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[Lothlin]

There's a way to make hidden watermarks in photoshop, it took a bit of digging but I found a tutorial for it. http://s4.invisionfree.com/Design_Xt...p?showtopic=17

It's really nifty, and it could work if you have photoshop and you don't want to mess up the look of your photos with the watermark.

I messed with my icon just to make sure it worked (though, I didn't up the opacity enough, so it's faint even when you highlight it.) --->http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ermarkcopy.gif , though, the trick only works in IE, not firefox. So. mildly useful, at least in point and going 'hey look, that's MY picture, not theirs'

[SchizoIori]

PockyFairy from here had some 40 year old man trying to impersonate her on myspace. She contacted them and showed proof that it was really her. The creepy thing is that he had even taken her personal pics and not just cosplay stuff. He got a lot of messages from the people on her friends list. But anyway, report it and also let that person know that you are aware of them taking your pictures and you don't appreciate it. (try to be mature about it though. You wouldn't want to cause a flame war over badly chosen words.) All the luck to you on getting that resolved though. You know you have the cosplay society here supporting you.

If you set your profile to private instead of open then you shouldn't have as much of a problem. People can't view your pics except the one that you have for your main. Even then, make it a picture that's just random that really only your friends like or know you from (something that doesn't stand out so much). I don't put mine to private but I don't get too many people looking at my site either.

*btw, if you're looking at my myspace I'm not able to access it out in the desert so please don't message me there...message me here instead!*

[Volnixshin]

Eeeew, a 40 year old guy? That's nasty!

[AnimeAngel]

It's happen to me a few times, but usually my friends are the ones linking me to the perps since they know better. If you find them, report them. Even if you watermark them, people can still use them as their own. Just kinda somethng you have to deal with from posting your pictures on the internet. And just remember, they are using your photos because they are jealous.

[Shatteredshards]

I haven't found any of my cosplay photos stolen (yet), but I have been impersonated on the internet before; I created a MySpace account just so my handle was made unavailable to others.

Tag and/or watermark things, that's about all you can really do. if it's happening on sites like MySpace, there is often a way to get the site to remove the pictures, called saluting - you take a picture of yourself holding a sign with your name/username/email address and email it to the site as proof that it's you. MySpace has info about saluting at http://www.myspace.com/Modules/Help/...=3&Question=26. If you'd rather report copyright violations, see http://www.myspace.com/Modules/Help/...=3&Question=31.

Originally Posted by Wolverine

If you have Adobe Photoshop, I think you can actually apply an actual digital watermark to your photos -- one that can't be cropped out by an image-thief and is invisible. However, I'm not sure if programs other than Photoshop can read that watermark. They should … I hope.

I will say that the watermarking feature Photoshop uses requires you to purchase an actual watermark from a comnpany, I forget which.

[kuko-chan]

I kinda fail to see how a watermark will prevent someone from right-clicking your images and saving it on their computer, then posting it elsewhere and claiming it to be theirs. All a watermark does is show the name of the person, but if a thief has gone as far as stealing your picture, what's to stop them from stealing your identity as well? If I watermarked my images with Kuko, someone can still claim to be Kuko somewhere else with my images. That's the problem with anonymity on the internet. Anyone can pretend to be anyone else, regardless of watermarks and other methods of protection. That's the risk you take when you post images of yourself online.

[Miyabi-]

There's an html code you can do that can cause a right-click block on sites that let you imput html. What's fun about it is that it even lets you put whatever message you want to say on the pop up window. XD!! I used to have one that said "MINE! Get your own you unimaginative jerk!"

It won't stop people from screen capping but hey..it's something.
You can find it here:
www.htmlgoodies.com

[EksDee-Alucard]

If I found someone impersonating me, i'd totally demand from the site the IP addresses they've used during their visits, confirm with their ISP the name and address of the person, and sue them.

[Saaski_Moql]

I third (fourth?) the idea of holding a sign or making a video. It's sad though, that that you actually have to prove yourself.

You said that you contacted the website, right? Well I hope that this person is given trouble then! Shame on them and everyone who does this.

[~daisysakura~]

I've seen this happen to quite a few people, not just cosplayers. I think it's a little creepy what lengths some people will go to just to get others to like them (or in most cases like yours, adore them ). But anyway, watermarking your pics is a good idea. Make sure the watermark is right over you or something though so it makes it very difficult to edit out. Also, you could actually go an say on your profile "this person on MySpace is not me", I've seen people do that. People will know it's you when you post new pics with your new watermarks and maybe explain why they're needed. Also, they'll notice that so-and-so only has old, un-watermarked pictures which will make it even more obvious.

Originally Posted by kuko-chan

I kinda fail to see how a watermark will prevent someone from right-clicking your images and saving it on their computer, then posting it elsewhere and claiming it to be theirs. All a watermark does is show the name of the person, but if a thief has gone as far as stealing your picture, what's to stop them from stealing your identity as well? If I watermarked my images with Kuko, someone can still claim to be Kuko somewhere else with my images. That's the problem with anonymity on the internet. Anyone can pretend to be anyone else, regardless of watermarks and other methods of protection. That's the risk you take when you post images of yourself online.

Well, that's true, but if you put maybe the URL of your cosplay profile or something that should help. However, sometimes that's true. Anyone can do anything which some pics... you don't know how many times and in how many different places I've seen Jeff Thomas' ("Azuzephre's") characters "Pon" and "Zi". ^^; Online, on layouts, at my school (someone used an image for an advertizement) , everywhere. And he's expressed how much he hates that, buuut.. I guess some people figure he may not see it and what he doesn't know can't hurt him. Although, from what I can see on his website, he doesn't REALY watermark all his images (like the splash page one with the hugs sign ) and when he does, it's in a spot that can be easily edited out. This one for example. The watermark is there, but I've seen this pic a lot of times with the bottom cropped out. So, I think watermarks are mostly about location and what exactly it says. lol

[Hikaru-Jan]

I agree with the whole watermark idea. Try and make it bold and "non-photoshopable".

I experienced this situation, too on LJ. She stole some of my pics from here and the Magna Carta layout I made for my journal, too. >.<

But again, watermarking your pictures would be a good idea, and also try to "friend-lock" your images (if it's an available feature on any site).

[Grimmjow]

souns horibble O___0...and freaky..identiy theft..O___0
myspace is really wacked up though.o.o but it's just freaky seeing sombodey try to be you. your yourself, it's just wrong.

[LousyItachi]

Well, I currently have someone who isn't exactly impersonating me on myspace... it's obviously their crappy little personal profile, but they're using all of my pictures.

I'm not sure whether to retaliate, or just laugh at how absurd it is that someone has such low self esteem that they'd rather be me than themselves. XD

[Oscuro_Lupo]

I just had this happen to me over facebook. The girl used my personal photos even. It was disturbing. I've been cleaning up her mess for three days. Reporting, reporting, and more reporting. She had so many fans. HAH. And to think they were all fake. ugh. I hate that this happens.