watermarking sponsor's content

[SmithsMedia]

Originally Posted by ecchi

A photo is automatically the copyright of the photographer unless they have sold that right on (eg to your sponsor). Whoever has copyright has final say in what can and cannot be done to it. If they say "you can use this photo to advertise our site" then you can do that, and only that. The way the law runs is that altering it and publishing it (even on a website) is assumed banned unless the copyright holder gives you permission to do so. In other words, if he don't say you can, he means you cannot, and the law is on his side if he catches you.

Do you like your house? Your car? Your stereo, TV, DVD? And everything else you own? I hope not, because if you practise this theory and you are caught, you are going to have to sell the lot to cover court costs and what you will owe the copyright owner.

However I cannot understand why sponsors do not allow this. As I said in a previous post, I allow affiliates to watermark my content with my site's URL and their affiliate code. When I mentioned this point in my sig on another board, with a link to my affiliate program I got a hell of a lot of sign ups (several times what I got doing the same thing but promising high profits)

The first quote reads really bad - I have expressed a view - by expressing a view I was being told I was could be branded as a possible cheat - let me stress this is my view.

Now what you are saying in your second para here is pretty much why I talk to sponsors before I begin work on anything. You do the right thing letting people stamp the images. People joined because they could make galleries for you and not loose out on the type ins, flexibility in a sponsor is all good