Art Theft Impoverishes Us All: UPDATED AGAIN

, a very, very talented photographer — an artist here on , and a friend — is now considering leaving the community, because her posted work has been stolen on multiple occasions:

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...and here is some VALUABLE information she provides us on copyright protecting our work:
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When copyright law is different from country to country, and legal action may or may not be able to prosecute the trolls that steal an artist's careful work, how can we protect ourselves and each other, here in this community that is meant to nurture art and artists? The watermark, while it prevents a photo from being stolen, also ruins the effect of the art when viewed here on . Uploading a smaller-sized pic, again, may discourage some art thieves, but makes viewing the work less of an immersive experience.

Here is 's policy on copyright infringement.

I have a couple of ideas, which I'll forward to the admins here at — if any of you have ideas to contribute, can you suggest them? I love you all, friends — there is so much here to admire, in both the art and the artists on — I would truly hate to lose any of you, and would hate to see the community made poorer by the loss of talent.

IDEAS:

1) Art can only be searched from outside in thumbnail size — one must create an account and log in to view art in full size. Might make it easier to track potential art thieves, and might discourage some of them.

2) Watermarks show up on all art searched from outside — only disappear when one creates an account and logs in.

3) One can only utilize the download function after reading and agreeing to a disclaimer threatening serious legal action if copyright is not respected.

**UPDATE**

So, when I asked for a community forum on how can better protect its artists, This is the response I got:

realitysquared (deviantART)

Sep 05 11:24 AM

Thank you for contacting deviantART customer service. My apologies for the extended delay caused by a large volume of incoming tickets.

Unfortunately while the ideas listed in the journal are clever, nothing can deter a determined individual from infringing; it is an inescapable hazard of publishing your work and an acute hazard when posting anything anywhere on the Internet.

--
Daniel Sowers Jr.
CEA Project Manager
Community Operations Division
deviantART Inc
realitysquared.deviantart.com

...Basically, I got a big shrug. Utterly pathetic. Folks, take the advice of above, and take steps to protect your own work!