I personally know a woman who used a decorative image she found online. She thought she was legally in the clear by crediting the artist and even linking back to the artist. No. She did not get CONSENT from the artist in writing. In court, she was given a $30,000
fine for copyright infringement.
No, it is not alright "for someone to download and share anything you've posted without your consent." That fact that it's the internet makes no difference at all. Copyright laws still apply, and they begin WHEN you first record or write anything on any digital storage device. Right then is when it legally becomes yours.
Here comes the legal stuff having to do with your situation.
"A work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy for the first time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion of it that has been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work as of that time.
102. Subject matter of copyright: In general 28:
Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device."
From that moment, it is legally protected under 17 Code 504 and International Law, which states:
WHETHER FOR PROFIT OR NOT, the consequences of copyright infringement, which is reposting or otherwise distributing ANY work in any manner without PERMISSION IN WRITING from the originator of the work, is punishable with statutory damages of between $750 and $30,000 per work, at the discretion of the court, and damages of up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement.
