So, if anybody's paid attention (or cares) to my gallery of late, they might notice that a few of my gallery pieces have watermarks across them now. Though I wish I didn't feel it necessary to do so, as it messes with the pictures, I want to avoid the possibility of art theft if and whenever if comes up. I'll be adding watermarks to all my submissions, though I've no idea how long it will take.

I am an avid supporter of intellectual property and laws regarding it. If I ever see my work under somebody else's name, you can bet your ass I'm going to do something about it, up to and including legal recourse if I must. I like to go on the assumption that most people, when called on art theft, will own up and take the picture down, but I am not entirely naive. Better to deter it as best I can before I have to deal with lazy, heartless asshats who think the sole reason my hard work is put into the public eye is so they can steal and alter it. Sorry, no, that's what stock photography is for, and even that has rules. I put my work into the public eye because I want to show people what I can do and I think people enjoy, at a very instinctual level, looking at cool pictures and interesting stories. The desire to take those cool pictures or stories and pretend that you made them yourself is not instinctual; it is cruel to the people that put all that effort into the art, and it is born of the desire to be praised for skills that you don't have and certainly didn't work to achieve.

In short, I hate art thieves. Art theft is one of the most spineless activities I've seen in the almost 12 years I've spent on the internet. If you've done it, or are thinking about doing it, I suggest you consider how you'd feel if something you worked your ass off to make, build, or do was taken credit for by someone else and/or utterly raped by the ones that did it.

To those of you that haven't done it and never will, kudos on you. I would hope that you also pursue art thieves where you find them, but I'm content with the knowledge that not everybody is a bastard. That kind of thought is reserved solely for management or government.

-- The Cuddly Demon