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Should We All As Website owners make our sites right click disabled?

by gabbydeb
21 replies
I am really bummed today. I have been following the Pinterest fiasco, and I felt like I could come here and express my feelings, to my fellow Warriors. I have been reading the blogs, and the legal discussions that have been taking place.

I can't believe some of the things that people are posting about how the internet is just a big social and sharing medium, in other words, it is just a big free candy store, and if they want to help themselves to your images and or content, they have that right to help themselves, and if the website owner doesn't like it, perhaps they should take their stuff off of the internet, or disable right click save, for their website.

I have a terms of use statement, and copyright notices, on my websites, but oh well, who needs to concern themselves with that, when they just want that darling image for their pin board. Their rationalization is they are bringing all this traffic to one's site, so why should that person be all upset over it.

Well for me personally, I have images on my site that are licensed to me, or I have permission to use, but I can't pass on the right for someone else to use an image, so if someone were to come to my site, and want to pin something, they may be pinning an image that doesn't belong to me.

Sure our terms of use statements protect us, but I don't want to go through all the hassle of going after someone that have pinned stuff, from my site. It is a negative use of time, so I am wondering if we website owners need to just start disabling right click.

Also, I wanted to start a facebook banner service, of making banners for people, to make some extra money. Well since Facebook takes ownership of everything, and if my understanding is right they can strip your work of watermarks and copyright info, so why create graphics and put them on Facebook?.. and Pinterest does the same thing. They own your content that you upload, so what makes a person think they can pin what does not belong to them and then have Pinterest own it?

I guess that is my rant. Sometimes in our efforts to have our online business we just run into all this stuff. I was reading a lawyer's blogwho is also a photographer, and She says the copyright laws have to catch up with all the online technology and social type sites.

Regards,
Debbie
#click #disabled #make #owners #sites #website
  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by gabbydeb View Post

    I am wondering if we website owners need to just start disabling right click.
    What you need to do is get the hell over it, because good luck disabling this.



    (In other news, this image wasn't captured with the snipping tool because the snipping tool can't capture system menus and tooltips... so even if you did manage to disable it somehow...)

    What you are seeing is that not only are more and more people discovering that you can do this, but they increasingly do not believe it is wrong.

    Even though many - possibly most - of them understand it's illegal, it's illegal in pretty much the same way it's illegal to give a goat a bath in Kentucky: sure, the law's on the books, but who the hell cares? They'll only arrest you if you're ostentatiously bathing thousands of goats on the side of the highway or something. Nobody's going to give a crap if you bathe your little herd of four goats.

    So if you've got a goat-bathing business that depends on people in Kentucky driving over the state line and paying you to bathe their goats, that is becoming a more and more stupid business model and you'd probably better get started changing it.

    (None of this is to say that anyone has the right to do this crap with your site. They don't have the right, it is illegal, and it is both morally and ethically wrong. But they won't stop and you can't stop them, so just suck it up.)
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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    • Profile picture of the author gabbydeb
      Thank you for your insight. You are right. I mean really, what am I going to about it anyway?.. It sort of makes a person think, well geeze, why did I spend so much time and trouble finding images that are copyright free for my personal and commercial use, when all I had to do is just go and lift any image I wanted off the internet, and if the owner didn't like it, well that's just their problem. LOL I wouldn't do that of course, because I do have respect for the hard work of others. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to give me your thoughts on the subject.



      Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

      What you need to do is get the hell over it, because good luck disabling this.



      (In other news, this image wasn't captured with the snipping tool because the snipping tool can't capture system menus and tooltips... so even if you did manage to disable it somehow...)

      What you are seeing is that not only are more and more people discovering that you can do this, but they increasingly do not believe it is wrong.

      Even though many - possibly most - of them understand it's illegal, it's illegal in pretty much the same way it's illegal to give a goat a bath in Kentucky: sure, the law's on the books, but who the hell cares? They'll only arrest you if you're ostentatiously bathing thousands of goats on the side of the highway or something. Nobody's going to give a crap if you bathe your little herd of four goats.

      So if you've got a goat-bathing business that depends on people in Kentucky driving over the state line and paying you to bathe their goats, that is becoming a more and more stupid business model and you'd probably better get started changing it.

      (None of this is to say that anyone has the right to do this crap with your site. They don't have the right, it is illegal, and it is both morally and ethically wrong. But they won't stop and you can't stop them, so just suck it up.)
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by gabbydeb View Post

        why did I spend so much time and trouble finding images that are copyright free for my personal and commercial use, when all I had to do is just go and lift any image I wanted
        Because that is wrong.

        You can't make other people do right, but you do get to control yourself.

        And the reality is that doing right makes things harder. You have to work a little more, and pay a little more, and that means you put less in your pocket at the end of the day.

        Which is why we say the love of money is the root of all evil. It starts small; you cut a corner here and a corner there, shave a little on this edge, trim a little off that side, and before you know it you're on bluefart sites asking what the best spambots and scrapers are these days.

        Because on some level, you have to believe that it's worth it. Which can be hard, day after day, year after year, especially when you can see your less-ethical friends zooming ahead on a rocket-powered sleigh of forum spam and stolen content.

        So it's up to you. To each of us, really. What's important? Is it the money? The competition? The ego?

        Or is it, you know, what you're doing?

        And the LORD said unto Cain: "Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin croucheth at the door; and unto thee is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it."
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        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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        • Profile picture of the author gabbydeb
          CDarklock,

          I would never go and take someone else's content. I was just ranting that sometimes you get the idea that why did I do all the right things, and took the time and trouble to find images that are copyright free, when everybody else just helps themselves to what they want. That is all I meant. I mean I know how much hard work I have put into my internet marketing adventure, and I sure wouldn't take the fruits of someone else's hard work. I guess one of the first things you should learn in life, is don't take what doesn't belong to you! LOL
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          • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
            Originally Posted by gabbydeb View Post

            I would never go and take someone else's content. I was just ranting
            I know, but there's always the core of a real question behind the rant.

            I mean, I ask it. Hardly a month goes by that I don't reflect on the reality that if I were just a little less honest, I could make a lot more money.

            So I need that answer myself. I'm pretty sure there are others here who could use it, too.
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            "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author Halcyon
    I agree that there is no 100% effective method of protecting your content but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take preventative steps where and when you can.

    Just as with home burglary there is nothing you can do to stop the act of thievery but you can make your house less of a target. The more steps a thief has to use to get your stuff the more likely he/she is to move on to an easier victim.

    Of course nothing can stop the determined thief but most thieves are just looking for an easy way to get what they want. I say make'em work for it.
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    • Profile picture of the author gabbydeb
      Hi Halcyon,

      You bring up some really good points. Thank you! I kind of think in that direction myself, but like it has been pointed out, they can get around it,
      and I guess, for my honest visitors, who wouldn't think of stealing content, I would be making harder for them to, to enjoy my website, for example, one of the things that I like when I visit a website, is the ability to right click and bookmark that site, because I have found it interesting. I could go up to the drop down menu and bookmark it, but right clicking is so much faster, at least for me, so I like for visitors to have that experience also.
      I guess really it comes down to this, having a website that is user friendly for my honest visitors, and not get all in a tizzy because someone thinks they have a right to my stuff.

      You know I have this idea, that just ocurred to me. I wonder if creating a page that would attract Pinners, would do the trick?... I mean if you could create a page like that, you would get crazy traffic, and they could just pin away, you know make it a win win situation. Possibly with the right SEO for the page, so it would show up for keywords the pinners would be using to find a site for the stuff they want to pin, and your page could be created just for pinners. Crazy Idea possibly. hmmm

      Originally Posted by Halcyon View Post

      I agree that there is no 100% effective method of protecting your content but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take preventative steps where and when you can.

      Just as with home burglary there is nothing you can do to stop the act of thievery but you can make your house less of a target. The more steps a thief has to use to get your stuff the more likely he/she is to move on to an easier victim.

      Of course nothing can stop the determined thief but most thieves are just looking for an easy way to get what they want. I say make'em work for it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Emily B
        Originally Posted by gabbydeb View Post

        You know I have this idea, that just ocurred to me. I wonder if creating a page that would attract Pinners, would do the trick?... I mean if you could create a page like that, you would get crazy traffic, and they could just pin away, you know make it a win win situation. Possibly with the right SEO for the page, so it would show up for keywords the pinners would be using to find a site for the stuff they want to pin, and your page could be created just for pinners. Crazy Idea possibly. hmmm
        I think that it's a good idea to try and take advantage of the situation. Instead of being hung up on how wrong it is (which of course, it is) you should try and see how you can profit from this.
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        • Profile picture of the author gabbydeb
          Thank you Emily,

          For your support! When I started my post here, I was just so bummed, but I knew my fellow warriors would be a great support, and when I started typing this idea that I posted came to me. The Warrior forum can't be beat.

          Regards,
          Debbie

          Originally Posted by Emily B View Post

          I think that it's a good idea to try and take advantage of the situation. Instead of being hung up on how wrong it is (which of course, it is) you should try and see how you can profit from this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
    People could still easy check your page source via hotkeys or their browser menu then find the image in the course. Or simply capture a sceenshot then crop the image.
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    Originally Posted by gabbydeb View Post

    Well for me personally, I have images on my site that are licensed to me, or I have permission to use, but I can't pass on the right for someone else to use an image, so if someone were to come to my site, and want to pin something, they may be pinning an image that doesn't belong to me.
    If you only license the photos and don't own them, how do you tell whether the photo used elsewhere is properly licensed or stolen?

    Presuming it is stolen, how do you know it was stolen from you and not another licensee?

    If you don't own the photos why do you worry about this?

    You say website owners can do nothing, but that isn't true. From what I read here, many are very successful in sending a DMCA Takedown request to the offending site's host. There are even WSOs to help you do this.

    I also don't know why Pinterest has suddenly become the example of copyright infringment when sites like YouTube and Tumblr have been using the "users submitting content they don't own" model for years.

    Mahlon
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    • Profile picture of the author gabbydeb
      The images that I use that I have permission to use or I have license to use, actually belong to the people that I get the images from. One of the people that I get the images from, I had to pay for a webmaster license to use her images on a commercial site, which of course my websites are.

      This is the only reason I said what I did. YouTube is running into copyright infringement trouble here and there, and I haven't used the other website you speak of, but Pinterest's business model is one where they are actually encouraging their users to go and find content on the internet, that they find interesting. From what I have seen of the way they do things, they are actually putting it on the shoulders of content and image owners, to prove and show to them, that a copyright infringement has been committed. At least that is the way it looks to me. Their TOU is a nightmare for their pinners, and if the users would actually read it,
      they would take their pin boards down so fast, it would make Pinterest's
      head spin. I like the idea they have, but I think it is going to have to be
      tweaked a bit, to make it a little more pinner friendly, as far as legal
      matters go, and more fair to image and content users.

      These thoughts are just mine own opinion of course.




      Originally Posted by onSubie View Post

      If you only license the photos and don't own them, how do you tell whether the photo used elsewhere is properly licensed or stolen?

      Presuming it is stolen, how do you know it was stolen from you and not another licensee?

      If you don't own the photos why do you worry about this?

      You say website owners can do nothing, but that isn't true. From what I read here, many are very successful in sending a DMCA Takedown request to the offending site's host. There are even WSOs to help you do this.

      I also don't know why Pinterest has suddenly become the example of copyright infringment when sites like YouTube and Tumblr have been using the "users submitting content they don't own" model for years.

      Mahlon
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      • Profile picture of the author onSubie
        Originally Posted by gabbydeb View Post

        The images that I use that I have permission to use or I have license to use, actually belong to the people that I get the images from. One of the people that I get the images from, I had to pay for a webmaster license to use her images on a commercial site, which of course my websites are.
        In that case they would (hopefully) not get copied around as much. And I can see why Pinterest would be a worry because a unique image on a single site can be recopied on Pinterest many times providing lots of leaks for unauthorized copies.

        Pinterest provides code to prevent people from 'pinning'. But I don't know how well it really works and it doesn't prevent someone from copy the image to their PC and then re-uploading it somewhere.

        In your case, or an original artist's, it would be worth it to put some image/r-click protection. It won't prevent copying completly but it will reduce it and there are few digital sources for those pictures.

        ... I think it is going to have to be tweaked a bit, to make it a little more pinner friendly, as far as legal matters go, and more fair to image and content users.

        These thoughts are just mine own opinion of course.
        Of course.

        I wonder if the original purpose of Pinterest has been marred by Marketers. It was designed to be a visual way of sharing favourite links. A pinned image retains a link back to the source.

        If I post a link to a web page on my facebook wall, facebook automatically grabs an image from that URL to use as a thumbnail. If the page I link to has more than one image, facebook lets me choose which to use for the thumbnail. Same as Pinterest.

        Everyone is concerned about facebook privacy, but I have never read a concern about copyright issues from the tumbnails shown with link snippets. How is this different (from a legal copyright point-of-view) from what Pinterest does, a visual representation of a link by using an image from the linked page?

        Mahlon
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  • Profile picture of the author Arctek
    In terms of preventing people using a pinterest bookmarklet you can add the following to your site:

    <meta name="pinterest" content="nopin" />
    Of course this wont prevent people who really want to steal your content.
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