Even with a watermark your pics can be stolen.
Nice article; though what a watermark does do is deter casual image thieves; leaves you with the more determined hardcore element.
Given 15 very similar images - the ones that make it more difficult to steal are the ones that will get left alone...
Is image theft analogous to shop lifting?
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I'd say, that depends on who is doing the thieving.
Those who sweep accross a site, and take enough images to populate their own site know what they are doing. Or, they are at the very least insincere, if their site is full of fake members and stolen material.
Others who take a photos now and again which looks like something they saw while travelling may or may not be 'shop lifting'. I have taken a few, without knowing that this is thieving. I honestly used to think that everybody has the same attitude about their photos as I do about mine. ie they are for 'show and share'. I would have been shocked if a photo owner said I had stolen the photos.
Those who take photos, after they have been made aware that not all photos on the internet are for 'show and share' are doing what is equivalent to shop lifiting in my opinion, as in they know it is not acceptable to take just any photos they see on the internet, like they know that it is not acceptable to take things in shops without paying.
Though, sometimes those who take a photo once or twice may not be as bad a shoplifters. It might be like the situation that you forget to take your shampoo to the shower at the hostel, but somebody has accidentally left theirs there, so you use some of it. You know it isnt really yours to use without permission, but getting the permission is inconvenient, and likely the owner of the shampoo wont care if you take enough to wash you hair with. But, the owner might care if everybody who goes in the shower takes enough to wash their with and may then express some p*ssed off feelings about people using what isnt theirs. If photos are taken in this way, it can become a nuisance factor, and a rule is often made to state 'Dont touch what is not yours', as is seen on signs in some hostels. This sign is the equivalent to the copyright notice on the bloggers accounts here on TravelBlog.
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