What is Copyright infringement?

Copyright infringement - how it affects consumers & photographers 

Let me start off by saying I never hoped I would have to post one of these blogs, a blog post I'm writing because people have been using my copyrighted works without permission and/or purchase. If you're unsure what copyright infringement is here is a definition from Wikipedia: 


Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission, infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works.

A common thing I have been seeing here lately is a screen shot of a photo from my website with my watermark in plain sight, i.e. :

I have been running in to this a lot lately, on Facebook and especially Instagram. Common responses I get when I question people about them posting these photos is : "oh well my friend sent it to me" "I don't know where to buy the photo" "but I'm advertising for you". First off, let me say this: If I need someone to advertise for me I will contact them directly. Second: posting photos with my watermark on Instagram with NO credit back to me is not advertising. When you post these photos it makes other people think it's ok to do the same, when it is NOT ok. 

Copyright infringement not only hurts me financially but it makes all the work I do for nothing. I spend on average 18-24 hours in a single weekend shooting, uploading, editing, printing, running around, sweating, getting sunburned. I may get around a 30 min break between moto's/race starts to get something to eat. Luckily I have an amazing husband who helps me greatly over the weekend, assisting our customers and lining out orders. Financially, photography is an expensive business to be in, with the average pro camera starting out around 3,000 dollars and many other expenses to go along with it. Let me give you a breakdown of my costs:

Cameras & Lenses:
Canon 5d Mark III- $4,099.99
Canon 70-200mm- $1,500.00
Canon 24-105mm- $1,099.00
Canon 60D- $999.99 
Canon 16-35mm- $1,699.99
Batteries- $400.00
Memory Cards-$400.00

Computers & Printers:
3 laptops- $ 3,000.00
Printers $1,000.00
Cables, routers, external hard drives- $460.00
iPad & Square Stand- $800.00
Toner,Paper- $300.00

Total Cost for equipment: $15,758.97

Monthly & Race Costs:
Internet- $80
Insurance- $75
Cell phone & Ipad- $275
Photo Hosting - $30
Websites - $ 30
Utilities & Office- $600
Fuel getting to a race - $150 (2 races per month normally)
Fuel for generator - $50

Total Cost Monthly: $1,490.00

So now you know what it takes financially to do what I do. When someone steals photos from my website and shares them repeatedly and entices others to do the same, it makes my hard work and my expenses worth NOTHING.