WIPs and the public domain

[Falconius]

My badly-made point was that inadvertent thieves ("just pinning it to my wall" or "posting it here on NavelLeaflet without attribution or context so that I can find it later") don't care about copyright and folks that knowingly sell stolen goods also don't care because they will either disappear at first complaint and pop up elsewhere or are in a jurisdiction where this sort of thing is acceptable. It's up to the author to expend their own resources to defend their own works. At the end of the day, it's up to each author to determine how much effort they want to expend in defending past works compared to creating new works.

Visible signatures and watermarks are like locks on doors: they keep honest people honest but don't in any way deter a professional thief. Hidden watermarks and metadata are more like attaching nameplates to items in your home or recording serial number for electronics: they can help prove ownership in the context of an appropriate legal context, but will do nothing without enforcement.

Ah I see.

@Mouse Visible watermarks also look terrible, so it does more than deter grazing pests. Look at all the flack that guy got a few months ago when he posted good maps, but festooned in opaque watermarks. And the more subtle watermarks don't deter the random wandering person.