A Rant About Plagiarism...
so I woke up this morning to find this post from one of my favorite artists, and I am very, very angry.
(The original post is in Japanese only and it’s pretty long so I’m not going to provide a word for word translation since I have a lot I want to say already, but I’ll give you a basic run-down:)
The artist, Uiti, is abandoning her tumblr and is no longer going to post works due to people copying and plagiarizing her works and even attempting to sell them.
These are some of the works being ripped-off:
http://oekkkn.tumblr.com/post/115390336902
http://oekkkn.tumblr.com/post/114676011312
http://oekkkn.tumblr.com/post/111578005607
by this user blargkkake who has been uploading them to places like tumblr, deviantART, pixiv, and twitter with the claims that they are the rightful author
(screen shots are taken directly from Uiti’s original post)
http://blargkkake.tumblr.com/
http://blargkkake.deviantart.com/
http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=207181
https://twitter.com/Haitei_Raoyue
To make things worse, the plagiarizations of these drawings are even being sold on blargkkake’s storenvy for profit. If stealing credit for another artist’s work or ideas isn’t bad enough, using it to make a profit is even less forgivable.
http://mosobox.storenvy.com/collections/1045197-blargkkake
(screen shots taken from Uiti’s original post)
Of course, this person did not ask permission to use any of the plagiarized works and Uiti never gave such consent either, in fact, back in April they made a post specifically asking for people NOT to re-distribute, re-post, trace, or otherwise use their work in any way.
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT GUYS
this is not just a call out post and I’m not just asking people to go spam blargkakke and get the stolen works removed (although I do recommend reporting them, or sending them a little note requesting to remove the works…as well as contacting anyone you know who has purchased from their store unknowingly to get their money refunded).
What this post is really about is more than that. I feel like I’m crazy, like I’m being a broken record here. I’m a lot more outspoken about this kind of stuff on twitter than on tumblr as I don’t make a lot of text posts here anymore, but I feel like I have already said all of this a million times. At this point this is just fucking ridiculous.
I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this but DO NOT STEAL FROM OTHER ARTISTS. DON’T DO IT. JUST DON’T. I don’t care what you’re thinking or how you’re trying to justify it, just DON’T FUCKING DO IT.
This goes for everyone, not just blargkkake, or people like them who probably know what they’re doing is wrong. Even if you are reposting someone’s artwork with good intent to “share their work with the world”, and giving them credit with a link etc, etc. Even if you’re just using their work or style as practice and even label it as “practice” and link back to them. If the artist expresses that they don’t want their work being used, DON’T USE IT.
You may think you’re showing your appreciation for the artist, and think that you love them and are a true fan, but what you are doing is extremely hurtful to the artist. You are disrespecting their wishes and making light of the hard work they put in to their drawings. Additionally, you are directing attention away from the artist and towards yourself.
Uiti even went out of the way to post IN ENGLISH that their works were not to be plagiarized or used by anyone but the original artist, but that shouldn’t even have to be necessary.
For one, if any artist does not have explicitly stated rules about the use of their work, it is YOUR JOB to find out if they will permit it. Not having any rules posted does not mean their artwork is free for you to use. Unless you see EXPRESS PERMISSION to use their work, you MAY NOT use it. If the rules aren’t clear, and you really have to know, just ask.
(Though I have to ask, why are you so desperate to repost their stuff in the first place? you can literally just reblog it or retweet it and BAM, it’s on your blog, there’s absolutely no need for you to repost it. That’s literally WHY the reblog/retweet functions exist–so that you can share without taking attention away from the original poster.)
And if you don’t speak the same language as the artist and therefore can’t read their rules or can’t ask, that’s TOO BAD FOR YOU. That’s your problem, not theirs. It does NOT give you permission to feign ignorance and repost their works anyway.
This is so serious. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANOTHER ARTIST’S WORK. I can’t even wrap my brain around why anyone would think otherwise. Artists are getting so disheartened and fed up with this that, in cases like Uiti’s, they are refusing to post any more works, or even in some cases DELETING their accounts because they don’t want their works stolen anymore.
THIS IS SO SAD. People don’t feel safe sharing and posting the works that they put so much love into creating. Sharing your artwork is supposed to be fun and feel good, not something to be abused and turned into a bitter experience.
Although I hope Uiti’s original post reaches the eyes of many, I wanted to make a post about it IN ENGLISH because sadly, this is much more of a pervasive problem among the English-speaking community. Not to say that art theft isn’t an issue among art communities all over the world, but I don’t know what it is about western cultures (cough, cough, America) that makes everyone so ignorant and entitled to steal and trample on artists’ good faith without any remorse. Especially foreign artists.
DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE of artists who speak a different language than you do or who are in a different art community than you are. Just because someone speaks a different language than you, or frequents different websites, that does NOT mean they won’t find out what you’re doing. And even if they never find out, that doesn’t make it okay, nor does it mean that what you’re doing isn’t directly hurting the artist. Even if they are ignorant to what you’re doing and won’t directly have their feelings hurt (though trust me, they’re going to find out eventually), you are still taking away exposure from that artist, not to mention possible profit/income.
I love Uiti’s work so much and I always have felt really cheered up and motivated whenever I look at their artwork. To see someone whose work I love and admire so much close down their tumblr and be hurt by someone representing the English-speaking internet/art community really, really makes me feel angry and depressed. I don’t want this to continue to be a problem among ANY community, but I especially don’t want this to be the way foreign artists see my community in particular.
I have had amazing opportunities to connect with artists all over the world thanks to websites like twitter and tumblr, and I absolutely hate to represent a community that is dishonest and disrespectful and plagiarizes other people’s artwork.
But this goes out to everyone. I don’t care who you are or whose works you are using or what you’re using them for. Don’t do it. Please have some integrity and respect your fellow artists.
Thank you for anyone who took the time to read this, sorry if it was lengthy.
Spreading the message is appreciated!
annaxmalina
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