This is what would maybe happen to them in some countries. #1 – Tie this person to the top of a fire-ant hill for about a day. After this do you really think they would do it again? I don't think so. #2. – Cane this person some fifty times. I think this would do the trick. Does all this seem too extreme to root out a problem thats gotten out of hand? Any artist out there that has worked for so many years to be one of the best, as an artist or writer – that has had their works copyed at one time or another, should not ever accept it as, oh well, its just a fact of life – have to live with it. There is a line that has become the norm by so many in this Country. "As long as it happens to someone else, but not me personally. Not physically anyway. "Then its somewhat ok." Some where in all this, as artist we all have to come together as one, at least try and do something about it. Will this ever happen? Not in a million years. So many of us are just to nice. Many in the artist world think that the way to ones heart, is to be pleasing with words. I'm not going to cut corners, but make my thoughts known by these comments that may or may not get through a dummy or two that stealing artist images is just not socially acceptable. There may be others that think its a form of terrorism: (To control or dominate through online intimidation)could be another way of looking at it. Maybe someday. In a new life, a new world, all this will change. Lets hope so.

In March 2008 such a thing happened to me. Someone visited my website, liked the images, and instead of simply emailing a link to friends the person instead took nearly 20 images and emailed them to a handful of friends. No name, no url, no credit whatsoever. That email went viral and went global in just a few weeks. At the height of it I was receiving over 700 hits a day from people Googling to find out where they came from. It has since been blogged in over 48 countries that I am aware of, and there has been printed press in a few countries as well.

Would it have been better and more effective if the person had included my name? Oh, most likely so. But the 'mystery' led quite a few to think that the images were fake. So many people thought them fake that Hoax Slayer in Brisbane investigated me. I still get webhits daily from Hoax Slayer by surfers investigating the Painted Feather hoax. Here is a link to the very nice article they wrote:
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/painted-feather-images…

Art 'theft' from my website without my permission has seriously grown my business in ways I never dreamed possible, and I am grateful to that unknown 'borrower'.

cheers,

~Julie~

the Featherlady

So, photographers, what say you??

You have offered an interesting comment here and the discussion is very interesting and helpful, especially links to sites with instructions on how to protect your art from theft.

I personally would not mind other people using my images on the web as long as they courteously credit me and include a contact link to a site or blog. That offers broader exposure of my work. And blogs like yours and mine give away useful written material all the time.

I would only include someone elses art or writing if it was relevant to the topic I am blogging about. I would not use another person’s writing or artwork without permission, and would of course attribute the work to them, and link them as well, if they desired. The idea that someone would market another person’s art as their own on saleable products is creepy.

Seth Godin gives away his books in pdf format then he goes about selling millions of copies of the physical book! Why is that? People want to have something physical that they can hold in their hand or, in my case, hang on their wall. If they like it then they will buy!

If they are the type that will print out a copy of a file from my site to hang on their wall or put in something they are selling…they would not have bought my work anyway. So why fight it? I figure the more people that see my work, the better the chance of one wanting to actually purchase it! Just my weird way of looking at this!

What are your thoughts?

Brandon

Maria – great insightful comment – thanks

This is what virally spreads your art to people who otherwise might not see it.

Now, if a company takes the art, makes prints of it and sells it, that's a problem. We've had that happen a couple times, and promptly put an an end to it with a cease and desist through our attorneys.

I'm all for sharing the images for non-commercial use. It benefits everyone.