Has the internet devalued the Arts.

This question has been brought to the fore on many occasions, but it is one that I tended to brush aside, wanting to believe it was untrue. The last evening my young daughter aged 11 was showing off her PowerPoint skills to me on her computer. I was impressed; She was flicking round PowerPoint at a speed far greater than I can even now, building graphics and slides with ease.

Then without warning she did something which knocked me over, something I would have never of done probably because I’m a photographer.

Suddenly there was a raft of puppy images on her screen as fast as she could move the mouse one image was selected and inserted into a slide. Hold on I screamed what did you do there. Just adding some pictures to my slides came the reply. Where did you get them from, I’m not sure you should be doing that. Why it’s easy she said. I was horrified it was definitely easy, but my thoughts were with the image creator. Was it theft, turns out that no it wasn’t, getting her to show me where she had got the images, it stated personal usage was allowed, and after all that was all she was using the images for, her own entertainment.

But it did set me thinking if an 11-year-old can do this easily then the picture thief will certainly be able to do it, and unless it gets out into the wider world the chances of you ever discovering that your hard work has been stolen is virtually nil.

It seems the Internet is not a pot full of pluses. High streets are failing tradesmen are losing work to DIY as finding out how to do a job is just a click away. It is a sharing society, this I have no problem with if it’s yours to share.

For law-abiding people who decided to go the legal way to obtain a photo the price has never been so cheap and the piece of mind is priceless, some sites allow free usage providing it’s not for commercial gain. Even so it is really easy just to take it, but I urge you think before you steel that image. If you have ever thought about the level of investment time effort and knowledge in which to get a special image then you’ll know it not easy. Whilst everyone has a camera of some sort it is not everyone who has the eye for an image or indeed the time or desire to sit for hours on end to get it. I for one have started to watermark my images trying to protect my image rights; whilst I know this is not perfect, it does at least deter the casual thief. (Be assured if you purchase the image legitimately the watermark is removed). Above all remember would you be happy if someone walked into your office and stole your hard work and passed it off as their own or even just used it to further their position with out your permission. If this still doesn’t hit home then I’m sure that if someone were to break into your house and steal your stuff by the same token you wouldn’t mind, or would you!