Sharing photographs online in a gallery is a common thing for most photographers to do. It allows a photographer to show photographs with others in a convenient way and allows the viewer to browse through the gallery and see the photo. It seems like a win-win situation.
This might be the case if it weren’t for a few bad apples intent on stealing photographic images without permission. This is becoming an increasing problem and is forcing photographers to reconsider the wisdom of posting photos on an online gallery.
Using watermarks on photographs is one way to fight against this problem, but they do not totally solve the problem. Many people think that if something is posted on the internet then it must be free for the taking. This is obviously not true. But many people don’t care. They steal and misuse the photos anyway.
Do you enjoy viewing online galleries? What do you think about the use of watermarks? Should photographers be forced to take extra care in protecting their creative property?
As usual, the internet is both a blessing and a curse. A photographer can easily share photos with others, but runs the risk of having those photos illegally taken.
What do you think about all this?