I never said I didn't register my work. I'm not sure why you would insinuate that I did not? I had registered it with the US Copyright Office before that. And I sued the company that used my artwork and won.
I learned a long time ago that people doing a Google search for images don't pay attention to the little text that says “This image may be copyrighted. Blah blah blah…”

<quote>but on the other hand this would dissuade designers from registering their legit work. </quote>
That's the point. Artists SHOULD be registering their work the the USCO. It's the ONLY way to win in a court case. To file a claim you need to have the USCO registered info. Myows will not make any difference. It is not recognized by the judicial system. It may be a boon to your case, but you are still going to have to provide the original artwork that you created if a case should arise. If it is digital, then a layered Photoshop (or whatever) file will need to be provided. If traditional, then a printed reproduction of the original will need to be provided. So in the end, this website doesn't matter. If a suit should arise, as the copyright holder, you are still going to have to get a lawyer and do the same amount of work to defend that copyright.

While I commend your intentions with the site, I still think that it is going to cause more problems than if it didn't exist – unless you charge money for it. But what is the point with that when you could (and should) still use the USCO to register your artwork.
I mean, really, if you find someone using your artwork on the Internet, you can just email them and say, “Hey, you are using my artwork. Here is a link to it on my own website on my portfolio page.” That would be just as effective as registering the work on Myows for free.

I would also agree with pcunix above, in that if you start any kind of Internet business you should be checking out your competition.

I never said I didn't register my work. I'm not sure why you would insinuate that I did not? I had registered it with the US Copyright Office before that. And I sued the company that used my artwork and won.
I learned a long time ago that people doing a Google search for images don't pay attention to the little text that says “This image may be copyrighted. Blah blah blah…”

<quote>but on the other hand this would dissuade designers from registering their legit work. </quote>
That's the point. Artists SHOULD be registering their work the the USCO. It's the ONLY way to win in a court case. To file a claim you need to have the USCO registered info. Myows will not make any difference. It is not recognized by the judicial system. It may be a boon to your case, but you are still going to have to provide the original artwork that you created if a case should arise. If it is digital, then a layered Photoshop (or whatever) file will need to be provided. If traditional, then a printed reproduction of the original will need to be provided. So in the end, this website doesn't matter. If a suit should arise, as the copyright holder, you are still going to have to get a lawyer and do the same amount of work to defend that copyright.

While I commend your intentions with the site, I still think that it is going to cause more problems than if it didn't exist – unless you charge money for it. But what is the point with that when you could (and should) still use the USCO to register your artwork.
I mean, really, if you find someone using your artwork on the Internet, you can just email them and say, “Hey, you are using my artwork. Here is a link to it on my own website on my portfolio page.” That would be just as effective as registering the work on Myows for free.

I would also agree with pcunix above, in that if you start any kind of Internet business you should be checking out your competition.

While I completely disagree that we are causing the community a disservice (as a designer I've always wished something like Myows existed), I do believe you have an interesting point in your last sentence.

Charging a nominal fee would help against people uploading work that is not theirs, but on the other hand this would dissuade designers from registering their legit work.

We covered the question of people uploading other's work in our FAQ, it's quite a simple issue to deal with, as any account abusing our system will quickly be deleted and banned.

We want our service to be accessible to all and easy to use. Charging our users would go against this vision.

Like Jonathan pointed out, if you HAD registered your work with any copyright protection app, you'd easily be able to demand a Cease and Desist from the brick and mortar stores.

Why you, and 100 000's of other artists, did not register your Work is probably because of the fee, waiting period and process attached to registering with the USCO. So you end up with little proof regarding the date at which you created your copyrighted work.

In comparison, Myows is Free, simple to use and instantaneously provides you with a irrefutable proof of the date at which you were in possession of your work.

Copyright cases rely on “best evidence”, and a Myows certificate along with attachments would balance any judge strongly in your favor.

We hope to assist you in future with any new work you create.

Max
(designer/director)

The real solution though is for everyone to be proactive and register their works somewhere before they publish them, that way no one else has the chance to do the same.

Of course though, even the paid USCO system isn't a guarantee of honesty. There are at least three different registrations for certain parts of the Unix operating system. This is common as business agreements (and disagreements) lead to multiple claims.

In short, just because there are competing registrations does not always imply dishonesty.

I am sorry to hear about companies using your work without permission. If you need any help, please let me know. Also, do consider using one of these services before publishing works, just for added verification.

Sounds pretty silly not to, frankly.

Thanks again, your input is very valuable.

I've since changed the display of the banner codes and they appear to be working fine. Again, trust that i am hugely embarrassed about such a silly mistake, and can relate to how small things that go unchecked have a negative impact on an otherwise feature-rich and secure app. We've only been live for a couple of days, and We're working hard at ironing out these final details.

You do have a unique blue banner generated after uploading each work, and we store each file and it's hashtag. If questioned, this proves not only the date of upload, but also that the work was not modified.

I have not used numly, nor the other services Jonathan mentions, as it was important for me and the team to approach online copyright management with fresh ideas, and not be influenced by what is already out there.

Also, while I am grateful for any kind of feedback, I am unsure wether it would be appropriate for me to contact numly users directly.

In the short term, we will have various ways for you to submit your work and receive the numbered banner without visiting myows.com –

I hope I've answered your questions, and that the referral banners will now work flawlessly.