Chicken Scratch: The Importance of Giving Proper Credit and Watermarking

Warning: I'm getting on my soapbox this morning. ;)

The internet is a wonderful tool for inspiration. From crafting to home decor to cooking, you can find gobs of inspiration and ideas. Websites and blogs share a wealth of ideas and inspiration and from this inspiration overload an awesome site like Pinterest has come out to help us save/organize all the ideas we find.

While on Pinterest this weekend, one of my friends came across this photo of mine below showing a storage idea for Stickles (glitter glue for all you non-scrappy peeps).

I originally uploaded this photo (unwatermarked) to my gallery at Two Peas in a Bucket, but through Pinterest it was linked to a craft site called BeaOriginal. BeaOriginal shared my photo/idea here on their site. They did try in a lazy way to credit their source by giving a link under my photo. But they gave a general home page link to the Fiskarettes site that shared my idea instead of crediting me. By doing so, you'd have to search the Fiskareettes site to find the blog post containing my project. If they had spent one extra minute on their homework, they would have easily seen the Fiskarettes site took the time to credit me and they could have easily done the same.

I am no high and mighty badass. I'm not big, bad always-original-idea Shannon. Heck, I am constantly creating and lifting other's work and using tips/ideas I've seen online. But the first minute I share a project online, I will credit the original owner. Whether I post in a forum gallery or share via my blog, I always give proper credit. And I expect the same. I don't like to see my work used online without crediting me. I feel like I've been ripped off, even if it is just something simple like Stickles storage.

Which leads me to my other tip... ALWAYS watermark your photos. The above photo originally was posted in my pre-watermarking days (I added the watermark today when I posted this on my blog) and now has become easily sharable online without giving me credit. It's on Pinterest now and instead of linking to my Two Peas in a Bucket account where I originally uploaded it, it's linked to BeaOriginal without my name. For those who only see this at BeaOriginal they will never know I created it. I've heard and seen countless horror stories of photographers having their work used without permission, scrapbook layouts stolen online and passed off as other's work, personal family photos used on blogs and websites without the owner's knowing. A watermark will help protect your claim to a photo online and if it's ever used without your permission can help trace it back to you so you can receive credit or get it taken down from a site using it.

My complaint might seem petty in the grand scheme of life but it is a big pet peave of mine to not give proper credit when you share/copy an idea. It is common courtesy and shows respect. Take a few extra seconds to credit the proper owner when you use it on your own site. Don't take all the work they did and give the glory to yourself or give a weak general link. We all need to take responsibility online when using/sharing ideas. Respect the original owner, give credit, and watermark your photos to protect yourself.

Off my soapbox now. ;)

P.S. And for those who found this blog post via Pinterest because they wanted to pin my Stickles storage idea and could care less about the above *drama* ;) you can find my originally-posted project idea here. :)