The importance of branding your photos

In light of a current situation I'm dealing with I'd like to take a moment to remind models and photographers alike the importance of branding your images.

Legally I can't comment on my specific situation yet but right now I'm dealing with a situation where photos of mine are currently being used by another photographer who is claiming they are his.

Anytime you put photos online make sure they include a watermark or copyright declaration included on the image. This will, in most cases, further reduce the chances of someone stealing your images. If you're a model make sure you give proper copyright notice on your images. If you're not sure how it should read consult the photographer. If you're a photographer same applies - brand your images.

Some other helpful pointers:
-Downsample images before posting. DO NOT post full hi-res images to the Internet. Upload resized, downsampled versions of the images. If someone steals them and copyright investigations follow the infringer will only have a low res version of the photo. When you can produce a hi-res version of the image you'll be in a better position to prove you're the original creator of the image.
-Avoid posting images in chat rooms and message boards. These venues are popular for image stealing.
-Be familiar with your own work. The images in question in my situation were shot almost 5 years ago. But I recognized them right away.
-Regularly review the Internet for your images. This can be more complicated than you might think but it's worth the time invested. Honestly, the two images I found were by mistake (I was searching for something else at the time). But regularly reviewing modeling/photography sites can turn up some interesting things.

Remember - using anyone's photos without their permission is stealing. Especially if you put your own copyright on someone else's work. It's illegal and there's no other way about it. Copyright infringement is a punishable offense and you can liable financially for damages.

Tomorrow's post will cover some pointers to how to handle copyright infringement.