Historic aerial photos
- Thread starter Boyd
- Start date
teegate said:
Guy, I don't want to highjack this thread. See my response here: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=4144&highlight=mary
Most likely because of the time someone took stitching the images together and the site took time to build.
Wow this is cool, Great to see the cornfields that my house now is.
Thank you for finding and posting this.
BB
Reasonable, but the watermarks are very distracting, and they don't really add to the IP protection. As you allude, the value is in the site tools not the imagery itself.
If there's an option to register and have the watermarks removed that would be nice.
That's great. Still doesn't give you the right to claim copyright to something that's in the public domain.
Bruset,
I don't want to take this thread in to a legal discussion but as a quick explanation regarding public domain, raw imagery (non-georeferenced individual photos) obtained through government offices is in the public domain and is available at a cost through government agencies such as the USDA and USGS (see links at the bottom of our web page). While the raw imagery is in public domain, value-added product is not. In addition the methods to process the imagery and the business model and technology to search for and deliver the product can be copyrighted. Also, not all of the imagery was government contracted and therefore public domain does not apply. We're sorry if you find the watermark displeasing but it helps to reduce the amount of abuse and therefore making a better experience for users such as you. If you prefer not to have the watermarks, all of the imagery on HistoricAerials.com can be purchased without watermarks with other benfits including a choice of sizes.
Thank you for the feedback. As we continue to develop more features and add imagery to the site, input from users is invaluable and greatly appreciated. I will be out of the office for a short time and on my return I'll be starting a new phase of our project. As such I may not be able to respond to questions directly. Please direct future questions and comments by clicking on the "Something Unusual? Tell Us!!!" link on the upper right corner of the web page. Myself or another HistoricAerials.com staff member would be happy to respond.
I don't want to take this thread in to a legal discussion but as a quick explanation regarding public domain, raw imagery (non-georeferenced individual photos) obtained through government offices is in the public domain and is available at a cost through government agencies such as the USDA and USGS (see links at the bottom of our web page). While the raw imagery is in public domain, value-added product is not. In addition the methods to process the imagery and the business model and technology to search for and deliver the product can be copyrighted. Also, not all of the imagery was government contracted and therefore public domain does not apply. We're sorry if you find the watermark displeasing but it helps to reduce the amount of abuse and therefore making a better experience for users such as you. If you prefer not to have the watermarks, all of the imagery on HistoricAerials.com can be purchased without watermarks with other benfits including a choice of sizes.
Thank you for the feedback. As we continue to develop more features and add imagery to the site, input from users is invaluable and greatly appreciated. I will be out of the office for a short time and on my return I'll be starting a new phase of our project. As such I may not be able to respond to questions directly. Please direct future questions and comments by clicking on the "Something Unusual? Tell Us!!!" link on the upper right corner of the web page. Myself or another HistoricAerials.com staff member would be happy to respond.
I understand that there is a business cost involved with supplying the imagery, and a cost in developing the technology, storage of the data, etc. and that you want credit for that. I'm in the same exact situation with this site. There is a lot of public domain material on this site. Some of it I will watermark, but not with any sort of mark that implies that I own copyright on it.
Do you differentiate between imagery that is in the Public Domain and not in the public domain when you generate the watermark? The data that is not in the public domain, did you purchase the copyright for it?
I don't mind the gray watermark with the name of the site on it. That's perfectly reasonable. But watermarking the image with a (c) NETR, LLC implies that the image itself is copyrighted by you, when there are certain instances that it is not.
I don't want to disparage what you're doing -- it's a terrific service and will be invaluable to people interested in history. The double watermark, and the incorrectly copyrighted public domain material just doesn't look good.
Do you differentiate between imagery that is in the Public Domain and not in the public domain when you generate the watermark? The data that is not in the public domain, did you purchase the copyright for it?
I don't mind the gray watermark with the name of the site on it. That's perfectly reasonable. But watermarking the image with a (c) NETR, LLC implies that the image itself is copyrighted by you, when there are certain instances that it is not.
I don't want to disparage what you're doing -- it's a terrific service and will be invaluable to people interested in history. The double watermark, and the incorrectly copyrighted public domain material just doesn't look good.
I would seriously consider paying for an offline version that I could load on my own computer and not be slowed down by download.
I'm not a huge fan of the click-n-drill nav method either, but it probably reflects the spotty coverage they currently have. When you start out looking at a map of the U.S., just letting you scroll in wouldn't be that useful.
Since I started this site, I've had to become familiar with copyright law - not only to protect myself, but to understand what I could and couldn't make available on the site.
This site has a pretty good laymans explanation of what you can and can't do with claiming copyright on public domain works.
I posted this just in case anybody thought that I was out of line with that guy. I like his service and would like to see their business succeed. But the restrictions that they place on their images (you can't do a screen grab and then post it here, for example) are (IMHO) not legal, and people should be aware of their rights when they use services like these.
This site has a pretty good laymans explanation of what you can and can't do with claiming copyright on public domain works.
I posted this just in case anybody thought that I was out of line with that guy. I like his service and would like to see their business succeed. But the restrictions that they place on their images (you can't do a screen grab and then post it here, for example) are (IMHO) not legal, and people should be aware of their rights when they use services like these.