Orphan Works
Orphan works are posts, words, illustration and images that can be used ( and resold) by publisher without paying the original producer/ copyright owner, because the owner can not be found. There has been a lot of posts and scaremongering ( great post BTW) on the net about changes in the law, and I doubt it will affect most photographers, but it is worth being vigilant.
In a thread on the recent Orphan works law in the UK it was pointed out that if your images are in a searchable form on-line, like on your own website, then they should show up in any “diligent search”. I can’t think of any better reason to put my images in one site, I control. They are not Orphans if they are on my site.
I am a strong supporter of the Symbiostock network and think it may have a great impact on how Photographers sell stock images. It also is set-up in such a way that google finds your images! It is easy to set-up and use, so if I am going to have my images on-line, I might as well be selling them there as well.
Why not just use “free” photosharing sites to store my images?
As I mention in my Digital Share Cropping Post I want to make income from my images, not just enrich the people who own the the big sites.
Are Orphan works Legislations the end of copyright? I don’t think so.
Will having my images on my own site protect me? I don’t know, but it can’t hurt
