Hi! I have an Instagram myself, and although I practice an (extremely stringent) "if-you-steal-art-I-unfollow" policy, I know that doesn't really help the stealing problem--one follower lost is probably nothing to these accounts thriving off of stolen work. Instagram doesn't seem to have an option (trust me, I've looked) for stealing other people's content. How can I report someone for taking art? (Gosh, you have no idea how much those people tick. me. off.) Thanks!
Knowing that people like you exist is honestly the ONLY thing some days that keeps me from leaving this fandom and all its art theft issues. Bless you, my comrade <3 <3 <3
3 Things You Can Do To Fight Art Theft:
1. Comment (without harassing). Many art thieves try to pretend they “don’t know” who the artist is, or that they “don’t know” reposting isn’t allowed (even when it’s written right on the image). Calling them out by posting a link to the original, tagging the artist, or even simply stating ‘this belongs to [ARTIST] and they don’t allow reposts’ is sometimes enough to get an art thief to delete a repost (to avoid copyright strikes).
2. Link the artist. Send us a link so that we can report the art as stolen. You can also make a notifying callout post (again, careful not to harass) if it’s an account that steals from a lot of artists. However, dealing with tons of people treating you and your art like dirt can get really stressful (I know it’s ruined my day more than once), so sometimes you can also…
3. …Report “on behalf of the owner”. If you know an artist absolutely doesn’t allow reposts (for example, me), you can save them tons of time and stress by filling out a copyright claim on their behalf. All you need is a link to the original (most of my stuff is in my /tagged/my-stuff tag), and to tick the box that says you’re ‘authorized to report on behalf of the copyright owner’ (actual wording varies from site to site). When making a report, it’s absolutely vital that you know for sure the image was reposted without permission. I never give permission to repost (especially on Insta, Pinterest, WeHeartIt, etc.), so any of my art you see there is stolen, and you can report it. Buttons to look for include “report”, “this doesn’t belong on ____”, “this violates my intellectual copyright/terms of service”, and sometimes “inappropriate content”.
One advantage that art thieves have over artists is that there’s only so much a single artist can report (or emotionally handle) in a single day. Art thieves take advantage of that to get away with stealing. But if we all band together, we can take stolen posts down, get repeat offenders’ accounts deleted, and make this fandom a happier, fairer place to be.
Btw, thank you SO much to my followers who always have my back, and who I always see doing these 3 things above. You guys are ANGELS and you don’t know how many times a message like this, or a comment defending my art, etc. has kept me from jumping ship (and just not posting my art online anymore). You guys are so awesome, and I’m so grateful for each and every one of you. <3 <3
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