Someone is stealing my presets.

[nilsdecker.com]

I'm selling LR presets on the side and was just advertised, what looks like, my own preset from another photographer. Can you somehow track if someone just took your preset and started reselling it?

For example is there a "watermark" for lack of a better term, in the .xmp file that says: created by XX on date XX?

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

Presets are just text files you can edit in any text editor.  They have slots where you can add your copyright notice and contact info:

crs:Copyright="Copyright 2020 Elmer Fudd"
crs:ContactInfo="Elmer Fudd, 415-555-1212, ..."

Of course, a bad guy could easily edit the file and delete those fields. 

You could add some subtle tracking that a bady guy might not notice.  Change several of the settings very slightly, e.g. change:

crs:Highlights2012="-50"

to:

crs:Highlights2012="-50.00379"

This will have no effect on the actual image appearance. But it would let you prove that the preset was yours, even if the copyright notice was deleted.

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[nilsdecker.com]

Thanks John, I'll go check those variables.