Orphan Works: Meta Tagging

Don't let your images become orphans! Orphan Works as defined by Public Knowledge are "copyrighted works — books, music, records, films, etc — whose owner cannot be located. " This means that if you post your imagery on the web without tagging it and someone else copies it, and then another person copies that person's copy, you are out of luck and have just let go of the proverbial balloon. Bye bye...
Tagging your imagery BEFORE you put it on the web is crucial! How, you might ask, does one do this? Any RAW processing software such as Aperture or Lightroom can do this as can PhotoShop. In PhotoShop you can find it under "File -- File Info." You will want to at least tag every image with your name, contact info, and copyright notice. Copyright notice? What should be written there, you might ask.
Simply: Copyrighted Image. All Rights Reserved.
More Thouroughly: Copyrighted Image. All Rights Reserved. Photo copyright © by Jen O’Sullivan and Save The Date Photography. The client only is granted limited usage for an unlimited amount of time of all photographs for private and personal use only. Image files are non-transferable and cannot be given, shared, or sold to any third party. Commercial use is strictly prohibited and punishable by a fine of no less than three times the commercial usage worth of the photo which is unlawfully used. Web sharing of low resolution imagery is okay but must contain photo credit and the file size must be no bigger than 4x6 inch at 72dpi. Credit must read: "Photo by Jen O'Sullivan of Save The Date Photo" Please contact Jen O'Sullivan at jen@savethedatephoto.com for inquiries.

That is how my images are tagged. If you have not tagged your images before I suggest starting now. To back tag hundreds of imagery might seem overwhelming so you might just tag the "money" shots: those shots that everyone seems to like the most. You know which ones they are! You can also easily batch tag thousands of imagery in Lightroom, PhotoShop, or Aperture.

Tag your stuff. We don't want a bunch of Olivers out there!