Adding Photographs / Copyright Reminder

posted by Ross Melnick on July 13, 2011 at 3:46 pm

Medium

Over the last six weeks our photo galleries have grown from nil to nearly 12,000 images. We’re absolutely thrilled by the response and we hope you’re enjoying them as much as we are. But …

We wanted to send a quick reminder, though, that all images uploaded to the site should be those belonging to you, images taken by others but posted with their authorization, or those images currently in the public domain (ideally pre-1922 photographs out of copyright).

Thanks for your understanding!

Comments (15)

Chris Utley
Chris Utley on July 14, 2011 at 10:54 am

I’ve noticed quite a few pics posted from other websites and publications as of late. Thanks for addressing this.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on July 14, 2011 at 7:27 pm

I’ve noticed the same, Chris. I don’t think the warning about uploading potentially copyrighted photos was made as clearly and emphatically as it might have been – in fact it most prominently appears as a “tip” and not a mandate. I’ve been trying to keep my uploads to personal photos or newspaper clippings in my possession only. If I come across a great old image on the net, I’m linking out to it in a comment the old fashioned way.

While we’re on the topic of uploads… Not sure if its the high volume of new photos, but lately I’ve been experiencing significant slowness on the site that frequently leads to a message stating “Cinema Treasures is having difficulties…” Usually, when I refresh, my upload or comment has gone through, but the slowdown has really put a damper on my adding more photos here the past couple of days. You guys aware of a server or traffic issue with the site? Thanks!

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick on July 14, 2011 at 9:10 pm

Thanks to you both for the comments. I have been going through the uploaded photos every day and when I see obvious violations I delete the images and email the uploader. It’s a really hard thing to patrol but I’ll keep shouting about it on the blog and patrolling the site. If you see anything else, please email me.

As for site slowdowns, we’re getting hit with Harry Potter traffic and trying to keep up. We’re working on maintaining capacity as we speak … thanks for your patience!

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on July 15, 2011 at 5:02 am

I would also respectfully request that people take the time to thoughtfully select from their photo collections, and try to refrain from uploading multiple shots that are so nearly identical as to be redundant. I feel as though I’ve been seeing more instances of this over the past few weeks.

It’s a common hazard of the digital photo age, to be sure. We all have folders and folders containing hundreds or thousands more photos than we ever would have accumulated in the film era. And being able to take more is all for the good. But let’s take a little more care here on Cinema Treasures than the average kid might, for instance, on their social networking site, and not just throw entire folders of photos onto each theater’s page. It’s my feeling that in so doing, our collection here will be all the more elegant and valuable.

William Mewes
William Mewes on July 15, 2011 at 10:00 am

I uploaded a few photos yesterday and today and they are all photos that I took myself and can be found in my Flickr Account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theghostofgraingertown/

I however worry that admin might take them down as I have also posted them on other websites and the assumption could be made that I snagged them from those sites when in fact I am the one who originaly posted them.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on July 15, 2011 at 7:23 pm

Chas, you’re quite right – and I know I’ve been guilty as charged of this very crime. Without a batch upload option in place yet, I find it sometimes difficult to edit out redundant pictures while I’m uploading one photo at a time – particularly in the many instances where I have a dozen or more images for a single theater. What I try to do is go back through the images after I’ve finished a few sets and thin the herd out a bit by using the “remove photo” option. I will continue to do so as time permits. Right now, I’m just trying to upload what is at this point a tremendous backlog of images that I’ve had on my home computer (and in my photobucket scrapbook) for a number of years. Hopefully, others will do the same and help work the photo library down to fighting weight.

And hopefully, we’ll see a batch upload function on this site in the near future!

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick on July 16, 2011 at 12:58 am

Chas — Thanks for the feedback!

Wgmewes — No worries. We will not be removing photos unless they are blatantly ripped off (or if we receive a notice of violation). Thanks for uploading them! Please feel free to add as many as you like. :)

Ed — hopefully a batch upload feature will be coming soon. For now, I wouldn’t worry too much about over uploading of photos. You can certainly be judicious in the future if you like. My advice is simple: if the photo strikes you as important/stylish/historic/etc., upload it. As you say, you can always remove it later.

GaryParks
GaryParks on July 16, 2011 at 9:37 pm

Hi Everybody. Great dialog about photos, particularly the multiple/redundant photo issue that we all deal with in the digital era. I’m trying to be very careful about this. For instance, I’m next going to be uploading a set of photos I took of some of the vintage interior features of the office wings of the Fox Oakland, which are now part of a school complex which wraps around the theater, plus some nighttime shots of the Fox Oakland exterior. I have many photos from those visits, some taken at vantage points only available from the office portion of the theater building, but I took many that were similar to each other, in my enthusiasm. I will be culling through them carefully. Even so, it is going to be a fairly large batch, and hopefully, each image will have significantly different information, and I will caption them as to exactly where I was in the building for each shot, as much as possible.

William Mewes
William Mewes on July 17, 2011 at 10:12 am

Ross Melnick – Thank You for your response.

GaryParks – Yes in this digital age most people my self included take way too many photos.

My first camera was a “Kodak Instamatic” and as the film only held 12 or 18 shots I gave serious thought before clicking.

MPol
MPol on July 17, 2011 at 2:50 pm

What I saw of the photos I enjoyed very much! Keep up the great work!

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick on July 17, 2011 at 2:57 pm

Looking forward to the day (and it’s still in the future!) when you’ll be able to take a photo with your smartphone/digital camera and upload it to the site immediately.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on July 20, 2011 at 9:33 am

Anyone else experiencing problems viewing photos on CT the last day or two? Both the thumbnails and full size images have been coming and going depending on what page you’re on or if you refresh the screen. They are replaced with blue question marks, when not visible.

William Mewes
William Mewes on July 20, 2011 at 6:25 pm

I haven’t had a problem viewing photos but I haven’t been on very much.

William Mewes
William Mewes on July 20, 2011 at 6:28 pm

Off Topic but I didn’t know where else to ask.

When I create a new location why do I have to wait for it to appear on the site before attatching photos?

Why not have a system where you can attatch at least one image when you create the listing?

Chris Utley
Chris Utley on August 8, 2011 at 11:07 am

I have confirmed that pics uploaded to this site are now showing up elsewhere on line: in particular pictures from Norman Plant’s photostream.

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment