I do appreciate the explanation, but I hope you’ll pardon me if I continue to think you’re completely insane in this one tiny area? To me it’s like you’re scribbling on your own artwork in crayon, so that nobody will want it, and it doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

When it comes to intellectual property in the internet age, I really think there are lots better approaches than defacing your own artwork. But of course, it’s your property, and thus your choice. I’m still a fan of your blog and your pictures, I just think you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face, as they say.

In a practical sense, if you made the pictures available un-defaced, you’d get the people who “steal” them (print them without link credit or watermark) and you’d get some people (like me) who would republish them with full credit and a link back. That translates to exposure, traffic, and ultimately money. By defacing the images, you may prevent the theft, but you also prevent most of the exposure. To put it another way, you’re discouraging the honest people, who could be valuable to you, in order to thwart the thieves, who never would be. It’s all very twentieth century.

After you’ve seen your own pictures used on other people’s paysites (or even profiles on Adult Friend Finder!) you start getting a bit protective of your images, esp. the ones you are very fond of! If you don’t stick your watermark right dead-center, people crop it off, so you have to put it somewhere that’s integral to the image, so you at least make it harder for people to get rid of!

I hate having to do it — it bothers my aesthetic sense, too! — but I try to put it on the image in reasonable (or sometimes amusing) places, so it doesn’t get too much in the way of what people want to see, or what I think the best part of the image is. If no one stole images, I’d be much happier putting a discreet, subtle watermark on — I assure you!

I’m delighted you liked the write-up, and the images — I’d be happy to send you unmarked copies for your own collection, if you like! :)