This is an old topic, I know. People just don't seem to like it anymore ... but anyway: Why does this watermark terror never stop? A good fried, *Zeitwolf, just recently startet putting ugly watermarks on her beautiful photographs and she does not want to discuss it - so I write this journal instead.

I do not like the fact that some people are copying other people's pics and pretend they are their own. Of course. And I do understand when someone calls for his lawyer when his photos are sold by someone else for profit. And I understand the problems created for artists who sell their works for a living when someone else throws them around for free.

But what I do not understand is this watermark business here. (strangely enough, this seems to be not much of a problem in other communities) If you are an amateur (yes, calling someone "professional" has nothing to do with quality) who takes photos (or paints pictures) because of artistic motivation, why do fear that your "art" could be "stolen" by anyone?

Several years ago when I just had my first digicam and when I was not very experienced with photography, I found that some of my rubbish subway elevator shots were found on several websites I never heard about before. I was angry at first but when I thought about it I wondered where the problem was. Shouldn't I be happy about being recognized?

Shouldn't YOU be happy about your pictures spreading over a larger part of the Internet than your DA account?

Definitely, some of you seem not happy about it ... but why? The only rational answer to this question would be: your pictures are your property and everyone should respect this. This would be okay in my opinion if the property issue would be less important than the artwork itself. But buying a DSLR and some expensive lenses to create high quality pictures while making them look ugly by putting large letters over them is quite irrational I think.

I do not think the Internet is a good medium for presenting art in a restrictive way. If you present your photos, EVERYONE can see them and everyone can USE them for everything he or she wants. So if you are too worried about your property you should think about using the internet.

That's my opinion I would be REALLY glad to know what you think. Maybe I forgot to think about an aspect.