FyreSpiryt, I agree with you 100%. It's not much solace to those who feel they are being ripped off but the reality of the situation still has to be faced. Given the absence of an affordable technical solution and the impracticality of a legal one for most people, the only sure-fire remedy is to simply not to display their images. The seductive ease with which images can be copied mis only part of the problem. I think there is a sense, perhaps unconscious, that anything displayed on one's computer screen is fair game. Most people wouldn't think twice about copying a soap opera and giving it to a friend. True, the issues may not be the same but I think the attitudes are similar. As you point out, copyright is not something most people have dealt with, though I'm not sure more education would necessarily help. Simply put, I think perhaps many people are acting from what they perceive as a moral rather than a legal standpoint and they don't see the harm in taking a piece of an image and using it. They don't see any financial harm being done and Lord knows this is a society where money rules. I t may sound crazy but maybe putting a PayPal link on your page and setting a price for an image (in addition to some other measures like right-click prevention) might actually discourage a few people since they'd feel like they were really stealing. In the end, appealing to people's sense of fairness and responsibility is perhaps the only immediate answer. No, it will not stop every image thief, but nothing else is likely to do so either. It is far from a perfect solution but rejecting it out of hand is no solution at all.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken