[Digikam-users] digikam's "Settings, Configure, Identity" IPTC fields

[elle stone]

Under digikam's "Settings, Configure, Identity" is found "Photographer
Information": Author, Author Title; "Credit and Copyright": Credit, Source,
Copyright.  I checked around the internet to see what these various fields
are supposed to mean, be, do . . . and thought I would share.  Please
correct my mistakes, as I don't want to lead anyone astray.  And if this is
the wrong place to share such garnered information, please tell me and I
apologize in advance!

1. The "Copyright" field"
1a. An example of how to fill in the "Copyright" field is found here:
http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/imagedatabases/iptc_naa.html
© Juanita Doe/Parador Times, all rights reserved

1b. That pesky little copyright symbol.  I can't find any way to get the
copyright symbol into digikam's "Configure -digikam, Identity: Default IPTC
identity information", Credit and Copyright, Copyright" field.  According to
here: http://www.iusmentis.com/copyright/symbol/ substitutes for the symbol,
like (c), or abbreviations, are not "legal" substitutes.  But you don't need
the symbol, as the word "copyright" serves just as well.

1c. "All rights reserved".  According to here:
http://www.iusmentis.com/copyright/allrightsreserved/ this phrase has not
much legal meaning.  However, everyone else, including the "IPTC Core Schema
for XMP" (see
www.iptc.org/std/Iptc4xmpCore/1.0/documentation/Iptc4xmpCore_1.0-doc-CpanelsUserGuide_13.pdf)
tells you to  include the phrase "all rights reserved" if you intend to
protect your copyright.  

1d. Why bother with the "Copyright" field at all?  The short answer is it
seems to be the way to avoid having one's work "orphaned."  See
http://imagemetadata.com/ for helpful links about the controversy.  (One
also needs to include contact information as part of the image metadata, to
avoid the "orphan" problem.)  And the copyright field also seems to be the
appropriate place to release a photograph to the creative commons, with a
specification of the "rights granted", as the copyright laws presume rights
are reserved unless specifically granted.  Or so it seems to me.  I am not a
lawyer.  

2. "Author", "Credit", and "Source" sound an awful lot alike, but they are
conceptually different, though in fact often the same person/entity. 
Information and quotes in 2a, 2b, 2c below are from: 
http://www.iptc.org/std/Iptc4xmpCore/1.0/documentation/Iptc4xmpCore_1.0-doc-CpanelsUserGuide_13.pdf.

2a. "Creator" and "Author" are "shared fields", meaning whatever is entered
into the one appears in the other, in the upcoming/developing (Adobe-led)
XMP standards.  Likewise "Author Title" and "Creator's Job Title" are shared
(these "shared fields" are a "backwards compatibility" thing as XMP evolves
to include more than IPTC and EXIF).  So if you work for an organization,
your job title goes here.  If you work for yourself or take pictures as a
passion rather than as a profession, I suppose "Photographer" or "Starving
Artist" might go here.  

2b."Credit" is the same as "Provider".  "Use the Provider field to identify
who is providing the photograph. This doesn’t have to necessarily be the
owner/ creator. If a photographer is working for a news agency such as
Reuters or the Associated Press, these organizations could be listed here as
they are “providing” the image for use by others. If the image is a stock
photograph, then the group (agency) involved in supplying the image should
be listed here. Note: This field is “shared” with the “Credit” field in the
Origin panel of the Adobe Photoshop File Info field."

2c."Source".  "The Source field should be used to identify the original
owner or copyright holder of the photograph. The value of this field should
never be changed after the information is entered following the image's
creation. While not yet enforced by the custom panels, you should consider
this to be a “write-once” field. The source could be an individual, an
agency, or a member of an agency. . . . Source may also be different
from Creator and from the names listed in the Copyright Notice. Note: This
field is “shared” with the “Source” field in the Origin panel of the Adobe
Photoshop File Info field."

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