Your Opinions On Watermarking

[CodeZTM]

How on earth did I miss this thread for so long?


Anyway, here is my personal belief (take what you want from it).

Watermarking can either have one of two effects:

#1: Be generally annoying and unsightly.

Most watermarks that we come across are hideous. They take away from the overall content and message of the video. Perfect Example:



This is one of my absolute favorite videos. I've watched it more times than I can count. Yet, it hs this hideaous watermark in the bottom right corner that turns it horrible. It's one of the reasons why I haven't got it in my top 100 videos.

HOWEVER

#2: A Watermark is tastefully placed and appropriately used



Another one of my favorite videos. Instead of having an unsightly watermark throughout the entire video, he has:



To me, that is a perfect execution of a watermark (it lasts only a few seconds, and is hard to spot). It's simple, it's subtle, and hardly anybody can locate it. It does its job, appeals the audience, and saves authors from their work being stolen.

Anywhoo, I digress.

[Malificus]

Another one of my favorite videos. Instead of having an unsightly watermark throughout the entire video, he has:

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/5492 ... 021xz2.jpg

To me, that is a perfect execution of a watermark (it lasts only a few seconds, and is hard to spot). It's simple, it's subtle, and hardly anybody can locate it. It does its job, appeals the audience, and saves authors from their work being stolen.

Anywhoo, I digress.

Hay, the idea I suggested actually in use O:

Cool.


Another way is to make the credits part of the video. Like don't have them after or before the song, put them in the intro or outro.

[Megamom]

I think watermarks are distracting.

x2...I used before in my AMVs watermarks, but for this reason no longer!

[trythil]

I think I'll go and upload everything I've downloaded up to boochsack tonight, not give any credit, claim it was mine, even though it clearly isn't.

If you'd like, feel free to upload anything here:

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... r_id=38674

But I personally think you should at least be able to say proudly, yeah I did this neat remix that everyone here clearly loves.

And I think watermarking stinks of technologies that large media groups want to push to (among other things) make this sort of hobby legally and/or technically infeasible, because the whole point of a watermark is to make an indelible mark of identity that minimizes conspicuousness.

Modern digital watermarking technologies, for example, can be used to automatically and reliably identify who purchased what copy of what media. Creating AMVs means violating this copyright by mechanically-applied rules, which is becoming the norm for enforcing copyright -- see DRM, "commercial content" filters in p2p systems for examples. Finally, In the current copyright climate, this means massive financial penalties.

Not a good way to make an AMV, and it's not a good thing to be linked to by usage of watermarks.

If you absolutely must get whatever sort of gratification you need by forcing everyone and their dead pet to know who made what, too bad. You're not going to create something that determined people won't be able to get around without using the kinds of technologies I mentioned, and if you think that's somehow acceptable, I want to know your reasoning.

Just "proudly" make a bumper separate from the video which states "you did this neat remix that everyone here clearly loves", accept the existence of jerks, and be happy.

[Sukunai]

It appears sarcasm is a skill not many understand.

Really people, no one is going to be making the mistake, that anyone here owns the music or the video content (unless they are veeeeeeery dim).

But if a properly down watermark (note I said properly done, as opposed to a large annoying intrusive watermark), makes it possible to at least maintain a little bit of credibility that the creative remix was your effort, isn't it worth it?

We aaaaaaaall know that it's just as likely possible for someone to just as easily watermark anothers creation and claim it. Well easily if they know how. I for one haven't the slightest clue how to watermark a video eh.

But I also know, that thanks to a lot of programming out there, it's easy for even the most uncreative to steal off the internet. Now if you guys LIKE having your efforts effortlessly stolen from you, go ahead, be my guest, do nothing.

But if that is your choice, isn't it about time you stopped crying over the name Y*o*u*T*u*b*e and stopped caring that anyone mentions the place's name here?

[trythil]

But if a properly down[sic] watermark (note I said properly done, as opposed to a large annoying intrusive watermark), makes it possible to at least maintain a little bit of credibility that the creative remix was your effort, isn't it worth it?

No.

If that is your choice, isn't it about time you stopped crying over the name Y*o*u*T*u*b*e and stopped caring that anyone mentions the place's name here?

Have you ever seen me go on YouTube witchhunts? No, you haven't, because I never have. Do a forum search. I guarantee you'll find nothing of the short.

Obviously there's not just one opinion on the importance of editor attribution in AMVs. I'm in the "it's not worth caring about" camp. You are not.

Or is this just more of your sarcasm? I don't know; you're pretty bad at expressing it in a text-only medium. Littering your posts with emoticons won't help.

[Ojamajo_LimePie]

To me, that is a perfect execution of a watermark (it lasts only a few seconds, and is hard to spot). It's simple, it's subtle, and hardly anybody can locate it. It does its job, appeals the audience, and saves authors from their work being stolen.

Bakadeshi did something similar in this video:


He shopped 'AuN' on Haruhi's Brigade Leader armband.

[Pas]

To me, that is a perfect execution of a watermark (it lasts only a few seconds, and is hard to spot). It's simple, it's subtle, and hardly anybody can locate it. It does its job, appeals the audience, and saves authors from their work being stolen.

Bakadeshi did something similar in this video:


He shopped 'AuN' on Haruhi's Brigade Leader armband.

Chii did the same thing in Attack of the Otaku, replacing the Chief armband for an "RS FTW!"

[Kionon]

Watermarks are stupid, and now, so is this thread.

[Kevmaster]

http://tinyurl.com/2hmmee

Now this just fucking rofltastic.

let's steal mep tracks, fuck the Aspect ratio, add wmm credits and <u> add a watermark</u>