Artists just want a little love, that's all.

A week or so ago, George Takei posted my "Ice Cube Dreams" image on his social network pages. My last count of likes of it on his Facebook page was over 37,000 likes and 7000 shares. Usually, my images have my name on them, but sometimes people crop it off (really!), and a few other times sites like The London Telegraph ask for no credits be included (a mistake I will not repeat). This was one of those credit-less images. So George gets to be patted on the back for making people's afternoon, his brand is shared and awareness of his existence is raised, and I get to remain anonymous (not a new feeling, but it still sucks).
I LOVE FOR MY WORK TO BE SHARED! When people share my work and spread my name out there, I get hired to make images and to make books! I owe my career to the internet! All I ask for is a reverse image search, like Tineye.com, if there are no credits to do the right thing and give credit where credit is due. Just a little love is what I'm asking for.
If Uncle Joe in Boise shares my work without credit do I stamp my feet? Not really. He's probably not using the internet to sell his brand and make money. If he did go out of his way to credit me, there is a special place in internet heaven for him, but I save my righteous indignation for the heavy hitters making dollar bills.
Some people (otherwise known as giant morons blithering idiots) think I should be just happy to have my work shared on the web, but I actually make a living with this stuff. Do I think George is a bad guy? No, just careless and lazy (OH MY!)

And here's the image I'm talking about.

It was included in a very popular London Telegraph story that helped spread the word about me, but thousands of credit-less copies have been floating around ever since. Luckily for me, most large sites do the right thing and link to me or give me a mention.
End Of Rant.