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« on: February 15, 2013, 09:08 »
I have been very surprised to day when I search for "my name" on google image.
All the photos that I have put on FAA appears in the first pages.
The photos are all 900 pixels large, and without any watermark.
If these images cannot be stollen to be used for printing that require high-resolution images (magazines, etc), they can be esaly stollen to be used on the web where a 900 pixels large size fits to 90% of the needs (blogs, news etc.)
I wrote to FAA to tell them that I find absolutely not normal, and not correct, that these images can be available to Google in such size and without watermark.
They very gently answer me that:
"I am afraid, if you wish your images removed from Google then you must take them off the internet or add them to a passworded folder.
Google is a search engine and it is how people find our art and where most customers come from. Google searches all sites and grabs the images, with the link, for people to find when looking for art in that subject. Whatever site you add your images to for sale will work in the same way.
The images Google have are the same images you are showing on your profile pages. No larger.
We cannot stop Google from visiting one artist out of the whole site.
Unfortunately no site can protect work from thieves who are adamant on having an image that is on their page."
Of course I know how Google grabs images around, but images from other sites that you can find on Google are not so large and are marked with a watermark.
I know that the watermark on an image is not a very big material protection (it is very easy to remove), but it can be a moral protection, as images without a watermark could (can) be considered as free image for the most of the internet users.
So, what to do?