I’m not kidding.
I freely let people steal my images. If they can…
I couldn’t find any statistics on the number of images stolen on the internet every year because I think it would be a difficult statistic to discover in the first place.
I did find a statistic on stolen cars (take it or leave it).
According to Yahoo, over 1 million cars are stolen in the United States every year. That a big, heavy car. In order to steal an image, you only need to press SCREEN PRINT or Rt-Click.
Pretty scary stuff.
And don’t even get me started on Pinterest controversies with photographers. This article was written by an attorney that switched to a photographer and “Why I Tearfully Deleted My Pinterest Inspiration Boards”.
Don’t get me wrong. I take all the precautions with WP-Copyright, watermark all of my images on my blog, and password protect my private client galleries but people can always screen print or download my images on Facebook. And here are 27 FREE screen capture utilities. Yikes!
Even though they may only capture a low-resolution 72 dpi image. They still have it.
What is a photographer to do?
I’m a photographer and I don’t care if people steal my images for this very reason…
I live in a world of abundance.
A world of abundance means that “they are plenty of clients to go around” and “helping others makes the world a better place”.
Some people live in a world of scarcity that says, “don’t share your knowledge with others or they will steal clients, ideas, images, etc” or “everyone is out to get me”. One common behavior of people with this mindset is that they will not upload images or ideas on the internet because they are afraid someone will steal them. They spend hours on the internet searching for their “possible” stolen images or ideas.
They live in a world of scarcity.
I believe in protecting your artwork and ideas because you worked REALLY HARD to create them. I’m on board with this concept.
But instead of wasting my time surfing the web looking for my “possible” stolen images or ideas on websites, personal blogs, and other outlets, I would rather:
- Make my client experience more remarkable
- Learn a new Photoshop or Lightroom trick
- Learn about how to better market to my target audience
- Find an awesome dog trainer to help make my sessions more enjoyable for my clients
- Research a new, cool product that I know my clients would love
- Create strategic partners or lumberjacks that send me clients on a regular basis
- Create amazing packaging that will make my clients run through the streets cheering my name!
- Work on my strategic plan that will help me reach my ideal lifestyle
You either live in a world of abundance or a world of scarcity, and whichever one you choose affects everything you do. – Chuck Blakeman
Granted, if someone was to steal an image and it was brought to my attention, then I would drop them a friendly e-mail asking them to remove it. Otherwise, I don’t waste my time looking for my artwork on the internet. I would rather live in a world of abundance.
I’m sorry if this offends some people. I would like to get your feedback either way on this topic. It’s important and sharing your thoughts can help a fellow photographer.
What are your thoughts?
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If someone “borrow” my images for their personal blog, facebook, twitter profile, I do not care at all, I know people do that and they won’t stop. But if someone uses it somewhere they can make money, then for me it is another issue! But I do not actively search the “tubes” for stolen images. I leave it to Getty, First Rights and Photoshelter
Great point Natasha! I didn’t know that Getty, First Rights and Photoshelter provided that service for photographers but it makes sense.
I agree with Natasha! I don’t look around for them and it’s not a huge deal to me if they use them for personal use, but I would be bothered if people were using them to profit from. But who has that much time to surf around looking for them. All the things you listed in your article are all things I need to be working on and spending my time perfecting. Great article!
I agree! Who has time to do that? As business owners, we need to focus on our customers and business, not being private investigators.
Hi Jaime, thanks for addressing the “scarcity” vs “abundance” mentality. It’s definitely an issue that any business owner has to come to terms with. Historically, it seems photographers were mostly of the scarcity mentality which prevented them from freely sharing their work, their ideas, their processes, etc., in hopes it would protect their businesses. But I think it may ultimately end up hurting them more.
Sharing freely in this new digital world is what makes the Internet a better place for everyone. Theft is surely an issue if you do choose to post your content online, but I think most people are honest and aren’t out to sabotage you and steal your work.
It’s ultimately up to the artist if they wish to share, but I think most people who choose to are better for it in the end.
Thank you Kim! When I first started in the photography world, the number of photographers with a “scarcity” mentality was staggering. It’s so sad but so apparent. I wish I could do a survey on the correlation of scarcity vs. abundance mindset compared to business success! That would be a big eye-opener!