Well... just cuz you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

It's not a matter of trust or paranoia tho. The mechanism to protect yourself is to control the original, and if you don't control it, you may as well not bother. Your friends shouldn't resent that you don't give them the PSD files for all your art, or the 3D polygons and rigs, or the multitrack master for a recording. Most of them probably won't have the software needed to use them anyway.

Cropping 10% or less out of a JPG just gives you a little bit more evidence should your ownership of the image ever be challenged.

You can upload audio at reduced bitrates too (see my tip for jpgs below), or edit songs shorter, and distribute the hi-fi version on a pay site or whatever way you like. Just like screencapping a jpg, you can strip DRM by recording in the analog domain. Nobody really cares if the free version off the net sounds a teeny bit crummier, whether they got it from you or the guy who transcoded it.

The important thing is people are listening to your music.

Ugh, please don't.

I download what I want from the net. I don't use it commercially or for any other reason. I just keep files on my hard drive to look at, which I think is very typical of the fandom's art consumers. It doesn't matter if you use scripts or watermarks. Everything can be circumvented.

Like SimbaLion says, the art is already mine if I'm seeing it on my screen. People who put content on the internet need to understand that trying to control who looks at it, and when, simply don't understand the medium they're using. It doesn't work that way.

If you don't want your jpgs in other people's furry/ directory, for God's sake don't upload them to a web site! The internet is more like a photocopier than a telescope that lets people look into your private art gallery when you've voluntarily opened your blinds.

If you want to establish ownership of your files, I recommend you do two things:

1: always crop your picture. Use the rest of the artboard as evidence that you possess the original. It is very difficult to contest ownership when you don't have the entire picture, and it's very difficult to fake a whole PSD file.

2: always scale your picture down. Work at 2000 pixels and upload at 1000, or work at 3000 and upload at 2000. You will again have proof that yours is the original.

3: DON'T GIVE THE ORIGINAL TO ANYONE! Not even your friends. Cuz they're your friends right now. They won't be when you see it on e621.

If you ever need to fight over ownership of a picture, you need only present a small piece of your proof. One corner of an image is good enough. You can do it over and over and never have to disseminate 100% of the work to the web.

But remember, when an artist is known for crappy low resolution watermarked images, that becomes part of their reputation too.

I say, just be an artist and let your work be seen.