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Wish my photos were good enough for someone to want to pirate them !!!!

What an unfortunate experience Just had a look at your photos. absolutely stunning

This is a worry as I use some of my best pics in the trip reports. Guess this will have to stop and only put on low quality images as suggested.

Ditto, tiggercat.

Gwen I have, with quite a shock, found out that Flickr gives 3rd parties complete access to you pix through their API.
I used Flickr’s “security measure” that disallowed people to download the larger versions of my pix and also discourage them from merely right click and copy with their “spaceball” feature…thought this will be good enough.
Then I found my pix on various websites, all over the web….and not just the medium size, the large versions that is not suppose to be seen by the public….and anybody is able to copy it. I took this up on the Flickr help forum….they told me that this is the API that any 3rd party can use. Flickr “requests” 3rd parties to adhere to the privacy setting of Flickr member, but it is just a request. Through the API the 3rd party do not host the pix….the API just allows your pix to become searchable….but on the 3rd party sites it is very easy for somebody to copy your pix…including the large versions….this is how my large versions ended up on other sites.
Ironically, the thing many Flickr members “chase” after, namely Explore, draws the attention of these 3rd party API users to your stream.
I was told the only way you can avoid ending up on 3rd party sites through the API is to make your pix private.
On Facebook I now put HUGE copyright signs right in the middle of my pix and on Flickr I only upload small, low quality versions viewable to the public…the larger version I add as a private pix.

@ H. erectus…I take pix for exactly the same reason….I want to share with the world. But I did get upset when I found out that people are using my pix without my permission….some of my pix even ended up being sold on places like online greeting card site etc, etc. Many of those pix took time, patience and effort….I do not want to sell my pix, but I do feel ownership…they are still mine.

@ tiggercat…you will be surprised at what pix get stolen. Those pix of mine that were discussed in the other thread about stolen photos, were mostly very bad quality photos. It is often the content, not the quality that counts.

@Touareg …don’t stop posting your photos. Just post them at low quality with a nice copyright sign on or very close to the subject. Most people will understand why it’s there and will look past it, still appreciating the photo.

Ah yes. My point was the copyright. You are always the owner of a photo, unless you place your work in the public domain. Even with a CC license you still have full copyright to a photo.

I understand the frustration and anger people feel when others 'borrow' your image, but I also think the only way to prevent this is to keep them off the Internet.

Sometimes looking at sharing from a different point of view can help. I find it annoying when people use my photo without permission, but I don't lose any sleep over it. It's like leaving printed photographs on a bench in the park. Some people will take them home, put them on the wall and admire them. Others will try to sell them as their own.
C'est la vie.

There will always be people who take advantage. I am not willing to change my standards or principles about sharing content because of these [insert nasty word] people.

I hear and very well understand what your'e saying Jumbo. I feel sorry for the pro's that try and make a living from this. For me simple regocnition will suffice.
However, for the few prized photos that I would like to share, I cannot expect from myself to be on guard duty
24/7, thread after thread. If I do not post them they stay in some memory bank in the PC just waiting for a
burglar to come around just to have them stolen that way permanently, like what happened to me. This is a very sore point, but thanks anyway Jumbo.

That is just awful. Total loss.

My pics might not be worth much to the average man, but due to "him" my copyright will change soon! It will be in the centre of the pic.

A friend of mine has recently had a picture of a very large tusker pirated and to add insult to injury it was by a hunting outfit. Investigations are ongoing but this is clearly a problem even for amateur photographers!