Headache

I've had a headache for a couple days now. Allergies are acting up. Then this morning I wake up to a message from a Flickr friend (I have the best Flickr friends ever!!) who has seen some of my eye macro self-portraits posted in a Myspace photo album belonging to someone I don't know and have never heard of. This person is clearly not a stalker or weirdo like some others I've had to deal with. She's just interested in makeup. Problem is, Flickr has guidelines. She has not followed those guidelines. Flickr Community Guidelines specify that if you post a Flickr photo on an external website, the photo must link back to its photo page. I have chosen to prevent the general public from downloading all sizes because I'm sick of my photos being stolen. I have specified on my Flickr profile that no one has permission to use my Flickr photos or videos for anything. Ever.

Additionally, Myspace has its own photo policy which specifies you are not allowed to upload copyrighted pics. My Flickr pics are protected under copyright.

However, I don't think this girl knows what she's doing is stealing. I don't think there's any malice intended. I think she might genuinely believe that if she sees it on the internet, it's OK to take a copy, do whatever she pleases with it and post it wherever she wants. If she had purchased the photos, then yes. But she didn't. Those photos have never been for sale.

I haven't contacted this girl or Myspace yet because I'm not quite sure how to handle it. On the one hand, what she's doing is wrong. On the other, it's just kind of sad. And the eye macro self-portraits she chose to steal aren't even ones I like. So I'm not sure if it's even worth the bother of contacting her or Myspace. The only thing that aggravates me about it is she's not giving me credit for my work, which is why Flickr requires that you link back whenever you post a Flickr photo on an external website. But since I don't even like those four self-portraits in the first place, do I really want credit for them? I'm inclined to just send her a Myspace friends request without telling her why, laugh my ass off and dismiss the whole thing as more pointless, petty, internet silliness.

Unfortunately, I've been told repeatedly by many people that I need to get serious about the whole business side of the things I create :(