370: out with the old

[jen_aside]

I trend into cycling out my icons for a reason... one, because some tend to get stale, and two, I find new ones I like. There's a tertiary reason as well, that--especially being of a graphically-capable mind--I don't want to be trapped in a habit of always regurgitating someone else's work, the exception being if it's [as a lot of mine are] someone

Comments

[ex_tailsy]

^-- stolen icon

I've mentioned this before, but some of you have even stolen and modified someone else's ARTWORK without permission, which is even worse in my mind, particularly after chastising others for the same kind of "COPYWRIGHT ME!!! NO STEALIES!!! OMG ART THEFTS" efforts.I don't see how these things are related in the "that makes it worse" way. If you chastise someone for getting anal about art copyright, and then rip off someone's work, the universal principle is that "it doesn't matter, it's just graphics on the Internet," not that, "you shouldn't get anal about copyright because no one will steal your work

[jen_aside]

Was I talking about you? ;B

[ex_tailsy]

Was I talking about you? ;B

Yes, at least in part:

I've mentioned this before, but some of you have even stolen and modified someone else's ARTWORK without permission, which is even worse in my mind, particularly after chastising others for the same kind of "COPYWRIGHT ME!!! NO STEALIES!!! OMG ART THEFTS" efforts.

I definitely chastise people for going overboard about art copyright, and yet I have a "stolen and modified" image as my primary LJ icon. So "some of you" definitely includes me, and so this behavior must infuriate you ("
Does it matter? Particularly in the "LJ" scope of things, and for what are ultimately just chat avatars, prolly not, but as a principle, it's infuriating."I think the example you posted above is definitely worse, sure, and I don't think anyone should modify other people's pictures and pass them off as their own

[jen_aside]

It's not merely the internet I'm thinking about. For instance, Fuzzybear basically stopped drawing because an asshole named Steve Martin [not the actor] tore apart his drawing in Prismo's sketchbook... in front of Fuzzybear... PHYSICAL PRESENCE, not mere text on screen. Regardless of your opinion of his artwork, that's a cruel way to get people to stop doing something they never professed to doing well in the first place and do/did simply because their friends like it.

My big beef in the matter of icons in particular is that they're this way to make oneself distinct, regardless of how they're made [I don't care that BK, for instance, has used essentially a clipart service to make public domain icons of himself, because he has permission and they look like him]... and going and using EXACTLY the same icon(s) as friends, particularly, not only defeats the purpose, but it's disorienting and a bit obnoxious, especially if it means, hey look, my browser is downloading the SAME huge icon multiple times because different people have it!

[mortonfox]

There are a few exceptions, but generally I use my own work for LJ icons.

Yes, I think it matters. If we condone a culture of stealing graphics from each other, some artists may stop putting their work on the web and then everyone loses.

[digoraccoon]

Good point and I agree. I've decided to just make my own icons too for that reason. :)

[jenova_silver]

I like the icons that people have given me. Much better than what I've been able to do so far...