Stock photography, footage and illustrations by Carsten Reisinger.

How to find stolen images

Miami skyline fireworks © Carsten Reisinger

There is only little research about how many images online are stolen but the results are concerning nonetheless. Picscout did some researching and found out that 9 out 10 images used online were unauthorized. See here for some more coverage on that topic.

So it doesn’t hurt as a photographer or illustrator to take advantage of some tools to track down a few copyright infringements and maybe even make some claims.

Google recently released a fantastic new feature in the Images search that will blow your mind. Goto http://images.google.com/ and you will see a little photo camera in the right corner in the search field. Click on that camera to either enter an image URL or upload one of your shots so Google can check where else it is available online.

You can even use a plugin for Chrome or Firefox to simply right click any image in your browser and fire up Google’s Image Search. You can find the extensions on the Google web site here.

Now be careful, not all search results mean that the image has been used in an unauthorized way. First make sure how your image was originally published (just a flickr upload or was it offered for sale at Getty Images?). If the image is offered for sale at a Rights Managed agency and they never registered a sale there is a good chance that the image is used illegally.

Just ensure what license you offer to everyone online regarding your images. Often, people upload images to web galleries where they unintentionally give away their usage rights for that image and anyone who likes the image can use it freely.

Always read the terms and conditions of any web site where you upload any type of content so you don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

Tutorial: How to create time lapse videos

Ever wanted to know how the Pros make these awesome time lapse videos? Check out this tutorial to learn the basics. Even if you’ve already done some time lapse projects you might learn something new here: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-create-professional-looking-time-lapse-videos

Miami skyline poster prints

Get your personal poster print of the Miami skyline and pick from a variety of designs. Check my lens at Squidoo to see my hand picked photos which you can order as large format art prints.

As wide as 78″ and printed on your preferred type of canvas you can even [...]

Customized iPhone 4G hard cases at Zazzle

How great is that? Now you can get your own customized hard cases at Zazzle with awesome designs.

Also feel free to take a peak into my Zazzle store and check out my iPhone 4 cases like the ones you can see here.

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Are you an IP lawyer from Miami?

Gavel and sound block on white background

I’m looking for young and ambitious IP lawyers in the Miami area.

Many industries underwent huge changes in the last decade, basically leading to the erosion of prices. With the connection of almost every household to the internet, countless new opportunities have been created. But [...]

More ways to make money with your images

So you’ve done the work once: Creating the image, applying keywords and uploading it to the agencies. It would be a shame not to use the full potential of your artwork. Therefore I recommend to explore more ways how to monetize your images. Here are some ideas how to do that:

1. Create a [...]

Recycle your images!

Sometimes when we run low on inspiration we can easily keep ourselves busy by “recycling our images”.

Once you have shot, edited, uploaded and sold some files you get an idea what the buyers like and what themes and concepts they prefer. Use that information in order to take existing images and give them [...]

What is considered copyright infringement?

Definition of copyright infringement by the U.S. Copyright Office:

As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.

This is pretty clear what it means.

However, to some “artists” it’s [...]