I agree with this wholeheartedly. Nice touch @darkb4dawn to include links explaining the boundaries. The fact is, the online world can be pretty cruel sometimes. The anonymity protects our privacy, but also provides us the power to engage in bullying without consequences. It can't be helped. Engaging them would be totally up to you.
I get where you're coming from @masteryoda. You like photography and you like to share it with everyone. That's all well and good, especially if you abide by fair use. There would be no harm done, and you even make money on the side. But, as a poster of original content, I see where they're coming from as well. It's hard to see that re-posts earn more than your carefully thought-out original work. That's just the way it is currently. Until the creators of Steemit enable creators to show off their original content for an amount of time so that many people would take notice, posters would just have to market their work more heavily. However, bullying is not the way, and there are better avenues to convey their stand.
For now, you just need to solidify your choice regarding the matter. Stick with Steemit, earn some money on the side and face the criticism, or just quit and call this a learning experience. Just get along can't we all?