ATLANTA, GEORGIA
An Atlanta photographer faces an unusual problem. His photo, which he calls “Beautiful Girl Bound,” was published almost a month ago on the website Fetlife and no one has stolen it yet.
Mac Cross, 27, has been taking pictures for almost a decade and says almost every picture he has ever taken has shown up on other websites almost immediately.
“I’ve tried watermarking, low resolution postings, and threatening legal action to try to stop people from copying my pictures. Finally I resigned myself to the fact that you can’t control how things circulate on the Internet.”
He published what he thinks is one of his best images to date. Fetlife users seem to agree, rewarding it with more than 5,000 “loves” in the past month, making it Kinky & Popular on the website three separate times.
Much to his dismay, no one has stolen, copied or reposted the picture anywhere.
“I do reverse image searches, scan all the usual suspects, and I have even taken to writing some of the most well known thieves anonymously suggesting they ‘take a look’ at the image.” While many were enthusiastic and offered praise, no one elected to copy it.”
“I am beginning to question my relevance as an artist,” Cross told The Daily Flogger, “when people refuse to steal your work, it gives you nothing to complain about and with nothing to complain about, how will people know who I am anymore?”
