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Jan 15 – Site Update - Posted By Adam
Must Read: Massive Potential Art Policy Change
Dear Otakuites, Senior Otaku, Otaku Legends and Otaku Eternals:
I hope you're paying attention because this may be the most important announcement we've ever made regarding our various sites. Before we dive in though, some background...
On theOtaku.com and on countless other websites where people design digital graphics like wallpapers, eCards, and avatars, designers struggle to find quality source images. They literally have no good options.
They can:
(1) Rely on the same low-quality screen shots everyone else uses
(2) Use manga scans, which have major legal/ethics issues
(3) Go through foreign art sites and hope that the work they find is a scan and not someone's fan art
(4) Go from artist-to-artist and beg for permission to use their work
So what does a graphic designer do? Well, we're pleased to announce a new fifth option. An option that only our community can pull off.
We propose a new policy whereas all theO graphic designers can leverage all 300,000 of theOtaku.com's fan art works for their creations.
Before our community of artists freak out, there will be strict rules and a process. Please read them carefully before responding.
(1) All artists have the option to turn off granting this permission. You can do so in your backroom right now, even. (It's on by default.) We hope you don't turn it off though.
(2) Any works created with theOtaku fan art cannot be uploaded outside theOtaku.com. If you use our community's work, you have to keep your new work within the community. This also prevents the original artist from losing track of their piece.
(3) If you use a piece of theOtaku fan art in your wallpaper or eCard, then you must reference that piece in a new field when you submit.
(4) Using someone's fan art in your wallpaper or eCard will cross-link your works together and send the original artist a PM to let them know. We hope this will be seen as a major compliment.
The cross-linking will work like this: the original fan art will have a row that says "Inspired Works" and the derivative wallpaper will have a row that says "Inspired By"
This policy is not active yet. We wanted to post about it first and get your thoughts and feedback.
Artists: Do you see any problems with the process we described?
Designers: How likely are you to start creating works with this new feature?
