This thing that has been floating around for YEARS and once someone gets ahold of it thinks itâs ALL brand new and something that MUST be panicked about and FRANKLY after being through multiple past waves of this am more irritated by the people who post it and wonât listen to reason and continue to spread misinformation because⊠I guess they like to see otherâs panic? Youâve never read a contract before and this is all new to you? But I digress now that Iâm seeing my other friends believing this drivel.Â
Iâve yet to see any evidence of DEVIANT ART doing anything illegal with this. So far as that shirt post goes:Â http://www.dailydot.com/geek/deviantart-hot-topic-shirt-art-stolen/Â Furthermore, that artist SOLD their work as a comic book cover to BOOM! stuidios, it was sold legally at Hot Topic through the contract with BOOM!, not DA.
And I quote:Â
â
Does DeviantArt own my art?No. At no time do you lose ownership of your original work by submitting it to DeviantArt.
The Submission Agreement explicitly states that you, as the original artist, retain any and all rights appropriate to your artwork at all times. By agreeing to the Submission Agreement what you are really doing is granting DeviantArt the basic permissions we need in order to display, showcase, promote and otherwise make your artwork available to viewers using the wide range of different devices and services which are capable of connecting to the Internet.
â
This is nothing new. DA has had this in their contract for years and NEEDS to to legally show your art on their site and their front page. They are modifying it by GENERATING STANDARD SIZED THUMBNAILS FOR YOUR GALLERY. You know what? You want to go through this paragraph by paragraph? Fine.Â
3. License To Use Artist Materials. As and when Artist Materials are uploaded to the DeviantArt Site(s), Artist grants to DeviantArt a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to do the following things during the Term:
a) to prepare and encode Artist Materials or any part of them for digital or analog transmission, manipulation and exhibition in any format and by any means now known or not yet known or invented; (DA Â can post them on their website and edit them in any way they see fit) They need this to display your artwork on their front page and your user page/gallery on different devices, such as PC, Tablets, Phones, etc. They edit them when the site automatically generates THUMBNAILS, which are a standard size and can lead to cropping the image.
b) to display, copy, reproduce, exhibit, publicly perform, broadcast, rebroadcast, transmit, retransmit, distribute through any electronic means (including analog and digital) or other means, and electronically or otherwise publish any or all of the Artist Materials, including any part of them, and to include them in compilations for publication, by any and all means and media now known or not yet known or invented ; (They can publish your art in any media, use it to showcase their website or even promote certain groups without your knowledge. For all you know, your art could be promoting the KKK.) Hahaha, where did this KKK thing come from? Some sideways slander? Once again, they need this to legally show your art on their site, such as the home page/searches/groups/your own friggen gallery. ELECTRONICALLY PUBLISH people. They are showcasing it on their own website. Their. Own. Site.
c) to modify, adapt, change or otherwise alter the Artist Materials (e.g., change the size) and use the Artist Materials as described in Section 3(b); andÂ
Yes. Otherwise they could not generate thumbnails when you submit your own artwork to their site.
d) the right to sublicense to any other person or company any of the licensed rights in the Artist Materials, or any part of them, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. (They can edit, change, or otherwise modify your artwork in any way they want, as well as sublicensing it  to third parties, such as Hot Topic.)
Iâm really starting to hate these brackets, theyâre outright lies that are skewing and misinterpreting what this STANDARD CONTRACT actually says. The artist themselves made a post later stating that NEITHER DA nor HOT TOPIC was involved with the creation of this shirt. âHow did the Hot Topic shirt come to be? Good question! Well, as Iâve learned, when I gave the image to BOOM! Studios to use as a comic book cover, about a year-and-a-half ago, I signed this document for them that acts like an invoice, non-disclosure agreement, and contract all rolled into one.â They do not own your artwork. They are not selling your artwork outside of the print service they offer.
e) Artist acknowledges that Artist will not have any right, title, or interest in any other materials with which Artist Materials may be combined or into which all or any portion of Artist Materials may be incorporated. (By posting on FA, you forfeit your right to dispute any third party profits or copyright infringements upon your art.) âŠFA? Why are we posting on Fur Affinity? Oh⊠Typo. Okay. Anyway! Itâs saying if your art is displayed along with other artists work (such as the home page) you donât gain ownership over other artists work.
f) During the Term, DeviantArtâs licenses under this Agreement include the right to use any part of the Artist Materials in the promotion, advertising or marketing of the DeviantART Sites. (DeviantArt can use your art to advertise anything they want.) THEY ARE SHOWING YOUR ART ON THEIR SITE. THEIR SITE IS A COMMERCIAL ENTITY. WITHOUT THESE THINGS IN THEIR CONTRACT THEY COULD NOT LEGALLY SHOW THE WORK YOU UPLOAD ON THEIR SITE. You all are making me exhausted with your backwoods interpretation and hyper suspicion.Â
g) As used in this Agreement, the term âArtist Materialsâ means any content uploaded to the DeviantArt Site(s) which may include without limitation Artistâs name(s) (including professional names), trademarks, trade names, likenesses, photographs, biographical materials, audio-visual materials, artwork, liner notes, and other graphical, textual, video, film or audio materials and any and all âskins,â computer-generated images or other artwork or images that Artist submits to DeviantArt in any medium or format whatsoever. (ANYTHING you submit to DeviantArt belongs to DeviantArt now. Including  your drawings, your photos, videos, your stock materials, your music/audio, your written stories, and your artist name.)
They are defining what they mean elsewhere on the contract when they say âArtist Materialsâ. So they can legally display your user name and whatever you put in as your name, and all that other stuff on their site. They are not selling your name or falsely making you endorse products or something ridiculous, they are just getting permission to display your name on the site- which Iâm sure youâd be pretty upset if they didnât.
 This information is old as the hills and DA hasnât done anything illegal with their contract in the YEARS since the first time itâs been posted. If you want to be ridiculous and pull all your art, fine, whatever, but I do not appreciate you causing a panic and scaring my friends into thinking their artwork is going to be stolen and sold just because they have a DA gallery.
DeviantArt isnât selling your art except what you yourself are selling through their print service.
romaincrisis
dededos
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
