Copied images that self-destruct

No this isn't going to be about Mission Impossible.

The other day I copied some images from a website to a folder on my desktop and then re-uploaded them onto a blog post. (I did credit the source and even linked to the original page, and the pix had a watermark on the besides.)

The next day I looked at my blog and the images were blank with little red Xs in their upper left hand corners.

Dang, they had an anti-copying timed self-destruct code in them.

Couldn't let that one stand. I wasn't claiming them for my own, after all. I was actually using them to entice people to buy something from the original owner of the pics themselves.

I tried something, and two days later it seems to have worked. The pics are still there.

So here's what I did.

Go back to the original web page and re-save the images.
Open Photoshop.
Drag first image into Photoshop.
Duplicate layer in Layer menu (as a background copy).
Select Background layer (the original image), in the layers tab (probably in the lower right of your screen). It's probably locked, but that won't stop you from...
Delete-ing that layer in the Layer menu.
Now you're done, you've eliminated the data the had the self-destruct code.
Before you can re-save as something other than a .psd (the file type native to Photoshop) you'll have to flatten image in the Layers menu. I know this seems silly since the image only has one layer, but just do it.

Then do a save as and you're ready to re-upload without fear of self-destructing images.

Remember to give credit where credit is due.