Literally why do you make icons from unsourced art

A sideblog for my edits of various fandoms and types. Mainly makes icons right now. Always available for help with finding / iconing animated faceclaims! I pride myself on always sourcing the images I use, and getting permission from the artist if it isn't official art and their FAQ doesn't already say it can be used.

[senbeiedits-blog]

vFlower icons!

99 icons, all 150x150. Cropping/resizing is allowed.

Please reblog this post if you're going to use them! That's my only rule credit-wise, it lets me know who's using my icons, and it's a good way to say “hey here's where I got these”, and it brings more attention to my blog.

More rules/More detailed rules here.

***

From official art

From the Inokori Sensei video

From the Breakout! video

[torinomon-deactivated20160730]

Look, I hate multi-fandom-tagged posts as much as anyone but enough is enough. To all you dickweeds that keep uploading unsourced Pixiv art, do you know what this is? This is what you see in your Pixiv bookmarks when the artist deletes the picture. My Pixiv bookmarks has a hell of a lot of these icons right now. I feel like every time I look theres another one there. Artists can take down their art for a variety of personal reasons, but lately, one of the biggest reasons is you SHITHEADS ON TUMBLR THAT KEEP ON UPLOADING STUFF WITHOUT SOURCING IT.

Do you have any idea how rude this is? Do you know how upsetting this is to the artists to see people steal their art and just post it wherever the fuck they feel like just because they ‘thought it was nice’?  I don’t give a shit if you think you’re being nice by ~letting people see the nice art~, the original artist was DOING THAT THEMSELVES ON THEIR PIXIV PAGE. Maybe you think ‘oh but if they dont like people stealing it they shouldnt have uploaded it to the internet in the first place’, but NEWSFLASH it doesnt matter what you think, it matters what the actual artist thinks and wishes and if you have a single iota of respect for them then you’ll respect those wishes of theirs for you to not just upload whatever the hell you want to tumblr without adding a source. If you want to promote some nice art, LINK BACK. If you’re too fucking lazy to look for the source using saucenao or reverse google image search then just delete your damn tumblr and go away because I don’t have time for your shit. Pixiv doesnt have time for your shit. It honestly wouldnt surprise me if Pixiv started up a feature that lets artists block anyone outside Japan from seeing their art if they so choose at this point. Always remember to credit the original artist and link back to the Pixiv page, as visibly as you can.

ZEROCHAN IS NOT A FUCKING SOURCE EITHER.

[reapersun]

Okay, this mentality is hugely fucking problematic. I put my stuff on the internet to share with people who like the stuff I like, in a space that I’m in control of. People taking it and putting it elsewhere against my wishes is not “just how the internet works”, it’s a disrespectful practice perpetuated by assholes who just want to take stuff that’s not theirs and use it to get notes or earn money or what the fuck ever. If people really liked my work and had respect for me as an artist and A PERSON they would allow me to control where my own work is displayed, and stop assuming just because you CAN download it and put it somewhere else, means you SHOULD. I don’t even understand how people could NOT understand the artists’ desire to maintain control of their work?? I’M the one who spent hours making it, just because I let people see it and have access to a digital copy doesn’t mean I suddenly wave all rights to it or should not give a shit what people do with it. If there were a way to share without allowing people to save it, believe me, I would do that.

Also, it doesn’t matter how respectfully the work is taken. Consider a scenario here: the image is taken once, and put on instagram with credit. Then three other people see it from instagram. One puts it on pinterest with the tumblr source. The second puts it on weheartit with credit to the instagram, because hey, that links back to the source, that’s good enough, right? The third person forgets to link back at all, oh well. More people take it from all of those places, crediting any of those places in between. All of the different sources of this image mess with search engine algorithms and override the actual image source, making it harder to find. Someone from etsy looking for copyright free images to use on products finds one of these unsourced images and takes it and makes a bunch of money off it, hurting the artist financially and wasting their time as they struggle to get the products removed. Some idiot who wants to print out a bunch of johnlock porn to shock the actors on a talk show finds some reposted nsfw easily on google and suddenly an artist who just wanted to share their art with a few like-minded people is being mocked in front of millions of viewers. Eventually, the image comes full circle and is reposted on Tumblr with no credit, when it could have easily just been reblogged from the artist.

This is ignoring all of the people who lie about the source and claim they made it, which DOES HAPPEN despite your claim that it does not. People claim ownership, people trace, people copy the style, people do all kinds of things when they think they’ll get away with it.

This fucking happens. To almost all of the images I post. Multiple times. A day.

How hard is it for people to just decide NOT TO BE AN ASSHOLE AND STEAL IT? Why do people always come back to the artist with this bullshit “well if you didn’t want it stolen why did you put it up??” victim blaming garbage? How does that make any sense except to people who want an excuse to steal??

I’m going to publish this in case other people had this question burning on their mind and because I’m honestly so incensed that people even still ask this question after pretty much every internet artist has had to explain it a dozen times. However I hid their name because even though I’m really pissed off by messages worded this way I have nothing against them personally and don’t want to get them flooded with hate mail or whatever. I’d like to think you are honestly asking, but considering your message is worded like the millions of other messages artists get constantly questioning their rights to control how people share their work, with the standard assumption of my ignorance when it comes to “how things work” and undertone of judgement for thinking I would ever dare try to change “how things work”, forgive me if I’m skeptical.

People who ask questions like this, YOU just don’t want to accept that you have done something the artist dislikes, so you throw the blame back on the artist. YOU don’t want to change the comfortable little way you’re spending your time online taking others’ works, so you try to convince the artist it’s their fault and it won’t change. This is YOUR problem. Ask yourself if you really want artists to stop sharing their work with you and then decide whether that’s a viable solution to this issue.

[gabbiness]

Why "credit to the owner" is one of the shittiest things you can do to an artist.

I see it on social media all the time. Someone posts art that they did not create, and below the illustration write; “credit to the owner”, or makes an amv containing art, with no links or names to the original artists.

This is a really shitty thing to do and let me tell you why.

I work fulltime as a freelance artist. It’s really hard work, especially if you’re just starting out like I am (been doing it for a little more than a year). You have to constantly share your art and advertise yourself to the world. Hunt work wherever you think you can find it. There’s a lot of artists out there competing for work, and it’s a constant battle.

One of the most important things for a working artist is to be seen. Getting an audience, getting people to share your art or talk about it. If the right people see your art, it could lead to work. So if you post work by an artist, make sure to credit properly! Link to the artists dA/tumblr/blog/whatever. Zerochan and weheartis are not sources! If you don’t know who made the art, look for the source! There’s a lot of different ways to do this! If you still can’t find the original art, simply don’t post it. Don’t. Post. It.

You might just want something ‘pretty’ to have on your blog, and you just “found the art on google!”, but don’t be lazy. Look for the source and credit the hard work of the artist. Not adding credit when posting other peoples art is robbing an artist of future work. As dramatic as it sounds, you’re killing the artist.

[verraise]

From not-ayase

“Just a heads up

There are several angry pixiv artists on twitter and 2ch that complain about people taking their art without permission, edit them, and sometimes put watermarks on them. Even if they get credit, they didn’t ask for permission. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want your art to be edited, because that gives a negative impression towards the original artwork(Or so some illustrators think)

There was one thread on 2ch that started a small movement to have Pixiv’s regulations, making it only accessible to people inside Asia, until the US site was opened.

Though there are very few people who do ask for permission, even if there’s a language barrier, the illustrators will try to communicate back to the person.”

—————————————————————————————

Honestly when I read that, I started to feel sick in the stomach and I seriously want to vomit right now. Obviously I’m painfully struck by this because I’m constantly amazed by the artists on Pixiv/Deviantart and their work is beautiful inspiration and motivation for my own artworks.

As an artist myself, self-taught, but pursued some classes in art, I still decided not to major in art because art in itself is an unstable field due to the fact that I was afraid people would never purchase my work and there are people who would take your own artwork and give credit to themselves.

This is what people who edit on Tumblr do.

Although yes, sometimes people do ask for permission, generally most don’t and the fact is that some just place their own watermarks or credit themselves for artwork that does not belong to them. I know that feeling of toiling for hours to create something beautiful born from your own imagination. I know the stress, the time, and effort it takes to make something perfect in my own vision. At the end of the day, when I’m finished, I post it somewhere in the hopes to share something born out of my passions for people to enjoy. The internet is a tool for them to share their ideas, and place themselves out in the world. 

Editing is none of that. Sure you can make something “fancier” by making it into a gif. Sure you can change colors to make things stand out more. Perhaps apply a filter to change the entire color scheme? WHY NOT?!?

Also: SLICING A PHOTO IN HALF AND POSTING IT AS A PHOTOSET IS PROBABLY THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO.

How would you feel if someone stole your work, something you dedicated your blood and sweat into making and edited it in their own vision just to add credit to themselves? 

Want more notes? Make your own things. Want to be tumblr famous? Don’t take someone’s work, shaping it into your own and slapping on some watermark or self credit. Hell if you like art, why not use their artworks as motivation for your own?

Tumblr has to stop this. I don’t want to see my dashboard empty of awe-inspiring artwork.

1) Unfollow blogs dedicated to editing artworks. Extinction of an audience is a powerful tool in inhibiting behavior. 

2) DON’T reblog edited works, even if they are sourced. Stop the circulation at its source the moment you see it. Don’t let it spread.

3) If you know someone who edits, inform them. Don’t just let them continue as they do. Speak up. 

[coresilence]

: Reaction to Pixiv Developments

[artist-refs]

This is why I tend to post links to Pixiv posts rather than actual images…

[katyfarina-deactivated20210104]

I saw this repost earlier today and it shattered my heart. 

Wonder how long it will take for some champion anon to chime in with “well you should be lucky anyone even cares about ur art” or “its on the internet so it’ll be reposted, deal with it”.

No.

There is no excuse for reposting art and it is perfectly reasonable for an artist to want credit, whether they draw fanart, sketches, official art, commercial art, art you like, art you don’t like, photos, cosplay, writing, literally anything. 

Stop reposting art, please.

I am begging you. Stop.

[nokki1]

Seriously. For most artists, posting their art online leads to freelance opportunities. If you don’t credit the artist how are they supposed to get those opportunities to further develop their art and make money.

Plus I don’t know if this is the case with every artist but most artists like to see the feedback their getting for their art whether it’s positive or a critique. And they enjoy getting acknowledged for the hard work they’ve put into that piece.

Please always tag any art you post!

[susiron]

Don’t just tag it though actually source it in the post description.

Tagging works for the original post itself, but once anyone happens to reblog it, they’re not going to see the tag unless they put it there themself

[shittyninja-deactivated20210218]

Honestly don’t even repost art?? Especially on tumblr where you can just reblog from the source. It’s unnecessary, and doesn’t really do the artist as much justice as even sourcing it would do.

DON’T. REPOST. ART.

[yuukomizore-deactivated20190702]

Basically the last comment, if you don’t have the permission, DON’T repost. Sourcing means nothing if the artists doesn’t want their artwork reposted in the first place.

Also, if the artist and their work is on tumblr, then don’t even ask or even think about reposting, just reblog it.

I’d also like to point out that it’s really, really important for people to stop reblogging reposted works.

One of the main reasons people repost art is for easy notes, and you guys giving said notes to them is what results in situations similar to the one above. I’m sorry to say this but by doing this you are almost (if not completely) as guilty as the reposters.

Now I know sometimes people rush or might’ve thought op was the artist or something, which is fine, we all make mistakes and it happens (it happens to me as well sometimes).

If you’re unsure just go to op’s post and look at the tags, if there’s a tag similar to “my art”, or you can see links to their website and pixiv and twitter and stuff on their profile and they have other works in a similar or the same style, then that’s usually a good hunch that this is the artist. Artists also sometimes put little comments in the tags as well such as “finally done” and “lmao this armour was hell” etc.

Reposts, however, will often be tagged with a lot of tags, like anime girl, blue eyes, etc, and artists very, very rarely use such tags. And if there is no *my art* tag whatsoever and most of their posts (not including reblogs) are different artworks with completely different styles, then you can be almost certain that that is not the artist.

If you see this, then don’t reblog said artowork, and if you have reblogged it before thinking it’s the artist or you were in a hurry, then delete it now that you are aware.

Also, if you see a source but no statement that they have permission (we are talking about art by pixiv and twitter artists) then again, don’t reblog. Honestly be a bit weary even of reposts that do seem to have permission, since people have been known to fake those sometimes.

Basically don’t repost art and DON’T REBLOG reposted art. The only, and I mean only, time this is okay is when you have the permission from the artist.

This has been a psa.

[mellyart]

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 their tumblr and is no longer going to post works due to people copying and plagiarizing their 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!

[nokanoka-blog]

How to Repost Art from Other Sources

Step 1: Find means of contacting the artist you want to repost art from.

Step 2: Ask politely and thoroughly explain what ‘reposting’ exactly entails.

Step 3: Wait for a response before posting.

Step 4a: If they say yes, you may post the art along with a credit to the original piece and the artist’s other works. (YOU MUST include proof that you indeed got the artist’s permission, so a screenshot would work just fine.)

Step 4b: If they refuse, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT post their art ever!

- They refused my request to repost. How am I gonna share this lovely art now 

Sharing just links instead of images works just fine.

- What qualifies as places I have to worry about asking for reposting permission?

Pretty much everywhere. Anyone on any site, people even post their content exclusively on Twitter.

- But I want to have notes! Reposted art always gets me tons of notes!

I encourage you to either start creating your own content or just leave.

Before I go, I want to share my opinion on something with you.

You see this? THIS DOESN’T SUFFICE FOR ANYTHING. In my eyes, this is just a cheap way of excusing yourself. Where is your proof? Where can I see that you did get permission? If I went to ask some artist on Pixiv right now if you specifically got permission to post their art, I highly doubt they’re going to have any idea of what I’m talking about. Not until I see you actually got permission.

Everytime I see that in the comments below, I just fume because I can’t believe it. I really can believe that someone has the audacity to hide behind a fake wall of text and then tell other people not to do the same exact thing they did.

[stickydoona]

Not that hard to do, really. 

[yuukomizore-deactivated20190702]

@mutuals and followers 

please don’t reblog reposted art

if you see that:

there is no permission

there’s only a source link

there’s only a statement like “art not mine/couldn’t find source/art belongs to the respectful artist”

there’s no comment at all and by checking you have confirmed op is not the artist (artists often have tags like “my art” or links to their websites on their profiles

 then please don’t reblog it

I also suggest being weary even of posts that do state they have permission, because people have been known to fake those in the past

basically there’s more than enough art and graphics by tumblr artists here, there is no need for you to spread the reposts and encourage reposters to do what they do, so please, please try and avoid doing that

I understand that not everyone is all that well informed on this, and that sometimes even if you know you end up reblogging something in a hurry (it’s happened to me before), but do try and be more conscious about this whole thing from now on ok?

also, I’ll be putting this post on queue, so if you don’t want to see it multiple times I suggest you blacklist “ani on reposting”

[senbeiedits-blog]

Cousin Ace Icons!

Same deal as that set of icons of The Prince; I've had these icons from the first sagas of the comic sitting around and I need to get them off my computer. This is a part one, and eventually some part will have official art and game caps/.GIFs, but this is all comic.

23 icons, all 150x150, resizing and cropping is allowed.

Please reblog this post if you're going to use them! That's my only real rule credit-wise, and it not only lets me know how many people are using my icons but it's a good way to say “hey here's where I got these”, and it brings more traffic to my blog.

More rules/More info here.

***

[mixtapecomics]

After a discussion last week with several of my cartoonist peers (and at the behest of Steve Bissette): I want to talk about image theft and uncredited content on social media. I’m only going to speak from personal experience (and only about the one image posted above) but I hope that this example will show the disservice this causes to any artist whose artwork is edited and reposted without credit.

[Disclaimer: I post all my work online for free. I want people to read, enjoy, and share my work. I have no problem with people reposting my work if it’s credited and unaltered. (That way new readers can find their way to my site to read more.) My problem is when people edit out the URL and copyright information to repost the images as their own for fun or profit.]

Below, I’ve listed the sites where my comic was posted and how many times it was viewed on / shared from each of those sites. (The following list was composed from the first ten pages of Google.) Let’s take a look at the life of this comic over the last 11 months.  

On January 23 (2013) I posted the comic on my journal comic website, Intentionally Left Blank, and on my corresponding art Tumblr (where it currently has 5,442 notes). The same day, it was posted (intact, with the original URL and copyright) to Reddit. (There, credited, it has received 50,535 views.) The Reddit post alone was exciting but on January 24, someone posted an edited version of the image (with the URL and copyright removed) to 9GAG. That uncredited posting has been voted on 29,629 times and shared on Facebook 22,517 times. That uncredited image caught on and spread like wildfire:

January 25: LOLchamp (39 comments. Views unknown.) January 26: WeHeartIt. (With the 9GAG ad at the bottom. Views unknown.) January 26: Random Overload (2 Facebook likes. Views unknown). January 26: CatMoji (41 reactions. Views unknown.) January 26: The Meta Picture (1,800+ Facebook likes. 6,000+ Pintrest shares)

February 5: damnLOL. (929 Facebook shares. Views unknown.) February 7: LOLhappens. (1,400+ Facebook shares.) February ?: LOLmaze (121 shares) February ?: LOLzbook (37 likes and 37 shares). On March 25, I was lucky and this comic was featured in a Buzzfeed post “36 Illustrated Truths About Cats.” The comic was featured alongside work by a 35 other artists who I admire and aspire to be. (Exciting!) Buzzfeed was able to trace the uncredited image back to me and listed a source link to my main website but still posted the uncredited version of the image. The post currently has 6,000+ Facebook shares, 14,000+ Facebook likes, and 727 Tweets. Ever the optimist, I’ll count those numbers in the “credited views” column. The problem with Buzzfeed posting the uncredited image and only listing the source underneath was: people began to save their favourite comics from the article and repost them in their personal blogs without credit. (13, 3, and 60 Facebook likes, respectfully.) I’m mentioning this not to target Buzzfeed or the individuals reposting, but to show the importance of leaving the credits in the original image. March 30: FunnyStuff247. (47,588 views.) March 31: LOLcoaster. (1 Facebook like. Views unknown.)  April 5: ROFLzone. (1,200+ Facebook shares. Views unknown.) April 26: LOLwall. (70 Facebook likes. Views unknown.)

July 23: The uncredited image was chopped into four smaller pieces and posted on the Tumblr of TheAmericanKid, where he sourced it to FunnyStuff247. (124,786 notes and featured in #Animals on Tumblr.)

Aug 21: Eng-Jokes.com. (87,818 views and 41,400+ Facebook shares.)

Oct 2: MemeCenter. (284 Facebook likes. Views unknown.) Oct 5: FunnyJunk. (3,327 views.) Oct 10: LikeaLaugh. (1,486 views.)

Nov 20: Quickmeme. (280,090 Facebook shares. Views unknown.) Nov 20: JustMemes. (6 Facebook shares.)

There were 14 other sites which listed uncredited versions of the image within the first 10 pages of Google, but they were personal blogs so I’m not going to include them here.

One additional website I haven’t mentioned was Cheezburger, who originally posted the uncredited version of comic on January 23; but later modified it to the credited image after I contacted them. They didn’t contact me when they made the change but the image currently has 2,912 votes and 4,700 Facebook shares. Let’s be optimistic and count those as credited views and shares.  

That brings us up to the current views and shares of the comic. Now let’s do some math.

I’ve removed the comments and reactions (because they could already be accounted for in views). I’ve left in votes, however, because some sites list votes instead of views.

Taking into consideration that Tumblr notes are made up of both likes and reblogs, let’s be conservative and say the Tumblr notes are twice as high as they should be. (That every single person that has viewed the image on Tumblr has liked the image and reblogged it.) Dividing the Tumblr notes in half, that leaves us with:

Posts using the credited image: 2,912 votes 2,721 Tumblr notes 50,535 views 727 Tweets 0 Pintrest shares 14,000 Facebook likes 10,700 Facebook shares

Posts using the uncredited image: 29,629 votes 62,393 Tumblr notes 140,219 views 0 Tweets 6,000 Pintrest shares 2,085 Facebook likes 347,984 Facebook shares

Adding those up and treating them all like views (assuming that every shared post was viewed once):

The original (unaltered, credited/sourced) version of the comic has been viewed 81,595 times.

The edited, uncredited/unsourced version of the comic has been viewed 588,310 times. (That’s over half a million views. Seven times more than the original, credited version.)

What does that mean for me as a creator? On the positive side, I created something that people found relatable and enjoyable. I succeeded at that thing I try to do. But, given the lack of credit, it also means that 88% of 669,905 people that read this comic had no chance of finding their way back to my website.

This was a successful comic. I want to be able to call this exposure a success. But those numbers are heartbreaking.

Morally, just the idea of taking someone’s work and removing the URL and copyright info to repost it is reprehensible. You are cutting the creator out of the creation. But worse yet, sites like 9GAG are profiting off the uncredited images that they’re posting.

9GAG is currently ranked #299 in the world according to Alexa rankings. As of April of this year, their estimated net worth was around $9.8 million, generating nearly $13,415 every day in ad revenue.

As a creator of content that they use on their site: I see none of that. And I have no chance of seeing any kind of revenue since readers can’t find their way back to my site from an uncredited image.  

I don’t want to sound bitter. The money isn’t the point. But this is a thing that’s happening. This isn’t just happening to me. It’s actively happening to the greater art community as a whole. (Especially the comics community. Recent artists effected by altered artwork/theft off the top of my head: Liz Prince, Luke Healy, Nation of Amanda, Melanie Gillman, etc.) Our work is being stolen and profited off of. Right this second.

I do my best to see the positive in these events but the very least I can do as a creator is stand up in this small moment and say “This is mine. I made this.”

Something need to be done by the community as a whole: by the readers as well as the creators. We need to start crediting our content/sources and reporting those who don’t. Sites like 9GAG need to be held accountable for their theft of work. If you see something that’s stolen: say something to the original poster, report the post, or contact the creator of the artwork.

If you have an image you’d like to post but don’t know the source: reverse Google image search it. Figure out where it came from before you post. If you like it enough to share it, it means there’s probably more where that came from.

[support-every-artists-deactivat]

What Can Reposting an Artwork Do?

Well, it:

1) Can discourage the Artist from sharing any of their future works on public sites like Pixiv. Have fun learning a foreign language just to hunt down those personal art sites they use instead. 

2) Could cause repercussions on their current/future career in the industry of art-related jobs. You think you have a hard time finding a decent job? 

3) Violates the basic right of the Artist and shows them that even though they spent hours slaving over their creation, it’s not like it BELONGS to them or anything.

4) Stop them from posting their artwork anywhere. Period. They will only share it with close friends within their private circle. Good luck gaining their trust. 

5) Makes you an a-hole, basically.  

Bottom line? 

If you like an artwork, SAVE IT TO YOUR DISK, but DO NOT POST IT WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION FROM THE ARTIST THEMSELVES!

[letusrespectpixivartistconsent]

I really want to start this habit but..I cant change my blog habit drastically. A little help?

It’s okay my friend! We already know that old habits die hard. Maybe I can help you by pointing out some things you can change bit by bit on your blogging life. I’ll list it starting from the easiest one to the hardest one.

1. Stop posting / adding pixiv posts without the artist permission to your queue.

If you’ve posted some pixiv arts on your blog without the artist permission, and you’re still doing it, the least you can do is just stop posting / adding anymore pixiv posts to your queue. 

But…I don’t have any queue? If I stop posting, I will lose my notes/followers gain!

Okay, just post arts from artist sites that clearly has ‘share on tumblr’ button. Or, just reblog arts from the original tumblr artist blog! :) Reblogging pixiv arts from other tumblr user is okay too, but pleas make sure there is ‘upload permission was given by the artist’ caption there. If that caption is not there…please post it privately or post it on your password-protected blog.

How about only liking a pixiv arts posts?

I personally think liking pixiv arts posted without the artist permission is the same as encouraging illegal the pixiv posters to keep posting them ilegally. So I really beg you to just reblog those illegal pixiv posts privately / on your password protected blog because the poster wont get any notification and notes for that. 

2. Slow down your queue to just one per day, and start saving all of those pixiv arts posts without the artist permission on your queue as drafts

If your queue has too many posts or even full (about 300 posts if i’m not wrong?), firstly, just set your queue setting to just 1 post per day. Then, you can just saving them as drafts bit by bit everyday. Maybe only about 10 or even 50 per day? Or if you’re not busy, you can actually do it in just 1 day.

3. Try asking pixiv artists for posting permission with this guide

If you’re busy, you can try just asking 1 pixiv artist per day. Usually if you’re lucky, they will respond to you in under 1 day. But try doing this everyday, and for sure, those full posting permission will keep coming to your pixiv inbox! 

4. When you’ve already gain 1 or more positive permissions from the pixiv artist..

Wow congrats buddy! Now you can start posting those arts on your blog! Dont forget to add ‘upload permission was given by the artist’ caption on your post, okay? :)

But…what if I just do this asking occassionaly? Meaning that while waiting for the artist response, I still keep posting other artist’s pixiv arts without their permission?

It’s okay! But just please be sure to add ‘Permission to upload was given by the artist’ on all posts that’s already given upload permission by the artist, okay? :) And try lessening the amount of those ‘uploaded without the artist permission pixiv posts’ on your blog gradually :)

(But I personally think it will be weird to post some pixiv posts with artist permission, and some without the artist permission…but asking pixiv artists for reposting permission just occasionally is still better than not even trying to ask them at all)

5. If you’ve already gotten your pace and the hang of this asking for pixiv artists for repost permission..

Then I think it’s time for you to post pixiv arts that only have been given upload permission by the artist! And stop posting any pixiv arts without the artist permission (which logically includes all of the deleted pixiv arts!) :)

If you really really want to post a beautiful pixiv arts but the source is already deleted….I’m begging you, just post it privately/on your password-protected blog okay? :)

6. Regarding those pixiv posts you already done without the artist permission..

This is optional but…..you can try marking them private a few posts everyday. Or reblog them to your password-protected blog and delete the one that’s on your public blog.

Or do this: Reblog them to your password-protected blog (I have two password-protected blogs, 1 for keeping source-deleted pixiv arts, and 1 for keeping pixiv arts that’s already posted by me without the artist permission). Then, ask the artist for reposting permission (if the art is still hosted on pixiv), and then reblog them again to your public blog when you’ve already got the reposted permission! And now, dont forget to add that ‘permission given’ caption when you reblog it back to your blog :)

But if you’ve already posted tons of posts and you’re busy….it’s okay to not do that. Just promise me you will always  ask the pixiv artist for posting permission before posting their arts on your blog okay? :)

That’s my advice for helping frequent pixiv posters who want to start changing their habit gradually. I hope you can find it useful. 

If you ever have any questions / helps to support for starting this ‘asking repost permission from pixiv artists’, just shoot me an ask and I’ll reply to you ASAP :)

[support-every-artists-deactivat]

Common Rules about Reposting

1. Always, always ask the artist for permission to repost their artwork (they call it reprint). If you don’t, you are most definitely qualified to be called a thief. Simply pasting on a link back does not excuse you for taking what belongs to someone else without asking them. Especially intellectual property. 

2. If they put in their profile not to reprint, reprocess, reproduce, then don’t do it. If you are really desperate to share that pic on your blog, refer to number 1. If they still say ‘No’, then. Just. Stop.

That’s it. Just two. Not that hard for starters.

What can happen if you don’t, you ask?

Well, anyone can simply use one of the many templates available to report your blog url and the reposted permalink directly to the original artist, and it is up to them to decide what should happen to you. 

A) If they’re feeling nice, they may simply contact Tumblr DMCA and request that that image you posted without their permission be taken down, including every. last. reblog and like. 

B) If they’re not, and they see that you have reposted multiple times, from many of their fellow artist friends (foreign artists of the similar fandoms tend to be very close), they can all team up to file a complaint of copyright violation, and suspend or delete your blog.

It’s pretty serious.

And there are plenty of translators on tumblr who fully support artist’s rights enough to lend their services to any foreign artist who might need some assistance. 

It’s as simple as that. 

[taluluto-deactivated20190219]

hi!!

don’t repost japanese fan art from pixiv.

and to clarify reposting means uploading it like onto tumblr or twitter or using it as an icon or anything. that’s whether you source it or not.

like sourcing literally doesn’t make it any better at all. i’m not sure why there was such a huge push for “source your pixiv art!!!” in the past. it doesn’t matter if you source it. the issue is that it’s being redistributed outside of the circle that the artist intended for it to be visible in.

fan culture in japan =/= fan culture in the west. copyright in japan =/=copyright in the west. japanese fanartists can and have gotten into serious social/legal trouble as a result of their fanart being seen by the wrong person.

some artists are okay if you ask permission. so check their profile and if it says something about permission, send them a message. their profile is only in japanese and you don’t speak japanese? too bad! guess you can’t repost their art.

thanks!

[raspomme]

On reprinting art without permission

If you’ve ever reprinted art from pixiv without getting actual permission from the artist, or reblogged art from someone who reprinted art without permission, I suggest you read this post.

There are three things stopping me and many others from reprinting art without permission. From weakest to strongest, they are:

1) Enough respect for the artist and their ownership of the work. This ownership is implied, so people feel that they are free to disregard it entirely, “because this is the Internet”. I will not talk about this now, I will offer the opinion that “this is the Internet” is not an excuse to disrespect virtual ownership. I hope you do not fight me, or anyone, one this point because it is a very vague line and any fight over it turns out fairly ugly.

2) Because pixiv says not to. It really does. But many people don’t know this, which is understandable. But now that you do, you can’t say that you don’t.

3) Because artists say so. Sometimes. So when people reprint despite those sometimes, it adds an additional layer of sin. You disrespected someone’s direct request, a request that would do you absolutely no harm to follow. Why? Why would someone do that?

It’s always nice to start with official material, so we’ll do that. pixiv has their rules written out very nicely in very good English here. I’m interested in one part in particular.

Okay, that there should stop everyone from reprinting work without permission. It says so right there. Don’t reprint without permission.

“But they’ll never know” “The artist should be grateful that they’re getting publicity” “There are simply some stories/art that I really want to share on here” “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind” “That’s what they get for uploading their work” “I’m too scared to ask”

You know, punk, if you can’t follow the fucking rules, get off the fucking site.

Those things might be true. That doesn’t mean the rules will simply crumble to nothing.

And if you’re scared, I understand. I was scared. So were the people I know, when they first asked. But pixiv artists aren’t the president or the pope, okay? They don’t look down on you. They love you like you love your followers. There are one, two, three permission-asking templates that I know of so far. Simple fill in the blank style. Any literate person could do this. You could do this. I believe in you, you know?

That rule is there for a reason. So artists get the respect they deserve. Not something-they-get-because-sourcing-and-getting-permission-is-a-huge-pain-and-thus-a-favor-from-us. Respect. Basic respect. Human respect. Sourcing and permissions aren’t extra nice flowery things that gets you extra points. They should come with reprints. It’s a package deal. Take it or leave it.

When I ask a pixiv artist for permission to reprint their art, sometimes they will tell me “Thank you for your praise and for being so polite. I am sorry, but I will have to turn down your request. I cannot grant permission for you to reprint my work. Thank you for the kind message, all the same.” Many of them have profiles that state “do not reprint without permission”, but some don’t. And when I ask those who don’t, and they withhold permission, I give them some advice, to protect them from the hordes of reprinters, if only a few: “This is just my advice, but I think it would be a good idea to write “Do not reprint without permission” on your profile. And most heed this advice. However, one user’s reply got me thinking…

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