Warning to all Photographers Using Google Plus Pages

A few days ago Google turned on the Google Plus feature for business pages.  As a photographer, this is another viable way to increase your brands visibility.

I quickly created a page myself and was considering adding a few images to the wall.  This plan quickly came to a halt when Ian M Butterfield shared the following warning.

If you are uploading photographs to the new Google Pages you need to be aware that your pagesDO NOT inherit your picasa security settings for images. This means that you cannot turn off downloads of original files. It also means that you cannot choose between "Do not allow reuse (All rights reserved)" and "Creative Commons" for your permission for others to use your images.

I have reported the problem on the Google Products Forum (https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!topic/pages-discuss/vyPJK4f4xBY) And the google representative there says he is reporting the problem back to the team.

Until the issue is addressed by Google I strongly advise against uploading any images to google+ pages.

Please re-share this to warn other photographers.

Instead of sharing portfolio images, I'm only posting photos that are more "behind the lens" types of scenes.  Hopefully the terms of service will change soon.  In the meantime, let's navigate this new territory together.   You can access my page with the logo below.

Comments

[Lori D Myers]

Thank you for information and the warning.

[Sybil Wieners]

Thanks for the warning! Happy that you've found out about it the soonest. Will have to repost it for others to read especially my co-photographers using Google Plus!

[Matt F.]

There's also the somewhat conflicting wording in the Google+ TOS that states that, while users retain Copyrights and any other rights that they may possess, with regard to any material they post through the Service, Google has the "perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services." They can make any content you post available to any of the other "companies, organizations, or individuals with whom Google has relationships," and they may alter it in any way necessary to fit within the requirements of said entities.

This just seems like too much Double-Speak to me. WE retain the copyright, but Google can basically do whatever they want with any material that we post on ANY Google related site. So HOW does retaining the Copyright to the material help us in any way?

For more information, see Section 11 within the Google+ TOS. https://accounts.google.com/TOS?hl=en-GB

[Leandra Church]

Thank you so much for the information.
Do you know if it also apply to the Google site?
I created a website for me there, but now I am afraid.

[Mike]

Images do not inherit your Picasa settings but you can still turn off downloads if you upload the images directly to Google+. This is not new. As well, the download link concern is meaningless when you realize that right clicking is still enabled and even if it wasn't, one can screencap the photo in five seconds. Regarding any confusing wording regarding copyright, there is nothing new in this either. Google needs this permission to allow others to reshare your work. Every photo site has similar wording, otherwise social media would be a pretty boring place...relax, in other words.

[KatKojic]

Thanks for the information. I was just getting in to G+


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Kat Kojic
http://katarinakojic.com/