That's a great shot. (But we don't care who took it.)

This was the vibe emanating from two stories in this week's news. Here are the posts from PetaPixel that caught my attention.

First we have the two young men who run History in Pictures. They use the work of photographers as content for their sites. However, they don't always pay attention to copyright. And they never give photo credit.

“It would not be practical,” Di Petta said. “The majority of the photographers are deceased. Or hard to find who took the images.”

Second, our old friend George Zimmerman returns to the news (the man who was charged and ultimately acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin). He's now painting, and has copied a photo taken by AP freelancer Rick Wilson. Zimmerman's last painting sold for over $100,000 on eBay.

Zimmerman responds to AP allegations with a cryptic tweet: "No worries AP, I’ll just take whatever U sue me for off your tab when I’m done suing you :-) Or… I could put out how much U offered me 2…"

Here's the deal.

We all enjoy the work of photographers everyday. Pictures are shared everywhere. And that's the joy of photography. Sharing.

But we should recommit ourselves to observing the rules of the game. Give credit where credit is due. And follow the law.

As a photographer, you can help by ensuring that your contact information is embedded in the IPTC data of each image your send out into the wild. Most cameras can add this information, and certainly Lightroom, Photoshop, and Aperture can.

Then at least we can address the excuse: "it's too hard to find who took the images."

Put it right there under their nose.

-Derrick