Over 1,000 collectors have entrusted over 300,00 images of their collectibles to the ChipGuide. We have a ChipGuide Usage Policy that explains how collectors can use these images. Most of the time a violation is a simple oversight when a collector posts one of our images with giving credit to the ChipGuide. When that happens, I add a response that says "Images Courtesy of the ChipGuide". I do that to protect ownership of the images. I do that every time I see it, whether it was done by a friend or someone I don't know. I do that to protect ownership of the images. If I knowingly let one person violate the ChipGuide Usage Policy, even once, then someone else can claim ownership of the ChipGuide images. And if someone else claimed ownership, then they can say that we are using their images without permission and the ChipGuide would go away. That is the legal advise I got from the Club's attorney.

It has been suggested to me by several collectors that I watermark the images. I resisted because it detracts from their esthetic qualities. And I believe that I did mention at one time that I may have to watermark the images if violations of the ChipGuide Usage Policy became a problem. Thankfully, it has not.

I have not had any push back on enforcing the ChipGuide Usage Policy by any collector, except you.

By the way, sometimes violations of the ChipGuide Usage Policy are malicious. Maybe once or twice a year. When that happens we have taken legal actions to protect our assets. Unfortunately, that is the world that we live in today. But we are always there protecting the interests of the ChipGuide for the enjoyment of collectors.