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| Cynthia Maria Waterman Webster |
Yesterday morning while I was making breakfast, I had a thought. What if, many, many years from now, a future descendant of mine comes across my blog and wants to download the many ancestor photos I've shared here. Would that descendant be frustrated and disappointed that there was a copyright across the bottom of that treasured photo? Putting myself in their place, I'm sure I would be disappointed. Yes, I'd be thrilled to see the face of an ancestor, but at the same time, I would be annoyed about that copyright statement.
So, I've changed my mind about adding a copyright statement to my ancestors' photos that I share on my blog. This is a difficult decision because at the same time, I don't want unscrupulous people or companies coming along and stealing the precious photos of my ancestors and displaying them somewhere without my permission. But, in the spirit of collaboration and because of my desire to share these ancestor photos with my future descendants, and any present family members for that matter, I've decided to do away with placing a copyright statement on my ancestor photos. I will, however, be embedding metadata within these photos.
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| Cynthia Maria Waterman Webster |
Does this decision mean I'm done with copyright statements all together? No. I will likely still use them for any photographs I create and then subsequently use on my blog or on any other photos I think need a copyright statement. So, my previous post about how to watermark a photo using Windows Live Writer is still useful and relevant.
During the webinar, Metadata is Your Friend, with Denise Barrett Olson and Thomas MacEntee, dated February 13, 2013, Thomas said the following regarding the photos of his ancestors,
"I don’t own these images, I’m a steward for these images. I’m a caretaker for these images."That really struck me and caused me to think about this issue. But I hadn't actually changed my mind about this until yesterday, after I thought about the possibility of my future descendants discovering my blog and then wanting to download our shared ancestors' photos.
This is a personal decision that every blogger must make for themselves. But, for me, I think I've made the right decision about this issue. After all, I'm only the keeper of my ancestors' photos, not the owner.
What do you think?
Thanks for reading.
Jana
© 2013
