Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know there is no way to completely keep people from stealing your images if you put them on the internet. That doesn't mean you can't encourage people to not steal them. It doesn't mean you can't encourage them to do the right thing. I wrote on this topic almost two years ago and said "my philosophy is to help people and give them the opportunity to do the right thing and most often they will. On my photography website I list a copyright notice on every page stating that all the work on the site is mine. This reminds people that a real person created all the content on the site and if they take it they’re taking it from a real person. Beyond that though I offer the opportunity to buy prints and licenses of my work. I make contact information easy to find and encourage people to contact me with questions or comments about my work. I encourage them to do the right thing."

Derek Powazek has done some thinking about this topic as well. He personally doesn't like putting copyright notices or watermarks directly on his images because 1) it distracts from the image and 2) determined thieves will just crop them our anyway. He's come up with an alternative though. It's a technique for photographers to use on websites that puts copyright notices, reminders about not stealing and contact information in a format that's hidden from view (and therefore doesn't interfere with the image like watermarks can) until someone right clicks on the image.

It's a cool, simple technique that adds a layer of encouragement to your photos. Encouragement? Yep, encouragement. It's not adding any more protection to your photos but it is subtly reminding people that taking your image without permission is wrong and encouraging them to do the right thing by either not taking your image or by contacting you and asking your permission/requirements for usage.