Article Comments

Jo - this happens far too often.

In part I think it is because people think it's OK and have got confused between internet free to access & free to view & free to download, re-use, re-mix, copy.

There need to be a complete re-education of users and a move towards 'permission-based' usage only.

But Creators will also need to start helping alleviate the problem by communicating what is and isn't free to use.

Take a look at www.creativebarcode.com - we are seeking to address the issue using QR codes (barcodes) to authenicate Creators work and ownership details - both for one to one safe disclosure during business negotiations, and a micro-barcode (each one is unique) for completed works displayed on web sites for marketing purposes.

Barcodes can be tracked - so later developments will include tracking so you know who has downloaded and uploaded your images to another site.

It will need to be a dual responsibility between Creators and users - and so many users are simply not aware of the terms of use.