but why is reposting BAD?
i thought iâd make an faq filled with every excuse in the book about reposting, for those who still donât understand why itâs badâŚor for people who donât know what to say in retaliation to these! so here we go.Â
first of all, an artist doesnât even NEED to explain themselves. in the same way with someone who says âdude, make sure that soda is dietâ or âplease donât tickle meâ. they donât want you to do it. you donât need to test them by ignoring them. the reason doesnât matter: itâs the personâs wish with THEIR things. if you had any respect for others, youâd just take it at that.Â
BUT for some people, they donât want to respect others at face value, and want their reason. (which, i might add, is rude.) so letâs get into that:Â
but iâm giving you exposure! isnât that good?
youâre not giving artists exposure. for people like myself, freelance artists, youâre hurting us. about a year ago, i sent my portfolio off to an indie game. in it, i had a piece of work that had been reposted (that i didnât even know about). i was told much later that they âlooked into itâ and saw that my work was posted by someone else, which means now they have no idea who the artist was, and THEREFORE canât be sure my work was legit. i lost a potential job to a repost.Â
doesnât matter if you say âi didnât draw thisâ. sometimes, they donât even look. they just look to see if itâs on any site other than your own. and thatâs terrifying for artists. so donât endanger our livelihood for instagram likes.Â
besides, youâre not even giving exposure if you didnât credit, cropped out the signature, or somehow made the resolution so low to where you canât even see the signature. which brings me toâŚ
some people still donât want it reposted even with credit. the last answer should show you one of the many reasons why.Â
youâre dictating what i can/cannot put on my page! this is MY page!
and itâs MY art you posted. you canât take something i did and do whatever you want with it. imagine if you took someones drawing, photocopied it, and spread it all around the town without their permission. theyâd have every right to be angry, right?
but you posted it online, which means anyone can do anything with it. so if you donât want it reposted, donât post it online!
i have to post my art onto my websites to build a fanbase, something crucial to an artist. it shouldnât be on ME to not post it in the first place, it should be on YOU to not repost it. youâre just echoing victim-blaming arguments.Â
youâre basically saying âif you donât want to be bullied, donât exist.â which is a terrible thing to teach people, rather than âbe nice and respectful towards others.â yes, i know our world isnât perfect. but thatâs no excuse to contribute to vile things.Â
well i would be honored if someone reposted my art. and my friend doesnât mind reposts, so why should you?
good for you! good for them! but did you know thereâs more people in the world other than just you and your friend? we have wishes and feelings too, so you donât get to project your own emotions onto what WE should be feeling as well. i love peaches. some people donât like them. that doesnât mean that now they have to eat peaches because i donât mind them.Â
what an artist creates automatically belongs to society, though.Â
go steal the mona lisa and tell me how that works out.Â
everyone can VIEW it, yes. artists want others to view their work! we just donât want you to do stuff with it we asked you not to do.Â
WELL THEN SPEAKING OF THAT, since i canât put your work on redbubble and sell it for myself, why do you have an umbrella of the starry night?? huh?? you STOLE van goghâs work! (yes people have legit said this to me)Â
putting my work on items and selling it is totally illegal. van goghâs work is owned by companies now, who have authorization to print it on things. and iâm just ONE freelance artist who is, you know, still alive and not giving permission to do that. you canât compare a dead artist from the 1800s to a digital artist in 2017. apples to oranges, my dude.
well i SAID âcredit to the artistâ so i DID give you credit!
because saying âthe artistâ really tells people who i am and lets them visit my websites! thank you so much!Â
but all sarcasm aside, that doesnât do anything other than show you were too lazy to find the artist. same thing with âsource: the internetâ and âwho drew this xDâ or misspelling my url on purpose or putting the credit under a cut. OR cropping the image to cut off my signature! you didnât give me credit.Â
it wasnât on the website i wanted it on! you should have more social media.
iâll have the social media i want to have. not up to me to make more accounts on more things just so you wonât disrespect me.Â
but i donât remember where i got it. besides, i reposted SOOO much work and saved it all a long time ago. how can i find it now?
reverse google image search is so great.
also, if you didnât know the artist, thatâs a HUGE reason not to repost it in the first place!! you didnât even know if it was okay since you never got to see their position on that!!
take down your video with stolen fan art. take down your entire fan art twitter account. i donât care âhow hard it was to save those imagesâ or âhow many views you have nowâ. you got all that attention from someone elseâs hard work. searching for art will never be as hard as making it. if it were that easy, youâd be drawing all the art yourself.Â
but i asked the artist and they didnât say anything! i assumed it was okay.Â
yeah, i feel you. itâs the same thing as when you ask your mom if you can borrow some money, she doesnât answer, so you just steal it from her purse. no answer means the answer you want to hear, right?
wrong. donât take âunresponsiveâ as a yes. thatâs disgusting.Â
well i honestly donât care. artists are just selfish. iâll repost their art if i want to, just to show them how much i hate their stance on reposting. and (insert another really edgy statement here from someone who only says things to get a rise out of people since their life is empty)Â
one day youâre gonna come across an artist who has no chill and wants to sue, and can actually do it, since some people put their work under HEAVY copyright. and iâm gonna kick back in my chair with a nice capri sun and watch it all happen, since you have that kind of attitude towards people.Â
yes, this whole thing seems a bit. well. âsaltyâ, as some would put it. and i have every right to be irritated over this. all these questions are asking âWHY should i respect their wishes? give me a reasonâ or âbut here is my excuse rather than just taking it downâ. time after time, artists are villainized just for telling people not to repost.Â
like i said, the artist not wanting you to repost it SHOULD be reason enough! weâre so tired of having to fight people just to have respect for our art. we have to deal with tracing constantly, so can you please take reposting off our plates? i know bad things will always happen, but thatâs no reason to make it worse by contributing.Â
artists are generously putting our art out there for free. if you want to keep seeing our art for free (btw we donât HAVE to, all the big artists could just up and leave and go to patreon), maybe show us some respect? because we get pretty dejected when we see strangers getting attention from something we did, and it makes us want to remove everything we show you guys. you say âdonât post it then!â but would be mad if all fan art disappeared.Â
if you want to keep the art, respect the artist making it. thereâs a real person behind that drawing.Â
theartofmadeline
