Photo Copy Protection "Thingie"

Bill Henry-

Bill Henry-

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
Joined
Aug 17, 2002
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Boondock Bowerbank, ME
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Retired from the grind
A customer who just returned from a Carnival Cruise brought in a bunch of “look at me I was here” souvenir photos from her trip.

Attached to the back of each of the photos is a 1-1/2” square patch which she was told is a “copy protection” device to prohibit reproducing the photos. It looks and feels and is about the same thickness of a square of carpet tape with the release paper still on it. Embedded in the middle of the square is clearly something – the square is white, but opaque, so I cannot make it out.

I would like to remove the patch so that I can dry mount the photo, but am very reluctant to do so especially in light of the claim that it is some kind of copy protection thingie. My paranoia makes me think it may be a chemical which, if the square is broken or torn, may do something to the emulsion.

Or, maybe, it is an embedded microchip which does something if exposed to the the bright light of a scanner.

I am really puzzled. Has anyone seen anything like this and, if so, how does it work?
 
How about cutting an opening in a piece of matboard so it goes around this thingy and then it would lay flat in the frame.

Try putting it on your scanner/ copier and see if you can get a copy. If it comes out without the square showing in the image then it is a ruse to keep people form copying it.

Or you could get a lead blanket to cover yourself from radiation exposure and go ahead and slice it open to see what is inside.
 
I am planning to cut a “hole” into a piece of mat board backing to accommodate this patch.

When I hold the patch up to the light and view it with a loupe, it looks sorta like this.

SecurityPatch.gif


To my jaded eye, it looks like a weird spiral microchip, but I really dunno.

I am afraid to try to scan it (not that I want to anyway), just in case the threat from Carnival is real and something may happen to the original.

Or you could get a lead blanket to cover yourself from radiation exposure and go ahead and slice it open to see what is inside.
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With my luck, its something like a car alarm and if I slice it, the Carnival Cops will knock down my door and force me to eat at an all night, tofu buffet.

I just don’t have a clue what this thing is or how it works.
 
I seriously doubt it's something to prevent copying - that looks more like a standard security tag you find in books and other stuff.. you know, that set off an alarm when you try and exit through the checkpoint.

I'd just peel if off and mount away..
 
I'm with Steve, but to be safe you might want to scan it first.

It's got to be a bluff why would they really care if you copy a vacation picture.
 
Try running a compass over the top to see if it has a magnetic field.
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I ran a stud finder (mechanical not electronic) over it, and nothin’. The magnet didn’t hiccough.

that looks more like a standard security tag you find in books and other stuff.. you know, that set off an alarm when you try and exit through the checkpoint.
I'd just peel if off and mount away..
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You may be right, but why would they have a security tag on a photo that is meant to be taken off a boat? If someone was able to reproduce it on board, it wouldn’t have a tag, so the alarm wouldn’t go off.
 
Originally posted by Bill Henry:
You may be right, but why would they have a security tag on a photo that is meant to be taken off a boat?
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Bill:

On the ship, photos are displayed in an open gallery where people can simply take them off the wall, walk to the cashier and pay for them. On all the ships I have been on, the photo gallery is simply a hallway. I suspect that Carnival has employed those security scanners like they have in record stores, at each end of the hallway that will go off if the tag is not de-activated. If this is true, its too bad they had to do that.
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Bill -
Ditto on what Ken said - - - The tag is there to keep the "honest" person "honest" ;)

I would take special care if you try to remove the label as it might cause the base of the photograph to peel or tear. You might try "Un-Do" or 3M's label remover.
 
Finally found a sample image... probably looks like this:
shoplifting1.jpg


RF tag's aren't magnetic, they just respond to a specific frequency (ala the security gates at the store exit)...
 
Anne, Ken, Mike, Steve and Paul,

Yes, the image in Steve’s post is exactly what I’m looking at through the loupe.

I’ve never been on a cruise ship – not sure I wanna, either.

The adhesive on the chip is extremely strong. It doesn’t want to come off without tearing the back of the photo. I guess I’m stuck creating a sink back for it.

Thanks for your help.
 
Anne, Ken, Mike, Steve and Paul,

Yes, the image in Steve’s post is exactly what I’m looking at through the loupe.

I’ve never been on a cruise ship – not sure I wanna, either.

The adhesive on the chip is extremely strong. It doesn’t want to come off without tearing the back of the photo. I guess I’m stuck creating a sink back for it.

Thanks for your help.
 
From:

http://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com/read/152644.htm

"More than six months after we reported the fake artwork story of Princess Cruises they did not take any action to satisfy its fake Picasso and fake Miro customer."

This is amazing.

And what's even more amazing is that anybody / cruise passenger would think a third rate cruise company (trust me, they are, I used to work for a real luxury cruise company) would sell "real" Picasso and Miro!!

As to Bill's question, the fact that this thing is thick and hard to remove, is a very effective way to prevent photocopying it, or framing it easily, as in this case!
 
Originally posted by Paul N:

And what's even more amazing is that anybody / cruise passenger would think a third rate cruise company (trust me, they are, I used to work for a real luxury cruise company) would sell "real" Picasso and Miro!!
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Not too surprising.
Most of those passengers are not art collectors and have been liquored up and received a hard sell.
The cruise line has created an atmosphere... the passenger responds.
I wish that I was as good at selling my product as they are!
 
Steve is right on the money here. It's a security tag designed to prevent you from walking off with the "artwork". I'd think proper application of a single sided razor blade would effectively eliminate the issue.
 
Zippo Lighter fluid is great on the tags we use for our system - the adhesive is very thick and strong but breaks down to a goo which can then be wiped off.
 
Lance I use unseal and it works about the same =)

When I was a kid I used to work in a walgreens and I had to stick those tags to things. My coworkers would lay them sticky side up in some isles to that it would set off the alarms when people walked by and got them stuck to their feet.
 
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