A long, but necessary speech about reposting
Hi, guys. :)
You have noticed that in each art post that I make, I add this note asking not to repost my wallpapers anywhere. (Well, at least most of you have, and I'm grateful for that. ♥) However, there are some folks that either miss, or choose to ignore that note. It occured to me that maybe those who do so don't really understand the reasons behind my request, and how their reposting affects me. So, I thought I'd explain.
I'll start with a small preamble. On my last art update, I posted a Vampire Diaries piece.
A few days later one of my friends ran across it on DeviantArt. It was cropped in such a way that my tag and signature were cut off. Soon after that, the same cropped version of the wall appeared on FanPop - three times, uploaded by different users. One of the posters credited... let's say "X", as the source. I googled X and found their public Photobucket album. There were two my wallpapers in it, the VD wall in question plus another one. Both were lacking my tags/signatures. I found same username on LJ and sent X a message, but got no reply (which, I suppose, means that this person was the one who cropped the walls and was first to repost them, starting the 'chain reaction'.)
I'm telling all this just to draw an illustration: look how single repost to a public album within a few days resulted in redistribution of my art on the two most popular fandom resources on the Internet. Also, notice how the piece lost my terms of use and contact information contained in the tag, and got miscredited along the way.
It always happens in the chain of reposting.
But, you're probably thinking, 'So what? Yes, getting no credit is annoying, but it's just fanart! There's no real harm in reposting because no money is involved.'
But the thing is, there is money involved. There is harm. How's that? Let me explain.
On DeviantArt, they do have regulations regarding copyright/uploading art you didn't make, but the site's got so overstuffed during the years that a lot of rules are being violated without the staff noticing. Photobucket and FanPop, those are fully Public Domain sites. That means that any image uploaded there can then be distributed and used freely. It's in their TOS. If someone uploads a stolen image there, neither site will be held responsible - only the user that made the upload (that is, if you find and catch that user.) Same, if someone takes said uploaded image and (ab)uses it. So ultimately, these sites are some of the biggest image sources on the internet that are free to access and can be used anonymously and without consequences.
If you don't see how money gets involved here, you're probably an honest and decent person. :) But not everyone is, sadly. While you use Photobucket or FanPop as means to add to your collection of wallpapers, some people use it to easily find templates to print on things and sell. It's the new illegal, but easy 'business' brought to life by social networking and new printing technologies. You might find it hard to imagine the extent of the issue, so here's some of my personal statistics.
During last year or so, my artwork has been printed and sold behind my back for very real money (online and offline) as:
- Supernatural themed blankets (Australia and Great Britain);
- Vampire themed calendars (Italy);
- Torchwood themed fridge magnets (Russia);
- Elements of vampire themed comic strip in a magazine (France?);
- Handbags, mousepads, clocks, ashtrays, watches, business card cases, fridge magnets, sigarette cases, key ring pendants, drinks coasters... you name it - Buffy, Angel, Dexter, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Supernatural themed - all on Ebay (mostly Australia and USA);
- [EDIT] Buffy DVD boxset cover (China?);
- [EDIT 2] Buffy themed illustration in the sci-fi magazine "Мир фантастики" (Russia;)
- Buffy themed T-shirt design (Australia;)
- [EDIT 3] Buffy themed light switch covers (USA);
It has also been used in Buffy related TV advertizements (both online and actually on air) in Great Britain, Ukraine and Netherlands. [EDIT] And a Dexter related one in Russia.
That's hunderds (if not thousands) dollars.
When I would explain to the sellers that the image they used is my artwork (and subject to copyright by TV studios and other people), their usual reply would be, 'I found it on public domain site.'
Some sellers take their merchandize down when asked, but some continue operating, even right this moment. Why don't they stop? Well, here is the catch:
Because even though I am the author of the artwork they use, I do not own the legal rights, since the source material belongs to other parties (TV studios etc); I can't do anything to make them stop and they know it. It's almost funny: I'm honest enough to not use my fanart to gain money, but those with no respect for law or etiquette have no problems with that. So they use this juridical and moral catch for their benefit.
(Not all is that simple, of course. With help of a lawyer, I'm pretty sure I would've been able to protect at least some of my work from abuse. First of all, there is the US Fair Use Copyright Law - Section 107 and my fanart falls under it neatly - since it's not of commercial nature, contains only small portions of original copyrighted material and doesn't affect its potential market. Also, in addition to the images that belong to TV and film studious, I use a lot of stock materials commercial usage of which is prohibited by the makers. So, when those commersants sell my collage they also violate the rights of the people whose photographs or brushes I used in it.
If I could hire a lawyer with international license, my online life would become easier. Unfortunately, I can't. I live in the country that, well...isn't known for its strong jurisprudence, and struggle with a very serious illness that literally eats up all my income. A fanart lawyer, frankly, stands far in the end on the list of things that I need but can't afford. So when someone uses my art to break the law, violate other people's rights and gain money off my work, I am helpless.)
Now, please... take a moment and imagine that you are me. You created something and shared it with people, and then someone used your creation to break the law and to gain themselves money off your labour of love. Imagine they keep doing it on regular basis. You are, practically, working hard to provide them new materials, only you don't get paid a cent. Imagine that some cynics ask you, 'Why don't you sell your fanart yourself?' and you answer them that that would be illegal and you don't want that (because it would, and you don't), yet can't help but feel used and abused.
I bet you wouldn't like the feeling. I sure don't.
But, what options do I have left in this situation?
I could switch this journal to 'friends only' or create a locked art community. More and more fanartists do that to prevent reposting and commercial theft. But I find the very idea of making people jump through hoops to see my art revolting. I, myself, never, ever ask for passwords or access to this kind of, uh, 'elite' journals and I'd hate to force that on you.
I could start adding conspicuous watermarks over significant parts of the artwork in such a way that removing them would be too much work for a commercial thief. But that obviously would ruin the art not only for thieves but for regular viewers as well.
I could stop posting fanart altogether - only it's not really an option because it's my beloved hobby, and of course I like getting feedback on what I do.
So... my last resource is you, guys. :) And your understanding.
Please, don't repost my walls, even to your personal blogs or albums. You've just read how little it takes for a reposted wallpaper to get on FanPop and then on Ebay. Simply link to my journal if you want to recommend it or showcase your new desktop. Don't remove my tags. They are descreet enough to not take away from the art itself, and they provide my rules and contact information for those who want to use them.
And, please... when you save a pretty wallpaper, just take a moment and consider that it didn't magically appear on the internet, but was created and shared with you by another person.
Thank you for reading all this. I know it wasn't exactly entertaining read, and I appreciate your attention. :)
You have noticed that in each art post that I make, I add this note asking not to repost my wallpapers anywhere. (Well, at least most of you have, and I'm grateful for that. ♥) However, there are some folks that either miss, or choose to ignore that note. It occured to me that maybe those who do so don't really understand the reasons behind my request, and how their reposting affects me. So, I thought I'd explain.
I'll start with a small preamble. On my last art update, I posted a Vampire Diaries piece.
A few days later one of my friends ran across it on DeviantArt. It was cropped in such a way that my tag and signature were cut off. Soon after that, the same cropped version of the wall appeared on FanPop - three times, uploaded by different users. One of the posters credited... let's say "X", as the source. I googled X and found their public Photobucket album. There were two my wallpapers in it, the VD wall in question plus another one. Both were lacking my tags/signatures. I found same username on LJ and sent X a message, but got no reply (which, I suppose, means that this person was the one who cropped the walls and was first to repost them, starting the 'chain reaction'.)
I'm telling all this just to draw an illustration: look how single repost to a public album within a few days resulted in redistribution of my art on the two most popular fandom resources on the Internet. Also, notice how the piece lost my terms of use and contact information contained in the tag, and got miscredited along the way.
It always happens in the chain of reposting.
But, you're probably thinking, 'So what? Yes, getting no credit is annoying, but it's just fanart! There's no real harm in reposting because no money is involved.'
But the thing is, there is money involved. There is harm. How's that? Let me explain.
On DeviantArt, they do have regulations regarding copyright/uploading art you didn't make, but the site's got so overstuffed during the years that a lot of rules are being violated without the staff noticing. Photobucket and FanPop, those are fully Public Domain sites. That means that any image uploaded there can then be distributed and used freely. It's in their TOS. If someone uploads a stolen image there, neither site will be held responsible - only the user that made the upload (that is, if you find and catch that user.) Same, if someone takes said uploaded image and (ab)uses it. So ultimately, these sites are some of the biggest image sources on the internet that are free to access and can be used anonymously and without consequences.
If you don't see how money gets involved here, you're probably an honest and decent person. :) But not everyone is, sadly. While you use Photobucket or FanPop as means to add to your collection of wallpapers, some people use it to easily find templates to print on things and sell. It's the new illegal, but easy 'business' brought to life by social networking and new printing technologies. You might find it hard to imagine the extent of the issue, so here's some of my personal statistics.
During last year or so, my artwork has been printed and sold behind my back for very real money (online and offline) as:
- Supernatural themed blankets (Australia and Great Britain);
- Vampire themed calendars (Italy);
- Torchwood themed fridge magnets (Russia);
- Elements of vampire themed comic strip in a magazine (France?);
- Handbags, mousepads, clocks, ashtrays, watches, business card cases, fridge magnets, sigarette cases, key ring pendants, drinks coasters... you name it - Buffy, Angel, Dexter, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Supernatural themed - all on Ebay (mostly Australia and USA);
- [EDIT] Buffy DVD boxset cover (China?);
- [EDIT 2] Buffy themed illustration in the sci-fi magazine "Мир фантастики" (Russia;)
- Buffy themed T-shirt design (Australia;)
- [EDIT 3] Buffy themed light switch covers (USA);
It has also been used in Buffy related TV advertizements (both online and actually on air) in Great Britain, Ukraine and Netherlands. [EDIT] And a Dexter related one in Russia.
That's hunderds (if not thousands) dollars.
When I would explain to the sellers that the image they used is my artwork (and subject to copyright by TV studios and other people), their usual reply would be, 'I found it on public domain site.'
Some sellers take their merchandize down when asked, but some continue operating, even right this moment. Why don't they stop? Well, here is the catch:
Because even though I am the author of the artwork they use, I do not own the legal rights, since the source material belongs to other parties (TV studios etc); I can't do anything to make them stop and they know it. It's almost funny: I'm honest enough to not use my fanart to gain money, but those with no respect for law or etiquette have no problems with that. So they use this juridical and moral catch for their benefit.
(Not all is that simple, of course. With help of a lawyer, I'm pretty sure I would've been able to protect at least some of my work from abuse. First of all, there is the US Fair Use Copyright Law - Section 107 and my fanart falls under it neatly - since it's not of commercial nature, contains only small portions of original copyrighted material and doesn't affect its potential market. Also, in addition to the images that belong to TV and film studious, I use a lot of stock materials commercial usage of which is prohibited by the makers. So, when those commersants sell my collage they also violate the rights of the people whose photographs or brushes I used in it.
If I could hire a lawyer with international license, my online life would become easier. Unfortunately, I can't. I live in the country that, well...isn't known for its strong jurisprudence, and struggle with a very serious illness that literally eats up all my income. A fanart lawyer, frankly, stands far in the end on the list of things that I need but can't afford. So when someone uses my art to break the law, violate other people's rights and gain money off my work, I am helpless.)
Now, please... take a moment and imagine that you are me. You created something and shared it with people, and then someone used your creation to break the law and to gain themselves money off your labour of love. Imagine they keep doing it on regular basis. You are, practically, working hard to provide them new materials, only you don't get paid a cent. Imagine that some cynics ask you, 'Why don't you sell your fanart yourself?' and you answer them that that would be illegal and you don't want that (because it would, and you don't), yet can't help but feel used and abused.
I bet you wouldn't like the feeling. I sure don't.
But, what options do I have left in this situation?
I could switch this journal to 'friends only' or create a locked art community. More and more fanartists do that to prevent reposting and commercial theft. But I find the very idea of making people jump through hoops to see my art revolting. I, myself, never, ever ask for passwords or access to this kind of, uh, 'elite' journals and I'd hate to force that on you.
I could start adding conspicuous watermarks over significant parts of the artwork in such a way that removing them would be too much work for a commercial thief. But that obviously would ruin the art not only for thieves but for regular viewers as well.
I could stop posting fanart altogether - only it's not really an option because it's my beloved hobby, and of course I like getting feedback on what I do.
So... my last resource is you, guys. :) And your understanding.
Please, don't repost my walls, even to your personal blogs or albums. You've just read how little it takes for a reposted wallpaper to get on FanPop and then on Ebay. Simply link to my journal if you want to recommend it or showcase your new desktop. Don't remove my tags. They are descreet enough to not take away from the art itself, and they provide my rules and contact information for those who want to use them.
And, please... when you save a pretty wallpaper, just take a moment and consider that it didn't magically appear on the internet, but was created and shared with you by another person.
Thank you for reading all this. I know it wasn't exactly entertaining read, and I appreciate your attention. :)