Artists, Art & Copyright

Today I came across a certain situation on the internet which kind of got to me. Its the classic “Artist Internet Rights” argument that I’m sure a lot of people are already fermiliar with. Artists claims they have the sole rights to their art and the art fans claim that it’s theirs to use however they want. So, who is right?

Let me say up front that the following ‘rant’ is merely my own opinion in a debate that has been raging for years. Like with any other debate on the internet I’m sure there’s plenty of people who don’t agree with me.

So what’s the deal? Certain artists out there have certain ‘copyright rules’ concerning the art they post online. With artists like this, you’ll often find things like ‘do not alter’ or ‘do not remove copyright’. These are both perfectly understandable rules, afterall if someone comes along and rapes something you worked your ass off to make then I would be pissed off too. Removing the copyright would be plain weird to because the only reason to that is so you can put your own name on it, and that would be stealing.

But when you read further you’ll encounter weird rules like ‘Do not distribute’. So you make a piece of art, put a copyright stamp on it, post it online so you can show your hard work to other people and then make it illegal to show it to more people. What is the point in that? Isn’t the point of posting something online to recieve feedback on it and show it to as much people as possible? What rational thought would make you stop that process?

Another fun rule is ‘Do not use as avatar or signature’. Here is someone who found your awsome art, likes it enough to use as their personal profile picture and you’re complaining about it? For me it would be a huge compliment if someone wants to use my art as an avatar, it shows people appreciate my stuff.

But the most idiotic rule I’ve ever come across is ‘Do not use as reference’. For your information, reference in this instance basicaly means that a beginning artist takes the picture and tries to copy it freehand. It’s safe to say that every artist around has done this at least a few times at the start of their carreer. Why? Because it’s the best way to learn! So now some extremely arrogant artist who has been making art for 10 years or something comes along and tells the new artists that they can’t use his art to study!
Ask yourself this. Do you remember how you started drawing? I’ll dare you that you’ve referenced a picture at least once in your life. You wouldn’t have appreciated it if the artist who made that picture said you couldn’t use it, would you? Maybe you wouldn’t even have understood it, I mean why would someone refuse a starting artist the tools to improve his skills? It makes no sense unless you’re too arrogant to let someone else attempt to copy your art.

I understand what these artists are afraid of with their copyright rule, though. They worked their ass off on this artwork and want to recieve as much comments as they can. However they want to recieve credit for every single copy of their art that is floating on the internet. If one of their pictures is on some site then that artist’s name better be within a 2 pixel radius from the picture! The entire world better know who made that picture so to make sure they have full control over where the pictures are displayed they choose the restrict any and all distribution options. A simple rule like ‘Please give credit if you use this’ would solve all the above problems, but hey I guess some people like to pretend they are more important then they really are by sticking up all kinds of rules.

But no matter how many rules you try sticking up, you can’t enforce them anyway. If I come across some neat picture I want to use as an avatar or as reference then I’ll simply do what I want, give you credit and there’s not a thing you can do. Violation of copyright? Sue me. I doubt you have the money to send some crafty lawyer after me to take that single picture offline and even if you do, are you really prepared to spend a few thousand bux on a lawyer every single time someone uses your work against your will? Are you prepared to register every single work you make with the Copyright Office so you can win a case SHOULD someone steal your stuff? Most internet artists aren’t.

Drawing fancy pictures in Photoshop and posting them online is a neat hobby but by doing so you’ve made yourself part of a community: The Community of Internet Artwork. It’s a tight community, where everyone tries to help each other out and teach each other new skills. If you want to come along and interfere with that process because you deem yourself to perfect to help other people then don’t bother entering our community and keep your artwork to yourself.

Don’t get me wrong, if people use your stuff they should give you proper credit. I myself use several things from other artists like the tiger in my avatar and in the banner of my website. That image was made by Blotch, an awsome artist in the furry fandom and per his request I mention his name with the picture which is how it should be.

If you don’t want your shit used then don’t post it online. Welcome to the internet.

Havoc