Angelo, basically, anything you originate is considered copyright to you until you give permission for its' use by someone else. This includes text messages you post, as well as pictures. Even the sentence "It is hot here today" is copyright to you. Someone else can also use the same sentence to describe their weather, and it would be copyright to them also, if referring to their weather, but they don't have the right to quote you. There are exceptions, usually a short sentence like that won't be considered to be of significant value, you can quote people to illustrate a point, a viewpoint, to give examples of what a book or article is about, etc., provided you give credit for the quotes. Any extensive use of material must have permission from the copyright holder. The courts' view usually is that if the use results in significant value for the use, then that use is forbidden without permission of the originator. Your pictures are automatically copyright to you-with the understanding that many people can take a picture of an object, and each can have a copyright on their picture-but they don't have the right to use anyone elses' picture of the same object. The problem is to prove it was your picture originally, and you didn't intend to give it away. For me, the problem is, I may want to post my pictures in more than one place, and I don't want to involve the people I post the pictures to, in a lawsuit to determine who owns the pictures. Retaining the copyright, while giving permission does away with that problem for the people to whom I post pictures/text. Adding a copyright to your pictures is a declaration that they are your pictures, and you wish to retain the right to use them as you see fit. Allowing someone else to copyright your pictures means that they could prosecute you for the use of your own pictures. It has happened. The concern of picture takers is 1) I should be the person to profit from my work, not someone who steals it, and 2) A picture often implies authenticity, and nothing will stop a thief from taking a picture from someone, and using it to represent something else. Thus, Crocus speciosus might be claimed to be Colchicum speciosus, to the disappointment of any buyers, who assume the picture is of what they are about to buy. It may well be that your pictures are being used to sell something far more common, thus less expensive, than what is being pictured by the thieves. It is a form of fraud to misrepresent merchandise that way. A thief who steals pictures probably isn't honest in other ways either. >Indeed, I am not so concerned that someone use my photos, but they could have been so kind, at least, to ask me for permission. I am not really good with softwares like Photoshop etc., but I wonder what legal consequence would make if I wrote across the photo i.e. Copyright© Angelo Porcelli or similar. Is there anyone I should pay to obtain a copyright? There are attorneys who specialize in copyrights, more for published material than internet published material. The cost of publishing notice of the copyright is part of what you pay for. There is software available which will automatically add text to a picture- whether a name of the plant, copyright Angelo, whatever. Indeed, some software will automatically add the same caption to a whole folder of pictures if desired. Some of this software is freeware, meaning you simply go to a website, download the program, unzip (meaning decompress it), tell it to install itself. Then when you click on it in windows, it will ask where the pictures are that you want text added to, or sometimes you drag a picture onto the program's icon, and the text you specify is added. Save the resultimg picture to a new folder such as "Internet ready pictures" and go on with whatever you were doing. Unfortunately, there are also programs which will remove text from photos, so a thief isn't very knowledgeable if they post pictures with copyright information still on the picture. If anyone needs such free software, email me privately, I would be happy to look up a website and provide the URLs to such programs, and an unzip program if needed. Or, go to your favorite search engine and enter "Freeware Picture Labeling". I'm not sure, but think newer versions of windows have an unzip program included. Ken