All your images belong to us?

Well it seems the UK has just passed a law that allows them to take ownership of 'orphaned images', for them to sell.

So basically they can say that your art has no real owner so they can take it and sell it. Sure, they will do research to see if its owned. But how? See if you have a copyright? A trademark? No? Is your name clearly on it? It is? Can it be removed? Does another person 'claim' they created your art? Yes? Well then there is NO clear owner.

This is legalized robbery. But it's the 'government' so they can do it. Right? Well they have. Now how are they going to use this power? No idea yet. But they WILL use it or they would not pass such a law.

So what can we do? Well, you have 3 options. 

1: Stop posting art online. Really. If its not out in the wild they cannot take it. But that would suck for an artist. Right?

2: File for a copyright. If you have an image you think is REALLY worth defending, then register it. Yeah its a pain and it costs money, but then it is legally yours and you can sue if anyone violates it.

3: If you cannot afford to register ALL your art, and odds are you cannot, then you can share low resolution, small, watermarked images. Yeah, this sucks too. But that way your work is not to a level that is worth stealing, because its too small to use and there is a clear and 'signature' that cannot be removed easily. And if you DO watermark, cover the image. I know, that sucks, but if its in the corner they can just cover or crop it off. Make sure it is on a major portion of the image.

All the stuff you already have is out there. So there is a chance it could be taken. So make sure your art comments say you own the image. You AUTO have a copyright. So put the © symbol on any work you post. So add it to your art comments so you have a fighting chance.

As for me? Idk, I am planning to watermark, and I already do the ©, but I may just stop posting art. It seems to be a slippery slope. If they can just say its ours, they will find ways around it. Artists are SO abused in the world, yet the value of art is high enough they want to TAKE it, yet deny paying us for the work. Maybe we should stop sharing unless there is money exchanged. I don't want to go that route, but we need to protect our work. So, I am just not sure.

Dwayne