To the 4 or so people who will read this, I hope it helps you gather your thoughts on the issue!

Starting from the beginning, I've never managed the rights of my images very well, my licencing is very "blanket" because I've been jaded on the idea, and I don't have time to chase up any misuse.
I never commercially managed film or print work so physical ownership is completely irrelevant, which brings us to the question of:

Who owns a photo (or other digital work)?
The simple answer is, of course, the photographer (creator), the hard part is... EXCEPT where a written agreement exists to the contrary.
Usually when I go out taking photos for fun I'm quite happy to let the people have the photos (files) and even play around with them a bit, fix zits you know how it is, but I never have and never will release ownership of those files.
Because they still belong to me what does that mean for you? It means by Australian law you must credit me wherever the image is published (internet included) and you need to obtain my permission in writing before sharing, publishing or selling. I am usually okay with the use of my photos in all sorts of publications, I was thrilled to be on the cover of Lesbians On The Loose! ( [link] ) but you can never claim to have the permission to discharge rights to these images (sell, publish, redistribute)

When I am on a paid assignment an agreement always exists regarding the ownership and rights of the photos I produce, usually along the lines of "for internal promotion only, no resale, until further arrangement is made" It's really simple and everyone knows where they stand.


The trouble arises when people have these photos without owning them, and don't know what to do with them.
The example that spurred this journal can be found here:

My preference is usually to not manipulate files, or do it in a subtle way, so I leave it up to you to guess which is the before and which is the after. This person did not have my permission to use this file, manipulate it or post it as their own. Oh well, lesson learnt!

OOH! Before I go, Why I watermark! To remind people who took that awesome photo, that I did it for free (usually), and that I'd love to do it again for them some time!