@marshallsmyth do you remember where you found the image/the word that you used to bring it up?
I think you just pointed out the importance of copyright on the internet and how it benefits everyone, especially the original creator. And also the benefits of protecting the owner's rights to require attribution for their works, even if it is just a photo.
I know we're just talking about a thumbnail avatar, it may even pass the 'fair use' test

... but without intellectual property rights, I could 'borrow' a few of
@NwMtGardener 's bird photos for my blog and someone could find my blog and wish to publish, purchase rights to, or otherwise legally use some of the photos for their website, book or whatever. I could not legally give them permission to do that and without attributing them to the owner, the owner would miss that opportunity. And
@NwMtGardener would want to beat me up.
One would think that people should just protect their works by licensing, watermarking, etc., but automatic rights protects all things equally. I think that's a good thing and encourages people to show and share more, with their rights protected.
@TheSeedObsesser - Your duck photos are every bit as interesting as that bird, to me anyway.
