, see below. But it was manually intensive, and I gave up in the end. It's just not practical to implement manual watermarks retrospectively, and automating the process can produce messy results.

In my opinion, it would be easy to crop this pic in order to just keep the figure's part.
What do you think about a more translucent diagonal watermark, if it's technically possible (via Powerpoint for example) ?

[Gwangi]

I've never felt protective of my photographs before. They're just pictures of toys, generally on a folding tray table, under an ordinary lamp. They're sufficient for the reviews but hardly something to be protective of. It's my written reviews that I worry more about. I don't even save the pictures after posting the reviews but the reviews themselves are all on an external hard drive. But for folks who put a lot into their photographs (like Sbell with his dioramas) then I certainly understand the concern.

[SBell]

I experimented with automated watermarks a while back but found the results to be too distracting/ugly. Manually placing the watermarks or credit works better as it gives greater control, and I did this in the early days for the AnimalToyForum, see below. But it was manually intensive, and I gave up in the end. It's just not practical to implement manual watermarks retrospectively, and automating the process can produce messy results.

In my opinion, it would be easy to crop this pic in order to just keep the figure's part.
What do you think about a more translucent diagonal watermark, if it's technically possible (via Powerpoint for example) ?

I've tried that before, but those ones interfere too much with the actual image.

[Protopatch]

I experimented with automated watermarks a while back but found the results to be too distracting/ugly. Manually placing the watermarks or credit works better as it gives greater control, and I did this in the early days for the AnimalToyForum, see below. But it was manually intensive, and I gave up in the end. It's just not practical to implement manual watermarks retrospectively, and automating the process can produce messy results.

In my opinion, it would be easy to crop this pic in order to just keep the figure's part.
What do you think about a more translucent diagonal watermark, if it's technically possible (via Powerpoint for example) ?

I've tried that before, but those ones interfere too much with the actual image.

Tried this morning with PP, it took only 2 minutes to add the watermarks and download the jpeg file :
 


It is just a test, of course

[SBell]

I experimented with automated watermarks a while back but found the results to be too distracting/ugly. Manually placing the watermarks or credit works better as it gives greater control, and I did this in the early days for the AnimalToyForum, see below. But it was manually intensive, and I gave up in the end. It's just not practical to implement manual watermarks retrospectively, and automating the process can produce messy results.

In my opinion, it would be easy to crop this pic in order to just keep the figure's part.
What do you think about a more translucent diagonal watermark, if it's technically possible (via Powerpoint for example) ?

I've tried that before, but those ones interfere too much with the actual image.

Tried this morning with PP, it took only 2 minutes to add the watermarks and download the jpeg file :
 


It is just a test, of course

That one's not too bad, but they bother some people.

There's also the issue of actually doing it, I doubt there's a way to add them automatically through the site, so every reviewer would have to do it themselves--not everyone has the same digital tools, or even the will to do it, and it can't fall on the site administrators because that's just so much time

[Protopatch]

That one's not too bad, but they bother some people.

Do you mean the overlay ?
The template is in PowerPoint format so the watermarks could be moved/rotated at your convenience easily and quickly anywhere on the slide, and the main picture directly replaced by other ones saved in your computer.

There's also the issue of actually doing it, I doubt there's a way to add them automatically through the site, so every reviewer would have to do it themselves--not everyone has the same digital tools, or even the will to do it, and it can't fall on the site administrators because that's just so much time

Of course, for those of the reviewers who wish to protect their content.

The idea being that if a malicious person is able to copy/paste a full review, at least the pictures would become unusable.
Trust me, I don't have strong computer skills however, it takes barely 1 mn per picture once you have a basic template 

[SBell]

That one's not too bad, but they bother some people.

Do you mean the overlay ?
The template is in PowerPoint format so the watermarks could be moved/rotated at your convenience easily and quickly anywhere on the slide, and the main picture directly replaced by other ones saved in your computer.

There's also the issue of actually doing it, I doubt there's a way to add them automatically through the site, so every reviewer would have to do it themselves--not everyone has the same digital tools, or even the will to do it, and it can't fall on the site administrators because that's just so much time

Of course, for those of the reviewers who wish to protect their content.

The idea being that if a malicious person is able to copy/paste a full review, at least the pictures would become unusable.
Trust me, I don't have strong computer skills however, it takes barely 1 mn per picture once you have a basic template 

I have a desktop program that I used to use for my personal blog. Don't bother anymore though

[DinoToyForum]

Stock image sites heavily watermark their images like that to stop people stealing them, but their business is selling the images. Sites that use images to illustrate their articles (news sites and blogs) don't have disruptive watermarks because the images are there to be looked at and enjoyed. Instead, they often have a credit in the corner.

I think it's not a big enough problem to justify watermarking. I appreciate the suggestions though. 

[Protopatch]

I think it's not a big enough problem to justify watermarking. I appreciate the suggestions though. 

Good ! Always a pleasure on my end to exchange about potential new ideas with people