Integrity of Online Photo Processors

Some online photo processors like Shutterfly.com offer calendars of
your photos. I have a number of marketable (I think) images that I
would like to have made into calendars for friends and family.

However, I believe that once you upload an image, it can then go
anywhere & be used by anyone. I'm really skeptical of releasing
marketable images online. For calendar-sized photos, my files would
have to be large enough, so I couldn't upload low-res files. (When I do
submit these files for market, I'll send low-res files on CDR's to
prospects, then send high-res files on CDR's to buyers.)

Am I being too cautious, denying myself a service that I would like to
have? Anyone with experience/advice along this line?

In article .com,
"One4All" wrote:

Some online photo processors like Shutterfly.com offer calendars of
your photos. I have a number of marketable (I think) images that I
would like to have made into calendars for friends and family.

However, I believe that once you upload an image, it can then go
anywhere & be used by anyone. I'm really skeptical of releasing
marketable images online. For calendar-sized photos, my files would
have to be large enough, so I couldn't upload low-res files. (When I do
submit these files for market, I'll send low-res files on CDR's to
prospects, then send high-res files on CDR's to buyers.)

Am I being too cautious, denying myself a service that I would like to
have? Anyone with experience/advice along this line?

Have you sold a picture? In what way would you consider a picture
marketable? - as a screensaver, framed print or with a picture library?

The cash value of any picture is determined by what the buyer is willing
to pay not what the seller thinks its worth.

There is a lot of software out there (free and otherwise) for producing
calendars, what you need is at least an A3 printer, preferably A2 or the
services of some company like Shutterfly. If you really don't want your
pictures used by another then don't give them away to your family or
anyone else for that matter.

Forget the saleability stuff. Sorry I mentioned it. This time of year
people are uploading images to online processors for cards, calendars,
albums, etc., to use as gifts. Obviously, we want to upload our best
stuff, some of which may be marketable, whether according to our own
vanity or perceived by someone on staff at the processor.

What I want to know is whether anyone has any advice/experience the
trustworthiness of these processors. Should the buyer beware?

One4All wrote:
Some online photo processors like Shutterfly.com offer calendars of
your photos. I have a number of marketable (I think) images that I
would like to have made into calendars for friends and family.

However, I believe that once you upload an image, it can then go
anywhere & be used by anyone. I'm really skeptical of releasing
marketable images online. For calendar-sized photos, my files would
have to be large enough, so I couldn't upload low-res files. (When I do
submit these files for market, I'll send low-res files on CDR's to
prospects, then send high-res files on CDR's to buyers.)

Am I being too cautious, denying myself a service that I would like to
have? Anyone with experience/advice along this line?

I was considering www.snapfish.com for printing photos until I read
this gen in the agreement...

Accordingly, as a condition to your Membership, you hereby grant
Snapfish a perpetual, universal, non-exclusive, royalty-free right
to copy, display, modify, transmit, make derivative works of and
distribute your Content, solely for the purpose of providing the
Service. As a condition to Membership, you represent and warrant
to Snapfish that you either own your Content or have written
permission from the copyright owner to make such Content available
to the Service.

Sorry, but I do not see how SnapFish/HP needs ownership of my photos
in order to make prints.

--
Ray Fischer

On 10 Dec 2005 05:02:23 -0800, (Ray Fischer)
wrote:

One4All wrote:
Some online photo processors like Shutterfly.com offer calendars of
your photos. I have a number of marketable (I think) images that I
would like to have made into calendars for friends and family.

However, I believe that once you upload an image, it can then go
anywhere & be used by anyone. I'm really skeptical of releasing
marketable images online. For calendar-sized photos, my files would
have to be large enough, so I couldn't upload low-res files. (When I do
submit these files for market, I'll send low-res files on CDR's to
prospects, then send high-res files on CDR's to buyers.)

Am I being too cautious, denying myself a service that I would like to
have? Anyone with experience/advice along this line?

I was considering www.snapfish.com for printing photos until I read
this gen in the agreement...

Accordingly, as a condition to your Membership, you hereby grant
Snapfish a perpetual, universal, non-exclusive, royalty-free right
to copy, display, modify, transmit, make derivative works of and
distribute your Content, solely for the purpose of providing the
Service. As a condition to Membership, you represent and warrant
to Snapfish that you either own your Content or have written
permission from the copyright owner to make such Content available
to the Service.

Sorry, but I do not see how SnapFish/HP needs ownership of my photos
in order to make prints.

I don't see them asking for ownership, but only for those rights
necessary "for the purpose of providing the Service."
The rights they are asking for are non-exclusive (which rules out
ownership right there), and cover those things that need to be done to
provide the service the user asks Snapfish to perform.
And Snapfish limits those rights "*SOLEY* (emphasis mine) for the
purpose of providing the Service."
I don't see that as ownership of the images.
I can understand the idea that the rights asked for *could* be used
for other purposes than to merely provide the services the users ask
for, except that in this case Snapfish specifically limits their
rights to what's needed to provide that service.

I have seen other sites that actually say they have, by virtue of the
user providing images, the actual ownership of those images, and the
user has no right to make any claim against the service for use of
those images.
I think Snapfish got it pretty right here.

--
Bill Funk
Replace "g" with "a"
funktionality.blogspot.com