There was a very unfortunate incident that occurred.
My original IW-themed comic, which I had posted on Tumblr and Twitter, was reposted without my permission on facebook. There was no link to my original posting, either. Someone online found it and asked the reposter on my behalf if she had gotten permission to repost my work, but the answer was no. This perpetrator insisted that she is “promoting” my work and that I should contact her first - and not the other way around. It appears that she doesn’t think she did anything wrong.
In addition to that posting, this person has also reposted dozens of other original pieces of mine without permission. The IW comic that I mentioned at first, is especially important to me. The fact that my work has been treated like this makes me incredibly sad.
What I can’t tolerate more than anything else is that works by my friends from Japan and artists that I respect from around the world, have been also reposted without any permission.
It is unforgivable that works by my dear friend and much-respected artists are abused like this for someone’s personal greed.
I first thought I would just delete my Tumblr account and end everything once and for all, but then decided to post this message in the hopes of reducing this kind of incidents, which are perpetrated by rude and shameless art thieves and reposters.
Therefore, I sincerely ask the people who are reposting artwork that doesn’t belong to them, to stop it.
However, if you do want to repost the work, you should first contact original artists. At the very least, you should clearly assign recognition to the original artist and give a link to the original work. I think that is the proper course of action.
If the original artist says no, then that decision should be respected.
Even if you think the art is wonderful, and you wish to share it with others, the original artist’s desires should be considered paramount.
Since my last posting stating that I would leave Tumblr, I have received so many encouraging comments and messages. I truly appreciate it.
I have not made a final decision whether I will stay on Tumblr or delete my account, but I just wanted to post this message before doing so.
My English is not perfect, so I created this message with the help of my friend, Sarah.
I truly believe that I’m not saying anything out of place.
I would like to leave the rest up to you.
