Well, it would have been more clear if you had pointed my own comments as belonging to me. I don't mind if anyone disagrees with me, provided they make it clear that it's my own comments they're working with. Otherwise, it's difficult to figure out which claims belong to what person.
Concerning the context of this item, well, since the subject of copyrights did come up, and talk of "rights" and "illegality" also came up, then my thoughts and comments are better seen as being directed towards those issues - in the context they arose. Notice that your own comment raised the issue of copyrights, legal-loopholes, and legal headaches; as such, it helped to constitute the context I was working from. Remember, this isn't a completed post, but an ongoing discussion where context can shift, and I decided to respond to that shift. As far as I can tell, you're more concerned with something else: the looser sense in which art-theft or permission is used. It now seems clearer we've got two slightly different projects going on (but I do maintain they are related enough in that you can't really have a discussion about owning art without knowing what ownership means, which pushes anyone into a legal direction). However, I don't think I misunderstood your post's purpose, which is why I never really commented on your entire post - just the issues that I was initially concerned with. Like I said, the context shifted in this comment box, so there wasn't really a settled context to fix all the issues.
Thanks for the reply! I enjoyed having the chance to think some things through, and to come to some further conclusions. However, I must state that my reply is also in full post form: A Brief Reply
Briefly, as it stands your argument can't be sustained, and if I actually carry through it's assumptions, conclusions, and implications, then by your own terms I'm entitled to submit an ecard or wallpaper based on your own art - because I have "rights".
Last edited by Pleiades Rising at 12:59:58 AM CST on January 20, 2012.
First and foremost, having the option on by default is illegal. You are volunteering other people's works to be used without explicit permission. Most artists, including myself, primarily draw original artwork of our own characters. Even the fan-art that we post is protected under law. Giving others the permission to use our characters and drawings in wallpapers and e-cards is the same as theft.
Now "We'll send an email to all artists who would be affected" will not work. I know for a fact that a large amount of the users on this website have changed their emails from the time they've registered. My friends have changed theirs; I have changed mine. Needless to say, I would have been extremely unhappy to come back and see that my work was being used without my permission. Not to mention, some artists have abandoned theOtaku altogether. I could list a few brilliant artists and six friends that have packed up and left since their starting days here. I almost left as well.
I also believe that it is an exaggeration to say that artists "struggle" to find images. Sites like mintokyo are filled with thousands of scans for people to choose from. This policy, like someone said before, just seems like an open door to art thieves. Please heed what I and others have already said before implementing such a policy.
It is a great idea.
It is an open opportunity.
But it must be regulated.
Taken to extremes, that's how copyright laws can be interpreted, yes. (The kid with the Bugs Bunny drawing had better not also be singing Happy Birthday, as well, considering how it's registered material.) In fact, on the main News page for this site, it shows how far copyright laws can affect various things. But we've got to be clear here that theO is in a far better legal position than, say, an anime forum that openly shares links to copyrighted anime downloads. theO clearly isn't that kind of site at all. So I think it's safe to say that we need not seriously take the copyright to the extremes that our examples did. How far should it be taken? I think that theO is already working within a legally respectable (gray) framework concerning copyright laws. We just have to be careful that we don't grant fan art an unquestioned legal status that isn't actually there. Claiming art-theft is within the rights of artists, but just as long as they keep in mind that copyright laws don't neatly attach themselves to fan art.
In regards to Fair Use, I've seen that clause be slightly misunderstood or abused in various ways online. On YouTube, someone can upload a copyrighted video and write in the description that they do it under the principle of Fair Use. However, when you take a look at the content of what they've uploaded, most of the time it in no way relates to the doctrine of Fair Use. Fair Use is meant to exclude certain works from falling under specific rights granted to the copyright holder. These entitlements of Fair Use usually include things like general commentary, criticism (e.g. book reviews), news releases, or general scholarship issues. (There more, but you get the idea). Fan art isn't exactly created for the sole reason to criticize the original works, which sounds bizarre. It's not exactly academically oriented either, and neither is it informative in a news sense. It's not analogous to professional academic research, too. It's hard to say how most fan art can be made to square with the principle of Fair Use.
As for parody, that could be a way to protect some fan art, but it won't hold for all fan art. Trying to do so would be to stretch that limiting right to implausibility, giving fan art almost no substantive legal weight of its own.
Legalese aside, it seems that the default setting can be questioned, as you mention. That's open to debate. I can see the reason why the default is "on": to build a sizable and readily available stock for members only. But that leaves the problem of originals being included, where their creators are no longer here. In effect, the policy is retroactive and possibly too inclusive due to the current default. Right now I'm thinking it should remain on if we're going to build a solid database. (However, I'm not sitting firmly on this.) I like to think that if a former member came back to the site, they wouldn't sue over fan art or an original, but would simply disable some options and request some pieces be removed. Basically, they'd do what they always do whenever they see their own art being used as they don't want it to.
I am leaning on the 'I don't like this feature' part because of the past artists that do not come on here anymore. Since the feature will be automatically turned on they have no way of knowing about this update/feature and will not know that their artwork is being used.
But thats my biggest Irk on the matter.
What about a blocking thing to block certain designers from using their work?
You know that someone truly cares when they brick you like that. -AZ
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
@:
Maybe theoretically, but no matter the fan art you put online, the right studio could have it taken down without much resistance with a simple DMCA notice to the hosting website. The hosting website could take the studio to court to challenge each individually piece's right to be there, but I don't know of anyone with those kind of resources.
Thankfully the anime companies like what we do - especially since we don't host manga scans, which are a much more direct copyright violation.
I think I discovered one flaw to this policy. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this previously, so let me just describe it.
As we all know, not all theOtaku members are active in the site. Some of them haven't used it for quite a while already, even before Version Vibrant. And a good number of them have already moved on to other sites like DeviantArt. However, their fan works are still accessible here in theOtaku. And it is likely that these inactive members wanted other people to ask for their permission first before they use their fanart, and intended to apply this rule of theirs in all of the sites in which it had been posted.
With the proposed policy, the fan works they posted before they became inactive would be included in the mix. And this becomes a problem. Because they were inactive, they wouldn't know that this policy might be implemented soon. And they may become really disappointed if they learn that their works were used without the typical message of permission. That might be even more complicated if this involves an adult artist who would even consider a lawsuit against the site.
I understand that Adam intends to email all affected artists about this development. But what if their email address in the site is an old address that is no longer in use? I discovered one artist whose latest site activity to date was back in 2006. And this member has such high quality fanart that I feel a lot of members would really consider using them for their own derivative works. Don't you think there's a possibility that the email he/she used for this site 6-7 years ago is no longer functioning, and thus makes him/her unaware of this major policy change? And if he/she finds out about this, isn't it likely to cause problems later on when the policy is already in effect? Especially if that member is currently active in other sites, where he/she can be easily notified by a concerned member.
After giving a thought about this and not writing everything that I thought about it, because it would be another huge comment.. Let's just say that I agree with it. There are more positive than negative things and again it won't be something that might determine the sole future of someone's work. It won't change that much, it might only be more interesting and better that way. Some people might even be very proud and happy to see that someone else used their artwork here to make something.
I think vacuumology's suggestion is on the right path: revising the Help/FAQ sections concerning Fan Art to include the new policy's rules and to clearly state what conditions that you as an artist agree to when you join theO.
However, concerning copyright issues some mention, it's not quite the black-and-white issue that it appears to be. First of all, most of the fan art here is based on copyrighted works of preexisting works. The original authors have the copyright and its set of entitlements. They can allow someone to, say, produce a derivative work based on their own original works. Technically, most of us as fan artists create works which reside either in the gray area of copyright laws (varying with country, and even within country) or in an area which more clearly infringe on preexisting copyrighted works. Of course, there are also those artists here who do original works and thus have their works copyrighted. But when bringing up the issue of copyrights, remember that fan art is a gray area, which sometimes infringes on copyrighted works.
It's not exactly accurately directed when NekoTenshiEmi says that "The copyright to these images belongs to the artists and they have NOT given active permission for them to be used under this license on joining this website." Unless Type-Moon or Studio Deen clearly granted me permission to create artworks based on Fate/stay night or Hetalia: Axis Powers, I'm technically (legally) not permitted to create such works. My fan art isn't protected as clearly as that quote suggests. I've seen some people claim that fan art is more clearly seen as being derivative works, thus, sharing some copyright entitlements, but it's not exactly clear how it is (here's that gray area of the copyright laws). Simply put, your Black Butler, Miku Hatsune, Sailor Moon, etc, fan art isn't clearly protected by a copyright belonging solely to you as artist. If we really want to avoid legal issues, then make rule (5): theOtaku will no longer accept works based on anime, manga, books, films, or any other preexisting copyrighted works unless express consent was given by major studios yadda yadda yadda. But we don't need that since (most) of the original creators aren't petty enough to sue their own fanbase who make fan art because its fun - i.e. not for profit. In sum, if you create original works, fine and clear. Fan art, however, is where it gets cloudy.
As far as revising the Help/FAQ, that would help make it clear what conditions artists agree to. However, I don't see those revisions as exactly settling legal issues involving copyright laws. That's a separate and difficult issue.
Last edited by Pleiades Rising at 1:12:05 AM CST on January 18, 2012.
Honestly, what I think that is no matter what, there's going to be art theft. With or without this feature, plagiarism is going to occur. Works on theO are being credited if the art is used with someone else, so why is this such a big deal? Once again, this proves that most people are theO are a bunch of pessimists. XD We always jump right to the negative, though I can see how art theft is an issue. But it's going to be there, no matter what. Making art available for the use of others on theO probably won't stop random people from dropping by and taking it. Just saying.
Oh, I forgot! Official scans aren't so bad at all. There's lots of beauty to be seen in one of them artbooks, you know? Just sayin'. I mean, Vampire Knight, Trinity Blood... both of their artbooks are quite beautiful. And there's lot to be had of CG renders from Final Fantasy and KH games as well. I don't see the problem with them, except maybe a little darkening and sharpening of lines when scanned, but other than that, there's no problem here.
I don't have much of a say from the artist's perspective because I hardly ever pick up my drawing pad anymore, let alone get around to scanning stuff.
From a personal standpoint as a designer, this option doesn't interest me all that much. I am incredibly picky about the images I use because I want whatever text I use to compliment it. Most fan art that I see mostly focuses on certain reactions, scenes, poses, etc., and does not aid me in the process of making e-cards. (I apologize to all you artists out there in the event that you found my statement harsh.) That, and I prefer to ask said artist for permission to use their stuff.
Furthermore, the security protocol has a serious loophole: to bypass it, all one needs to do is be a member of the site, find the artist's work, do the command "Ctrl + Prnt Scrn," and then they're free to manipulate it however they want.
Last edited by Shadweh at 2:58:04 PM CST on January 17, 2012.
I honestly like this idea but my main concern is how are we seriously going to monitor this? Even now when the Otaku policy states that we aren't allow to submit stuff that we didn't create and that only screenshots are allowed for wallpapers and ecards; yet I still see many people using other's fanart, whether they know it or not. Personally if they really want to use other people's artworks then they should have the guts to ask for it. I mean most artists spends a lot of hours on their artwork and sometimes they don't want people to use it and I think they have the right to say no. I would rather have them ask permission and maybe provide a link so that I can keep track of my artworks on the site.
Perhaps instead of just simply granting permission or not on the artworks you could setup a request box for permission to use and people could send in a request to use a particular artwork and the artist can accept or deny. Also, I know this is asking a lot, but when submitting stuff like this they have to notify the original artist of about it. Something like the PM we get when we have a new subscriber; it'll probably say something along the lines of:
"(username) has submitted a wallpaper/ecard with your artwork [click here] to see it."
Hunh. This sounds interesting indeed.
I agree that this is a great idea, but I'd have to say that it's a better idea for the artists themselves to grant permission. Even so, I wouldn't mind just getting a PM if someone really wanted to use one of mine(really?).
Art theft is a problem all over the place. Not much to do about it, since there is no such thing as the "internet police". You can only rely on if the person has a sense of "right & wrong" in that matter. I mean, I've seen several walls stolen from here and posted on other sites, and other people posting up other artist's artwork as their own fanart.
Anyways, when all is said and done, I'd give this a 50/50.
and then go to theOtaku's policy and change it to state that"by submitting any works to be published on theOtaku, you are automatically giving permission for that publication to be added to a community database of source images. You have the option to decline or revoke consent at any time by going to your backroom and turning the authorization box off."
This and the rest of your comment, I can dig too, lol. //thumbs up
At first i thought i was pretty cool with this, but now i'm not. I've opted out.
There's really no way for you to make sure no one uses the works created from this new feature outside the site, and even the 'you'll get in trouble if you do' has a pretty big unsaid 'if we find out.' How many people actually use TheO as a main site, or even link to it from other sites, use the same screennames and watermarks?
And like others have said the automatically opted in is pretty sneaky and your reasoning for it being 'not committing to it' if it wasn't is weak. :/ There are a lot of artists who have long since left TheOtaku and don't plan to come back, have grown up, or have, possibly, died(a stretch, but hey everyone dies at some point). Sending an email probably won't help much either, people change emails because kawaiidesunekochan12334323 doesn't suit them anymore, they need a more professional and/or serious email.
but eh, i've opted out, not really my problem anymore.
at least we didn't have to complete a silly challenge for this right??? ;D
I think it's a good idea to disable it by default instead of enabling it by default, and the chances are much less people will want it disabled than enabled if this ever gets implemented.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
Hmmm true, your points are valid, however it would be nice to have an inner community thing like this, not take without permission, but encourage people to ask, really.
Last edited by dyanaanime at 12:29:48 AM CST on January 17, 2012.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
Mm but the stealing would be on the increase and I can imagine the people who do not read the rules completely would go to other people on other sites and say "hey, on theO, you can use other people's artwork!" which gives them the ok to continue/increase the thefts that we still have now. :| I'm just worried this will encourage people to steal-- as a matter of fact, most stealing of art on websites such as deviantART are because the culprit doesn't understand the rules. So if we make more complicated rules, it could get out of hand. I can see this is theoretically sound, but in reality, there will be side effects that will be unforseen.
I am glad for the option to turn on/off the permission granting for use of my pieces. But what about selecting what works to license and what not to license?
Plus, what if the theOtaku.com fan art used for wallpaper/ecard pieces I make for this website happens to be my own fan art? Would the wallpapers/ecards I make for theOtaku.com with my own fan art be allowed outside of this website?
We'll send an email to all artists who would be affected. Because the new derivative works will only be on theOtaku and will be cross-linked, I don't see it as being that big a deal
It must to be on by default for it to be any type of success at all. Putting it off by default isn't committing to it. I'd rather not make this feature at all that make it opt-in.
It'd be naive to think that any work shared online wouldn't show up on some obscure website we've never heard of. It's a risk you take when submitting something personal.
I have a few questions:
Shouldn't we be able to submit a high quality image of the work we want to share along with a standard image of the original (I know there's already a link to a higher quality image)?
What stops others from reporting work that you've done on other sites such as deviantART here on TheO? Would the same work you've submitted elsewhere be a violation of the (not-yet-but-almost-here) art policy if you submit the same piece to TheO?
The main issue seems to be with the permissions setting and what exactly it means now rather than later.
Overall, I really don't see much to really be concerned about with the new policy once it's been implemented.
I'm happy that you guys don't just spring stuff like this on us and actually appreciate (nobody has brought out the pitchforks yet) the feedback. ^______^
Overall, designers have a massive amount of source material to use; scan ethics aside. Scans & official artwork is used for a massive portion of anime wallpapers, etc - so if you have Google handy, and learn where to look, you have a ton of resources to use in graphics. I think that this will be an interesting/notable addition to the site, but not a vital one.
I'm for it though: sincerly, I think it will be interesting/fun to see the kinds of eCards & wallpapers that spawn from this. Just one thing: I see the check-box in my options, and I noticed that it was unchecked (and I had to check the box myself).
I think that if you do definitely implement this, that you should automatically have it checked - so that people who actually want to use this feature, can manually & willingly choose to do so. Some members don't visit the site regularly, or are scarcely around and might not like the idea of logging back into the site, and seeing their works used because they weren't logged in to disable the option.
Two people, Nya~! (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I have a lot of thoughts on this, but for now I want to draw attention to just one line: "It's on by default." This is sneaky and underhanded on the part of theOtaku. Although theOtaku does not claim protection of its artists works anywhere in the documentation available on the site, this still goes against general copyright rules. The copyright to these images belongs to the artists and they have NOT given active permission for them to be used under this license on joining this website. Some past members no longer frequent the site and may not see this message. That does not make redistribution and editing their art legal.
In general, I think this is heading in a good direction. However, I strongly believe that, if you do not want to find yourself in legal battles, the default setting should be permission denied, rather than given.
I'm sorry to say; A bit of a preposterous idea it seems... What if this went out of hand? Although I do like what your coming across, but I'm not sure what to think of it.
Mind Reader (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I think it's a good idea. (especially if no one would break those rules ). I'd let anyone here use my art though I doubt someone would want to do that xD . I'm not sure would I use others' art for cards/walls, but this gives me another option ^^.
Well the whole point is people giving their OK and being credited no? Cause stealing happens anyway, and really, it's all about the artists giving their thumbs up or thumbs down. No one says you HAVE to let them use it, just you can let them use it. It's all optional and personal. You might as well not give your permission, no one would be forced.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
Yeah well. They do their job a bit TOO well if they deny my submissions yet allow them from people who didn't make them. Very good judges of originality, aren't they? So yeah, I've lost a lot of the respect I had for that site. Don't take me as rude or anything, it's just my bitterness towards MT speaking ^^'
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
Interesting! At first, yeah I was about to freak out since I get touchy with copyright stuff... but I really like it since the art stays within the community, wallie/ecard creators ask permission, and give credit to the artists! So I think it'll be great! It would bring theO community even closer as well as wallie/ecard creators will get together with the artists even more. :D I'm looking forward to it^^ Hopefully it'll all work out for everyone!
It's odd, but I have never even thought of browsing through the fan art here to see if I would want to use any. This conversation has certainly brought that idea to my mind though. I do think it's a good idea, but if we could already use the fan art before the only true change I see is that some people give you the go ahead without having to ask them for permission - while some people will turn off the option for designers to use their art, though they might still let you if you ask them.
I'm not really sure what this new policy will really change, but I have nothing against it. (Of course, I don't draw, so it's not my work anyone would be using.)
Last edited by ElfDuchess at 10:09:22 AM CST on January 16, 2012.
Aaaand I'm off to write another comment :| I'm a bit passionate about the prevention of arttheft because it's traumatising sometimes.
I think perhaps if you can't even access the opportunity to download the piece in high-resolution without the artist's permission to begin with? This only occurred to me now, so it's a bit rough.
I like to collect pieces I like, so I download art all the time-- if I can still access a low res' that's pretty cool with me. The high-res' would be for graphic works, etc. And if you make a piece of fanart for someone and dedicate it to them, perhaps only they can download the high-res' unless someone else asks you.
Plus the opportunity to shut the whole thing off from the backroom to begin with.
IDK. Rough thoughts are rough. :| It's like different levels of access or something.
personally, I think this idea is fantastic!!
as long as we can trust everyone else with our work (which i for one do) it will work out amazing!!
*keeping my stuff open*
i like.
you know what else? you should get rid of the ten characters to comment thing. i think "i like" is a great comment. but no. i need ten characters to comment.
This would be unintentionally encouraging the people who do not read the important parts of the rules to do it even more :C They have enough trouble in dA as it is-- imagine if they said to 16,000,000 people there "Hey, you can use anyone's art for your own wallpapers/graphics [to be interpreted at art by some people] but only if you--" that's where they'd stop reading. :| I know there is the report button-- but dA has one too and so many people complain about the mods not doing their job on there as it is (not saying TheO people don't, but still the point stands)
:S
This looks like it could get out of hand very easily-- there would have to be some fool-proof kind of method to enforce the crediting of the correct artists.
Think of it this way-- there is a photography section, a photomanipulation section and a stock image section on deviantART. The people who post stock images are allowing access to photomanipulators to use their specially taken images-- but the photographers are never touched. It's almost disrespectful to us a photographer's work as stock : |
I'm not saying "make a stock drawing section" (although that could work if some vector artist's volunteered) but perhaps consider what this actually means to the artists.
Sounds good in theory, but I see some issues in the future with people 'forgetting' to turn it off on certain art and having a hissy fit when they find it used.
The idea of the PM and crediting field, I must say, are good. If this was not added I'd have strongly suggested it.
Honestly, saying artists struggle to find artwork to work with sounds as an exageration. They are bazillion scans at MT+AP, you can find if you're willing to search.
In words of PearlSky: But I really wonder, why all of this while MT & AP already have tons of quality scans? I know some may be low quality for wallpapers
(and a few for e-cards), but isn't an opportunity to learn cleaning ,fixing,vectoring, painting..etc techniques?
Also, my main concern is seeing fanart being enlarged to fit a wallpaper resolution, if I posted my art here and came across with a wallpaper that contained my artwork enlarged to the max just into a wallpaper I'd be all : | at it.
That being said, how artist would feel at having their artwork vectored or painted? Just curious.
Music Fairy (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Wow! I've seen so many artworks out there on TheO which I've been dying to be able to use in my e-cards or wallpapers! I think this is a great feature, which again should help to bring the community closer together^^ It's especially good that you brought in those regulations, cause otherwise I would see some issues, but now I just thing it's a great idea!:D I hope at least the majority of us will agree, and that the best artists won't turn their features off;) I know I'd personally find it amazing if anyone would want to use my art as a source for their creation! (That's not highly likely though, but it would be immensely cool if it did happenXD)
Well, it's no for me. If people want to use my works, they must ask... Besides, most of the scans on MT or AP are good enough to be used. Last but not least, people already have problems to give proper credits, this won't help. Maybe it's just time for everyone to learn how to make a vector, a render, etc.
No thanks...
People don't even give credit, or worse, steal my renders, no way I'll actually allow something like this for pieces way more hard-worked than those.
Last edited by SakuraDust at 3:52:43 AM CST on January 16, 2012.
I think it's a good idea and a good start. In the future we may find new ways to optimize the process or adjust it if any loopholes eventually come up :) Ive had a handful of my wallpapers stolen (strangely they were some of my bad ones), and last week i found one of my wallpapers used in a german video on youtube, so i'm looking forward to seeing how this will work out :)
I'm all for it. I've had walls put on scan sites, so I suppose if there's some credit for my fan art, why not?
On second thought (went to sleep & chewed over it) This could be rather problematic. It's still not going to stop anyone who comes by theO just randomly coming by and grabbing said wall/fanart. Uguh, on the fence here, now.
Last edited by smoking crimson at 6:22:10 PM CST on January 16, 2012.
Maybe off-topic but.. Just wanted to say, if your stuff is on Minitokyo and not uploaded by you, mods there will take it down (especially if the description's suspiciously empty of resources/they get a heads up via report), since they do their job unlike in DNexus. ^^ It's a difference of policy.
Also, your points are all valid. The main thing I like about this policy is the naming sources/notify original artist/'Inspired Works' bit. ..Just, reluctant to give a "free for all" signal still lol.
As a fan artist/vector artist, I can say I mostly have no problem with this new idea. Why? Because, like it happens on other sites like dA for example, that puts a watermark on work people don't want to share, it will still get stolen if there's a will, and I say this because I've had wallpapers of mine stolen from here and posted on other sites like Minitokyo or DesktopNexus. It will happen, even without this new idea, so I happen to go by "don't want it stolen, don't post it on the internet". And I know I'm probably going to get flamed for this comment, but I honestly don't care because this is a personal opinion and that is how the internet works nowadays. What it could bring good is that, knowing the source of an image, people can actually ask the artist for permission, and cooperate with them. It could help improve self-esteem too, since someone asking to use their work can give a boost of confidence to some people.
I personally have no problem with people using my work as long as they credit me for it, and if they don't credit me for it, there's such a thing as Report. All in all, I'm for the new idea.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
I have turned the option off in my case. I don't care so much when it comes to any actual fanart I make, but I would really rather someone ask me directly if they want to use it in some way. Just sayin' :/
Digital Neko (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Even though there's rules, I feel like there may end up being a loophole somewhere where people can sneak others' works to another site. (Then again, they could just upload it somewhere, anyway, and get it away with it until someone points them out aas being an art thief...)
I'm not sure what to think about this new policy... it's iffy and I'm on the fence. =/ On the positive side, tho, when other people use your work, you'll get more traffic. Plus with a wide supply of resources, more members can polish their photomanipulations skills. Still, I feel a niggling feeling in the back of my mind...
How does the 'Prevent people from using my fan art for wallpapers, eCards, and quiz results' work exactly? I'm turning it on now jic, since most of my 'fan' art right now are originals lol, but I would like to know how. ^^; I don't mind if I get asked first, and shown the result... But while I think theO members wouldn't do such a thing, I've seen my (and others') wallpapers cropped and squished into banners elsewhere (pixels argh) so I don't really want to see that happening with my stuff again xD.
I hope we're still allowed to use scans from the likes of Minitokyo, animepaper, and other scanners' sites though. (just to clarify, when I say scanners' sites - i mean those sites where people scan stuff themselves and put them up to share, not the ones that steal other people's artworks/wallpapers :/) o-o Should be, since this is a fifth option, not the ONLY option (that would be way limiting than the no pixiv rule lol).
Me gusta (4) though. So maybe if someone really wants to use my art (yeah right dream on aozo), they can PM me first and I uncheck that thingy for 'em? Do you think I can make it selective that way? xD
Last edited by Aoz0ra at 5:46:53 AM CST on January 16, 2012.
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
UPDATE: Thanks to all your feedback, we will add the ability to block specific pieces. Though if you turn off sharing, you won't be able to allow specific pieces.
(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.
Personally I think that if the artist of the fan art gives the thumbs up for them to host it elsewhere, like say DA. Then it should be fine. Because in the end it is their fan art.
I also think having the option to remove some from the list of artwork that can be used is a good idea. A blanket approval is a bit too broad, especially for artists who have a lot of works uploaded.
Queen of theO � (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
This is interesting. It'll be a good way for me to get off of my butt and start making artwork for others who might want to use it in their wallpapers and such and also experiment with vectors. XD
I am not a follower, I am a friend. I do not ask for subscribers, only friends.
There are a lot of talented artists on this website, and I think this would be a fantastic way to advertise their works. I for one barely see any fan arts because I tend to only view eCards and wallpapers. If we were to fan arts in eCards and wallpapers, the art would be appreciated by many more people who wouldn't typically view those works. I think it's a great idea; not sure if I would ever use any fan arts in my cards and whatnot, but it's a cool prospect, and I just might!
This is stupid...if people are going to be stingy about someone else using their art they shouldnt post it online...thats just begging for trouble. That aside, it sounds a tad hypocritical to say, "You cant use this fanartists knocked off work, because its not yours, but you can use this artists original creation." Idiots...
Oh my, I actually like this idea. As an artist, I say this is a good feature and as a potential designer, it is a good way to cut out the need to ask permission to use it and waiting forever to get an answer.
However, like many other people, I'd say, this should be applied to individual works and as a whole as three different options: allow all to be used, none to be used, or selected ones to be allowed to be used.
Resident Dark Lord (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
As someone who does mostly wallpapers these days, I think that this feature will make finding source images a lot easier (providing that the original artists are okay with it of course).
As for how often I'd use this feature, I'm not really sure to be honest. I never know what wallpaper I make until the inspiration strikes me. Even so, it'd be nice to have the option. Plus who knows, this could provide a way for fan artists and designers to collaborate more.
I think this is a great idea. The way I see it, it's a benefit to both graphic designers and artists: graphic designers will have more images to choose from, and less-known artists will have an opportunity to get more attention. Perfect!
Lombax of Earth (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Interesting idea, but I'd personally prefer being asked first if anyone ever wanted to use my artwork. Not that they might, but still... if they asked and it wasn't for anything objectionable, I'd be fine with it.
And I also like the idea of being able to choose individually which pieces can and cannot be used. I know it's not on the list, but you can put me down for another motion towards that.
Last edited by CelestialSushi at 9:39:40 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
I think that this policy should only allow members to use art on TheO that was submitted as fanwork for an already existing anime/manga/show. Not original manga/anime or personal works of art. If I upload a personal piece of art that is not anime-related, I don't want somebody else turning it into an e-card or wallpaper. If I had wanted it to be that, I would have made it as such.
State Alchemist (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think this is a fantastic feature. There are a lot of awesome pieces of art on this site. Its a great way for those artists to be seen outside of the fanart section. And for the designers, they've got a lot more stuff to work from. And if its only for theotaku members, nobody could make any money off of it. So its really just an awesome way to show off your's and other people's hard work.
Wait, I thought we were allowed to use any of the scans from minitokyo? If we aren't.....oh shoot. I use them for all my wallpapers.....
But, I think this new thing is nice. There's some amazing fan arts on here that I would love to turn into wallpapers....if I can have their permission of course.
Last edited by lhtkid at 8:58:37 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
Seeing how I've already done a few things such as this(with full permission from the original artist) I do not see a problem with it. However I am weary of stating full and outright support behind this policy. I would like to know more of the fine print regarding such a matter, after all thats ushally the important bit to read.
For the most part I see this as being met with little opposing force. Which is quite a good thing I think.
LOL I think I would die if someone actually used my art for their graphics. In the good way. ; u ; I'd be overjoyed with happiness~ I was actually somewhat honoured and mad when a person plagiarized my crappy Teto sketch about a year back lol.
It's probably better everyone's default is off to begin with, though. There are some artists here that are inactive, and they might not appreciate their art being used without knowing about it. Other than that, it sounds like a pretty good idea.
I think this will allow the designers to show other people work that artists they don't know have done. This will allow more people to connect and share, so I think it's a good idea.
It also allows you to disable the feature if you don't want others to use it, so that's good to.
Also good that citing and credits are given so no stealing takes place.
So this is for the card/wall makers that want to use fanart from theO in their stuff? Right? It wouldn't work say...if you are making an e-card, but want to use someone's WALLPAPER in it, right? That's still plagiarism lol.
Mmm...I suppose this is a pretty good idea. Though I think I would like it better if you could manually choose which art you want to be able to be used,and which art you don't :/
There still isn't anything stopping anyone from uploading the work outside of theO without permission of the original artist. That's all I have to say.
I'll be sounding like a broken record repeating what I like about this. I think that this sounds like a good, workable system that would really help people out, open up new sources of inspiration, create new friendships, all that good stuff ^^
I will say that agree with what I've seen in a couple of comments about having options for individual work, if at all possible. That way, if I create something that I don't want others to use, I wouldn't have to turn the option entirely off. Either way, though, I like the idea a lot!!
Now making it easier for designers to find their images! Best way is to search on the very site they want to submit it<3
I don’t have an issue with this at all seeing that I have already been doing this with a fellow TheOtaku artist.
An example for those interested~ [my art, her wallpaper] CLICK!
As artist, our work is vulnerable to anyone who knows the right click and save trick once we post it here. Its up there with the Copy/Paste. It’s a Rule of the Internet my dear. So aren’t we already risking it? O=O
And aren’t we all striving to get our work in that pretty little featured box? Having another member feature your work in one of theirs would be 10x greater.
You INSPIRED someone!
Its also very reasonable that you are given the option of turning it off. So we all win no? :]
Hurrhurr<3
~lunastarz~
Last edited by lunastarz at 8:01:37 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
The Hero of Time (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Sounds good to me as a designer and artist.
The notification would be flattering and this would help us grow into fun partnerships I think. The option to turn it off is all that concerns me, and it's there. So no problem :)
Last edited by wallpaperotaku at 7:55:38 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
Sounds like a cool feature! Not that anyone would use my works but sure~
Agreeing with thelostsindar, I think we should be able to keep certain works to ourselves, ones that we really don't want anyone else using like of OCs. Otherwise it sounds good! Being PMed when someone uses your work is nice too. *would probably have a spaz attack if someone used my work I'd feel so loved XD*
I don't mind some people using my FanArt...But if it goes TOOOO out of hand by any chance; and at the moment it aggravates me ; at least I have a pretty little button to stop them :D
I personally don't have any problem sharing my works. As for using other peoples, I think it would be good to be able to use wallpapers or fan art with eCards, too.
The Wandering Elf (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
My first response was a bit of nervousness, but after thinking it over for a moment I think this will be fine, especially since we have the option to turn it off. I really like that the artists will be contacted by PM, too. I do think that HawaiianBabidoll made a really good point though in that it would be nice to be able to choose for each individual piece of artwork. I can already think of some of my drawings that I wouldn’t want to be used (like those of original characters), but there are others that I wouldn’t mind.
I personally think it sounds cool, because it'll give the graphic artists some options to work with, and unknown users who make great art more publicity. ;o It's fine with me.
On the topic of random people saving and uploading: Random people already have the "opportunity" (not to give it a positive connotation) of saving other artist's artworks as it is. How would this feature make that any different? This feature obviously won't decrease the chances of art theft, but it really won't increase it either.
Immortal We Ride (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Not that anyone would use my crappy art but heck no. *runs to turn it off* I mean you can keep the original person from posting outside theO, but anyone could come on here, hit right click save and upload it anywhere they wanted. Yes they can still do that with our orginal fan art anyways, but...yeah.
1.) As an artist, I don't care. But honestly, most things I post up aren't in high res for the very reason that I want to prevent theft. One person may use a high-res version of what I post to make a wallpaper, but another just might steal it.
2.) How can you guarantee that the work will not be posted outside the community? Paranoia kicking in, but there's nothing to prevent anyone from putting it up elsewhere. And this could just apply to a random stranger, meaning they're stealing from two people now rather than one.
3.) As a designer, I don't see myself using this. Very rarely are there arts that are a.) of a high enough resolution to use, b.) clean enough to isolate and implement, and c.) just plain something I want to use. I am not dissing artists here, there are plenty of talented people, but a lot of stuff just doesn't lend itself to wallpapers because they weren't made with that format in mind. If I want to make something that badly, I'll contact the artist, but this has come up so few times that it's pretty much a non-issue.
As an artist, I wouldn't mind letting others use my work for graphic designs so long as it is linked back to the original, however I would like a feature that allows artists to choose specific drawings to exclude from these rights.
While I don't mind the majority of my work being used by others, some of the pieces I'd prefer to stay in my portfolio alone and untouched.
Pleiades Rising
Otaku Idol (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/20/12 | Reply
@:
Well, it would have been more clear if you had pointed my own comments as belonging to me. I don't mind if anyone disagrees with me, provided they make it clear that it's my own comments they're working with. Otherwise, it's difficult to figure out which claims belong to what person.
Concerning the context of this item, well, since the subject of copyrights did come up, and talk of "rights" and "illegality" also came up, then my thoughts and comments are better seen as being directed towards those issues - in the context they arose. Notice that your own comment raised the issue of copyrights, legal-loopholes, and legal headaches; as such, it helped to constitute the context I was working from. Remember, this isn't a completed post, but an ongoing discussion where context can shift, and I decided to respond to that shift. As far as I can tell, you're more concerned with something else: the looser sense in which art-theft or permission is used. It now seems clearer we've got two slightly different projects going on (but I do maintain they are related enough in that you can't really have a discussion about owning art without knowing what ownership means, which pushes anyone into a legal direction). However, I don't think I misunderstood your post's purpose, which is why I never really commented on your entire post - just the issues that I was initially concerned with. Like I said, the context shifted in this comment box, so there wasn't really a settled context to fix all the issues.
Pleiades Rising
Otaku Idol (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/20/12 | Reply
@:
Thanks for the reply! I enjoyed having the chance to think some things through, and to come to some further conclusions. However, I must state that my reply is also in full post form: A Brief Reply
Briefly, as it stands your argument can't be sustained, and if I actually carry through it's assumptions, conclusions, and implications, then by your own terms I'm entitled to submit an ecard or wallpaper based on your own art - because I have "rights".
Last edited by Pleiades Rising at 12:59:58 AM CST on January 20, 2012.
DixieWings
Daydreamer (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/19/12 | Reply
First and foremost, having the option on by default is illegal. You are volunteering other people's works to be used without explicit permission. Most artists, including myself, primarily draw original artwork of our own characters. Even the fan-art that we post is protected under law. Giving others the permission to use our characters and drawings in wallpapers and e-cards is the same as theft.
Now "We'll send an email to all artists who would be affected" will not work. I know for a fact that a large amount of the users on this website have changed their emails from the time they've registered. My friends have changed theirs; I have changed mine. Needless to say, I would have been extremely unhappy to come back and see that my work was being used without my permission. Not to mention, some artists have abandoned theOtaku altogether. I could list a few brilliant artists and six friends that have packed up and left since their starting days here. I almost left as well.
I also believe that it is an exaggeration to say that artists "struggle" to find images. Sites like mintokyo are filled with thousands of scans for people to choose from. This policy, like someone said before, just seems like an open door to art thieves. Please heed what I and others have already said before implementing such a policy.
It is a great idea.
It is an open opportunity.
But it must be regulated.
Pleiades Rising
Otaku Idol (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/19/12 | Reply
@:
Taken to extremes, that's how copyright laws can be interpreted, yes. (The kid with the Bugs Bunny drawing had better not also be singing Happy Birthday, as well, considering how it's registered material.) In fact, on the main News page for this site, it shows how far copyright laws can affect various things. But we've got to be clear here that theO is in a far better legal position than, say, an anime forum that openly shares links to copyrighted anime downloads. theO clearly isn't that kind of site at all. So I think it's safe to say that we need not seriously take the copyright to the extremes that our examples did. How far should it be taken? I think that theO is already working within a legally respectable (gray) framework concerning copyright laws. We just have to be careful that we don't grant fan art an unquestioned legal status that isn't actually there. Claiming art-theft is within the rights of artists, but just as long as they keep in mind that copyright laws don't neatly attach themselves to fan art.
In regards to Fair Use, I've seen that clause be slightly misunderstood or abused in various ways online. On YouTube, someone can upload a copyrighted video and write in the description that they do it under the principle of Fair Use. However, when you take a look at the content of what they've uploaded, most of the time it in no way relates to the doctrine of Fair Use. Fair Use is meant to exclude certain works from falling under specific rights granted to the copyright holder. These entitlements of Fair Use usually include things like general commentary, criticism (e.g. book reviews), news releases, or general scholarship issues. (There more, but you get the idea). Fan art isn't exactly created for the sole reason to criticize the original works, which sounds bizarre. It's not exactly academically oriented either, and neither is it informative in a news sense. It's not analogous to professional academic research, too. It's hard to say how most fan art can be made to square with the principle of Fair Use.
As for parody, that could be a way to protect some fan art, but it won't hold for all fan art. Trying to do so would be to stretch that limiting right to implausibility, giving fan art almost no substantive legal weight of its own.
Legalese aside, it seems that the default setting can be questioned, as you mention. That's open to debate. I can see the reason why the default is "on": to build a sizable and readily available stock for members only. But that leaves the problem of originals being included, where their creators are no longer here. In effect, the policy is retroactive and possibly too inclusive due to the current default. Right now I'm thinking it should remain on if we're going to build a solid database. (However, I'm not sitting firmly on this.) I like to think that if a former member came back to the site, they wouldn't sue over fan art or an original, but would simply disable some options and request some pieces be removed. Basically, they'd do what they always do whenever they see their own art being used as they don't want it to.
Hiko
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
I am leaning on the 'I don't like this feature' part because of the past artists that do not come on here anymore. Since the feature will be automatically turned on they have no way of knowing about this update/feature and will not know that their artwork is being used.
But thats my biggest Irk on the matter.
What about a blocking thing to block certain designers from using their work?
You know that someone truly cares when they brick you like that. -AZ
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
@:
Maybe theoretically, but no matter the fan art you put online, the right studio could have it taken down without much resistance with a simple DMCA notice to the hosting website. The hosting website could take the studio to court to challenge each individually piece's right to be there, but I don't know of anyone with those kind of resources.
Thankfully the anime companies like what we do - especially since we don't host manga scans, which are a much more direct copyright violation.
The Mask
Detective Mask (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
I think I discovered one flaw to this policy. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this previously, so let me just describe it.
As we all know, not all theOtaku members are active in the site. Some of them haven't used it for quite a while already, even before Version Vibrant. And a good number of them have already moved on to other sites like DeviantArt. However, their fan works are still accessible here in theOtaku. And it is likely that these inactive members wanted other people to ask for their permission first before they use their fanart, and intended to apply this rule of theirs in all of the sites in which it had been posted.
With the proposed policy, the fan works they posted before they became inactive would be included in the mix. And this becomes a problem. Because they were inactive, they wouldn't know that this policy might be implemented soon. And they may become really disappointed if they learn that their works were used without the typical message of permission. That might be even more complicated if this involves an adult artist who would even consider a lawsuit against the site.
I understand that Adam intends to email all affected artists about this development. But what if their email address in the site is an old address that is no longer in use? I discovered one artist whose latest site activity to date was back in 2006. And this member has such high quality fanart that I feel a lot of members would really consider using them for their own derivative works. Don't you think there's a possibility that the email he/she used for this site 6-7 years ago is no longer functioning, and thus makes him/her unaware of this major policy change? And if he/she finds out about this, isn't it likely to cause problems later on when the policy is already in effect? Especially if that member is currently active in other sites, where he/she can be easily notified by a concerned member.
Those are my thoughts on this matter.
"Students, be ambitious!"
LightFykki
Drachen Herz (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
After giving a thought about this and not writing everything that I thought about it, because it would be another huge comment.. Let's just say that I agree with it. There are more positive than negative things and again it won't be something that might determine the sole future of someone's work. It won't change that much, it might only be more interesting and better that way. Some people might even be very proud and happy to see that someone else used their artwork here to make something.
Pleiades Rising
Otaku Idol (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
I think vacuumology's suggestion is on the right path: revising the Help/FAQ sections concerning Fan Art to include the new policy's rules and to clearly state what conditions that you as an artist agree to when you join theO.
However, concerning copyright issues some mention, it's not quite the black-and-white issue that it appears to be. First of all, most of the fan art here is based on copyrighted works of preexisting works. The original authors have the copyright and its set of entitlements. They can allow someone to, say, produce a derivative work based on their own original works. Technically, most of us as fan artists create works which reside either in the gray area of copyright laws (varying with country, and even within country) or in an area which more clearly infringe on preexisting copyrighted works. Of course, there are also those artists here who do original works and thus have their works copyrighted. But when bringing up the issue of copyrights, remember that fan art is a gray area, which sometimes infringes on copyrighted works.
It's not exactly accurately directed when NekoTenshiEmi says that "The copyright to these images belongs to the artists and they have NOT given active permission for them to be used under this license on joining this website." Unless Type-Moon or Studio Deen clearly granted me permission to create artworks based on Fate/stay night or Hetalia: Axis Powers, I'm technically (legally) not permitted to create such works. My fan art isn't protected as clearly as that quote suggests. I've seen some people claim that fan art is more clearly seen as being derivative works, thus, sharing some copyright entitlements, but it's not exactly clear how it is (here's that gray area of the copyright laws). Simply put, your Black Butler, Miku Hatsune, Sailor Moon, etc, fan art isn't clearly protected by a copyright belonging solely to you as artist. If we really want to avoid legal issues, then make rule (5): theOtaku will no longer accept works based on anime, manga, books, films, or any other preexisting copyrighted works unless express consent was given by major studios yadda yadda yadda. But we don't need that since (most) of the original creators aren't petty enough to sue their own fanbase who make fan art because its fun - i.e. not for profit. In sum, if you create original works, fine and clear. Fan art, however, is where it gets cloudy.
As far as revising the Help/FAQ, that would help make it clear what conditions artists agree to. However, I don't see those revisions as exactly settling legal issues involving copyright laws. That's a separate and difficult issue.
Last edited by Pleiades Rising at 1:12:05 AM CST on January 18, 2012.
Hulaberry32
Primadonna (Otaku Legend) | Posted 01/18/12 | Reply
Honestly, what I think that is no matter what, there's going to be art theft. With or without this feature, plagiarism is going to occur. Works on theO are being credited if the art is used with someone else, so why is this such a big deal? Once again, this proves that most people are theO are a bunch of pessimists. XD We always jump right to the negative, though I can see how art theft is an issue. But it's going to be there, no matter what. Making art available for the use of others on theO probably won't stop random people from dropping by and taking it. Just saying.
XkeyofdestinyX
Psychopath (Grand Otaku) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
i dont see a problem.
Ich such dich unter jedem Stein Wo bist du Ich schlaf mit einem Messer ein
beloved blood
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
Oh, I forgot! Official scans aren't so bad at all. There's lots of beauty to be seen in one of them artbooks, you know? Just sayin'. I mean, Vampire Knight, Trinity Blood... both of their artbooks are quite beautiful. And there's lot to be had of CG renders from Final Fantasy and KH games as well. I don't see the problem with them, except maybe a little darkening and sharpening of lines when scanned, but other than that, there's no problem here.
Shadweh
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
I don't have much of a say from the artist's perspective because I hardly ever pick up my drawing pad anymore, let alone get around to scanning stuff.
From a personal standpoint as a designer, this option doesn't interest me all that much. I am incredibly picky about the images I use because I want whatever text I use to compliment it. Most fan art that I see mostly focuses on certain reactions, scenes, poses, etc., and does not aid me in the process of making e-cards. (I apologize to all you artists out there in the event that you found my statement harsh.) That, and I prefer to ask said artist for permission to use their stuff.
Furthermore, the security protocol has a serious loophole: to bypass it, all one needs to do is be a member of the site, find the artist's work, do the command "Ctrl + Prnt Scrn," and then they're free to manipulate it however they want.
Last edited by Shadweh at 2:58:04 PM CST on January 17, 2012.
Digilover
Otakuite++ | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
I honestly like this idea but my main concern is how are we seriously going to monitor this? Even now when the Otaku policy states that we aren't allow to submit stuff that we didn't create and that only screenshots are allowed for wallpapers and ecards; yet I still see many people using other's fanart, whether they know it or not. Personally if they really want to use other people's artworks then they should have the guts to ask for it. I mean most artists spends a lot of hours on their artwork and sometimes they don't want people to use it and I think they have the right to say no. I would rather have them ask permission and maybe provide a link so that I can keep track of my artworks on the site.
Perhaps instead of just simply granting permission or not on the artworks you could setup a request box for permission to use and people could send in a request to use a particular artwork and the artist can accept or deny. Also, I know this is asking a lot, but when submitting stuff like this they have to notify the original artist of about it. Something like the PM we get when we have a new subscriber; it'll probably say something along the lines of:
"(username) has submitted a wallpaper/ecard with your artwork [click here] to see it."
This is just my opinion on this.
beloved blood
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
Hunh. This sounds interesting indeed.
I agree that this is a great idea, but I'd have to say that it's a better idea for the artists themselves to grant permission. Even so, I wouldn't mind just getting a PM if someone really wanted to use one of mine(really?).
Art theft is a problem all over the place. Not much to do about it, since there is no such thing as the "internet police". You can only rely on if the person has a sense of "right & wrong" in that matter. I mean, I've seen several walls stolen from here and posted on other sites, and other people posting up other artist's artwork as their own fanart.
Anyways, when all is said and done, I'd give this a 50/50.
SolemnSerpent
Cupcake Constable (Moderator) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
@:
and then go to theOtaku's policy and change it to state that "by submitting any works to be published on theOtaku, you are automatically giving permission for that publication to be added to a community database of source images. You have the option to decline or revoke consent at any time by going to your backroom and turning the authorization box off."
This and the rest of your comment, I can dig too, lol. //thumbs up
MilkycatStudios
Oldschool (Otaku Legend) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
I've had my art stolen on numerous occasion both on here in the past, and on deviantART. I will opt out. I prefer that somone ask me permission first.
Mentally dating a character that doesn't actually exist
ReiKiba
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
I think this is a brilliant idea. <3
Kirobug
SuperBum (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
At first i thought i was pretty cool with this, but now i'm not. I've opted out.
There's really no way for you to make sure no one uses the works created from this new feature outside the site, and even the 'you'll get in trouble if you do' has a pretty big unsaid 'if we find out.' How many people actually use TheO as a main site, or even link to it from other sites, use the same screennames and watermarks?
And like others have said the automatically opted in is pretty sneaky and your reasoning for it being 'not committing to it' if it wasn't is weak. :/ There are a lot of artists who have long since left TheOtaku and don't plan to come back, have grown up, or have, possibly, died(a stretch, but hey everyone dies at some point). Sending an email probably won't help much either, people change emails because kawaiidesunekochan12334323 doesn't suit them anymore, they need a more professional and/or serious email.
but eh, i've opted out, not really my problem anymore.
at least we didn't have to complete a silly challenge for this right??? ;D
dyanaanime
Sarcastic Angel (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
@SolemnSerpent:
I think it's a good idea to disable it by default instead of enabling it by default, and the chances are much less people will want it disabled than enabled if this ever gets implemented.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
dyanaanime
Sarcastic Angel (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
@TheBitterRose:
Hmmm true, your points are valid, however it would be nice to have an inner community thing like this, not take without permission, but encourage people to ask, really.
Last edited by dyanaanime at 12:29:48 AM CST on January 17, 2012.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/17/12 | Reply
@stararnold:
If it's your fan art or if the fan artist gives you personal permission you can do whatever you like,
A
TheBitterRose
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@:
I'm not denying anything! Your art is good!
TheBitterRose
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@dyanaanime:
Mm but the stealing would be on the increase and I can imagine the people who do not read the rules completely would go to other people on other sites and say "hey, on theO, you can use other people's artwork!" which gives them the ok to continue/increase the thefts that we still have now. :| I'm just worried this will encourage people to steal-- as a matter of fact, most stealing of art on websites such as deviantART are because the culprit doesn't understand the rules. So if we make more complicated rules, it could get out of hand. I can see this is theoretically sound, but in reality, there will be side effects that will be unforseen.
stararnold
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I am glad for the option to turn on/off the permission granting for use of my pieces. But what about selecting what works to license and what not to license?
Plus, what if the theOtaku.com fan art used for wallpaper/ecard pieces I make for this website happens to be my own fan art? Would the wallpapers/ecards I make for theOtaku.com with my own fan art be allowed outside of this website?
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@NekoTenshiEmi:
We'll send an email to all artists who would be affected. Because the new derivative works will only be on theOtaku and will be cross-linked, I don't see it as being that big a deal
It must to be on by default for it to be any type of success at all. Putting it off by default isn't committing to it. I'd rather not make this feature at all that make it opt-in.
PerfectlyDamned
Bubble Tea Monster (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
It'd be naive to think that any work shared online wouldn't show up on some obscure website we've never heard of. It's a risk you take when submitting something personal.
I have a few questions:
Shouldn't we be able to submit a high quality image of the work we want to share along with a standard image of the original (I know there's already a link to a higher quality image)?
What stops others from reporting work that you've done on other sites such as deviantART here on TheO? Would the same work you've submitted elsewhere be a violation of the (not-yet-but-almost-here) art policy if you submit the same piece to TheO?
The main issue seems to be with the permissions setting and what exactly it means now rather than later.
Overall, I really don't see much to really be concerned about with the new policy once it's been implemented.
I'm happy that you guys don't just spring stuff like this on us and actually appreciate (nobody has brought out the pitchforks yet) the feedback. ^______^
windfish55
Senior Otaku | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
This all sounds pretty cool to me.However, I agree with the posters before me who say you should have to opt in to this rather than opt out.
SolemnSerpent
Cupcake Constable (Moderator) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Overall, designers have a massive amount of source material to use; scan ethics aside. Scans & official artwork is used for a massive portion of anime wallpapers, etc - so if you have Google handy, and learn where to look, you have a ton of resources to use in graphics. I think that this will be an interesting/notable addition to the site, but not a vital one.
I'm for it though: sincerly, I think it will be interesting/fun to see the kinds of eCards & wallpapers that spawn from this. Just one thing: I see the check-box in my options, and I noticed that it was unchecked (and I had to check the box myself).
I think that if you do definitely implement this, that you should automatically have it checked - so that people who actually want to use this feature, can manually & willingly choose to do so. Some members don't visit the site regularly, or are scarcely around and might not like the idea of logging back into the site, and seeing their works used because they weren't logged in to disable the option.
NekoTenshiEmi
Two people, Nya~! (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I have a lot of thoughts on this, but for now I want to draw attention to just one line: "It's on by default." This is sneaky and underhanded on the part of theOtaku. Although theOtaku does not claim protection of its artists works anywhere in the documentation available on the site, this still goes against general copyright rules. The copyright to these images belongs to the artists and they have NOT given active permission for them to be used under this license on joining this website. Some past members no longer frequent the site and may not see this message. That does not make redistribution and editing their art legal.
In general, I think this is heading in a good direction. However, I strongly believe that, if you do not want to find yourself in legal battles, the default setting should be permission denied, rather than given.
Arctic Summer
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I'm sorry to say; A bit of a preposterous idea it seems... What if this went out of hand? Although I do like what your coming across, but I'm not sure what to think of it.
animegirl171
Mind Reader (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I think it's a good idea. (especially if no one would break those rules ). I'd let anyone here use my art
though I doubt someone would want to do that xD. I'm not sure would I use others' art for cards/walls, but this gives me another option ^^.skitty999
Otakuite++ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I think it is a fine idea!
Especially since the artists are credited. I would have no problem sharing my works, although they aren't that great yet xD
Sabriela Hellena
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
im still a little confused, but i dont see it being harmfull, i dont see me useing it right of hand,
MFran
~*FABULOUS MAX*~ (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@dyanaanime:
Can you provide me details on what exactly happened? I'm a moderator at Minitokyo and I do not recall this event.
dyanaanime
Sarcastic Angel (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@TheBitterRose:
Well the whole point is people giving their OK and being credited no? Cause stealing happens anyway, and really, it's all about the artists giving their thumbs up or thumbs down. No one says you HAVE to let them use it, just you can let them use it. It's all optional and personal. You might as well not give your permission, no one would be forced.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
dyanaanime
Sarcastic Angel (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@Aoz0ra:
Yeah well. They do their job a bit TOO well if they deny my submissions yet allow them from people who didn't make them. Very good judges of originality, aren't they? So yeah, I've lost a lot of the respect I had for that site. Don't take me as rude or anything, it's just my bitterness towards MT speaking ^^'
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
MangaKid
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Interesting! At first, yeah I was about to freak out since I get touchy with copyright stuff... but I really like it since the art stays within the community, wallie/ecard creators ask permission, and give credit to the artists! So I think it'll be great! It would bring theO community even closer as well as wallie/ecard creators will get together with the artists even more. :D I'm looking forward to it^^ Hopefully it'll all work out for everyone!
ElfDuchess
Senior Otaku+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
It's odd, but I have never even thought of browsing through the fan art here to see if I would want to use any. This conversation has certainly brought that idea to my mind though. I do think it's a good idea, but if we could already use the fan art before the only true change I see is that some people give you the go ahead without having to ask them for permission - while some people will turn off the option for designers to use their art, though they might still let you if you ask them.
I'm not really sure what this new policy will really change, but I have nothing against it. (Of course, I don't draw, so it's not my work anyone would be using.)
Last edited by ElfDuchess at 10:09:22 AM CST on January 16, 2012.
TheBitterRose
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Aaaand I'm off to write another comment :|
I'm a bit passionate about the prevention of arttheft because it's traumatising sometimes.I think perhaps if you can't even access the opportunity to download the piece in high-resolution without the artist's permission to begin with? This only occurred to me now, so it's a bit rough.
I like to collect pieces I like, so I download art all the time-- if I can still access a low res' that's pretty cool with me. The high-res' would be for graphic works, etc. And if you make a piece of fanart for someone and dedicate it to them, perhaps only they can download the high-res' unless someone else asks you.
Plus the opportunity to shut the whole thing off from the backroom to begin with.
IDK. Rough thoughts are rough. :| It's like different levels of access or something.
kamichama karin s
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
personally, I think this idea is fantastic!!
as long as we can trust everyone else with our work (which i for one do) it will work out amazing!!
*keeping my stuff open*
jkhkitty
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
i like.
you know what else? you should get rid of the ten characters to comment thing. i think "i like" is a great comment. but no. i need ten characters to comment.
TheBitterRose
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@dyanaanime:
This would be unintentionally encouraging the people who do not read the important parts of the rules to do it even more :C They have enough trouble in dA as it is-- imagine if they said to 16,000,000 people there "Hey, you can use anyone's art for your own wallpapers/graphics [to be interpreted at art by some people] but only if you--" that's where they'd stop reading. :| I know there is the report button-- but dA has one too and so many people complain about the mods not doing their job on there as it is (not saying TheO people don't, but still the point stands)
:S
ChiyukiChan
Grand Otaku | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I personally would find this to be an interesting feature!
I would have no issue with it, in fact, I would really like this as an option!
TheBitterRose
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
This looks like it could get out of hand very easily-- there would have to be some fool-proof kind of method to enforce the crediting of the correct artists.
Think of it this way-- there is a photography section, a photomanipulation section and a stock image section on deviantART. The people who post stock images are allowing access to photomanipulators to use their specially taken images-- but the photographers are never touched. It's almost disrespectful to us a photographer's work as stock : |
I'm not saying "make a stock drawing section" (although that could work if some vector artist's volunteered) but perhaps consider what this actually means to the artists.
TheBitterRose
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@:
Your drawings don't suck D:
Thiefspawn
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
This policy is good. It should be activated.
Starscream
Fembot (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
So... Pretty much Creative Commons.
Sounds good in theory, but I see some issues in the future with people 'forgetting' to turn it off on certain art and having a hissy fit when they find it used.
The idea of the PM and crediting field, I must say, are good. If this was not added I'd have strongly suggested it.
Other than that, it's not such a bad idea...
angluvdeath
Senior Otaku | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
i guess i don't mind as long as i'm asked before hand
MFran
~*FABULOUS MAX*~ (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Honestly, saying artists struggle to find artwork to work with sounds as an exageration. They are bazillion scans at MT+AP, you can find if you're willing to search.
In words of PearlSky:
But I really wonder, why all of this while MT & AP already have tons of quality scans? I know some may be low quality for wallpapers
(and a few for e-cards), but isn't an opportunity to learn cleaning ,fixing,vectoring, painting..etc techniques?
Also, my main concern is seeing fanart being enlarged to fit a wallpaper resolution, if I posted my art here and came across with a wallpaper that contained my artwork enlarged to the max just into a wallpaper I'd be all : | at it.
That being said, how artist would feel at having their artwork vectored or painted? Just curious.
Kaerlyn
Tea pixie (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I'm looking forward to see what people make ^^
SaxGirl
Music Fairy (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Wow! I've seen so many artworks out there on TheO which I've been dying to be able to use in my e-cards or wallpapers!
I think this is a great feature, which again should help to bring the community closer together^^ It's especially good that you brought in those regulations, cause otherwise I would see some issues, but now I just thing it's a great idea!:D I hope at least the majority of us will agree, and that the best artists won't turn their features off;) I know I'd personally find it amazing if anyone would want to use my art as a source for their creation! (That's not highly likely though, but it would be immensely cool if it did happenXD)
Keep up the fantastic work, Bossman!:D
~S.G~
Felcie
Unicorn Lover (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@:
You can find a lot of tutorials on deviantART, like [this one] for example :) And, to make a render, you don't need any tutorial, just patience lol
Felcie
Unicorn Lover (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Well, it's no for me. If people want to use my works, they must ask... Besides, most of the scans on MT or AP are good enough to be used. Last but not least, people already have problems to give proper credits, this won't help. Maybe it's just time for everyone to learn how to make a vector, a render, etc.
SakuraDust
Moderator | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
No thanks...
People don't even give credit, or worse, steal my renders, no way I'll actually allow something like this for pieces way more hard-worked than those.
Last edited by SakuraDust at 3:52:43 AM CST on January 16, 2012.
Yamchaa
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I think it's a good idea and a good start. In the future we may find new ways to optimize the process or adjust it if any loopholes eventually come up :) Ive had a handful of my wallpapers stolen (strangely they were some of my bad ones), and last week i found one of my wallpapers used in a german video on youtube, so i'm looking forward to seeing how this will work out :)
smoking crimson
Sunrise (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I'm all for it. I've had walls put on scan sites, so I suppose if there's some credit for my fan art, why not?
On second thought (went to sleep & chewed over it) This could be rather problematic. It's still not going to stop anyone who comes by theO just randomly coming by and grabbing said wall/fanart. Uguh, on the fence here, now.
Last edited by smoking crimson at 6:22:10 PM CST on January 16, 2012.
Mighty RED RANGER
Aoz0ra
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
@dyanaanime:
Maybe off-topic but.. Just wanted to say, if your stuff is on Minitokyo and not uploaded by you, mods there will take it down (especially if the description's suspiciously empty of resources/they get a heads up via report),
since they do their jobunlike in DNexus. ^^ It's a difference of policy.Also, your points are all valid. The main thing I like about this policy is the naming sources/notify original artist/'Inspired Works' bit. ..Just, reluctant to give a "free for all" signal still lol.
dyanaanime
Sarcastic Angel (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
As a fan artist/vector artist, I can say I mostly have no problem with this new idea. Why? Because, like it happens on other sites like dA for example, that puts a watermark on work people don't want to share, it will still get stolen if there's a will, and I say this because I've had wallpapers of mine stolen from here and posted on other sites like Minitokyo or DesktopNexus. It will happen, even without this new idea, so I happen to go by "don't want it stolen, don't post it on the internet". And I know I'm probably going to get flamed for this comment, but I honestly don't care because this is a personal opinion and that is how the internet works nowadays. What it could bring good is that, knowing the source of an image, people can actually ask the artist for permission, and cooperate with them. It could help improve self-esteem too, since someone asking to use their work can give a boost of confidence to some people.
I personally have no problem with people using my work as long as they credit me for it, and if they don't credit me for it, there's such a thing as Report. All in all, I'm for the new idea.
Laugh as much as you breathe, love as long as you live...
SG Creations
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
I have turned the option off in my case. I don't care so much when it comes to any actual fanart I make, but I would really rather someone ask me directly if they want to use it in some way. Just sayin' :/
Kitty K.O.
Digital Neko (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
Even though there's rules, I feel like there may end up being a loophole somewhere where people can sneak others' works to another site. (Then again, they could just upload it somewhere, anyway, and get it away with it until someone points them out aas being an art thief...)
I'm not sure what to think about this new policy... it's iffy and I'm on the fence. =/ On the positive side, tho, when other people use your work, you'll get more traffic. Plus with a wide supply of resources, more members can polish their photomanipulations skills. Still, I feel a niggling feeling in the back of my mind...
Aoz0ra
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/16/12 | Reply
How does the 'Prevent people from using my fan art for wallpapers, eCards, and quiz results' work exactly? I'm turning it on now jic, since most of my 'fan' art right now are originals lol, but I would like to know how. ^^; I don't mind if I get asked first, and shown the result... But while I think theO members wouldn't do such a thing, I've seen my (and others') wallpapers cropped and squished into banners elsewhere (pixels argh) so I don't really want to see that happening with my stuff again xD.
I hope we're still allowed to use scans from the likes of Minitokyo, animepaper, and other scanners' sites though. (just to clarify, when I say scanners' sites - i mean those sites where people scan stuff themselves and put them up to share, not the ones that steal other people's artworks/wallpapers :/) o-o Should be, since this is a fifth option, not the ONLY option (that would be way limiting than the no pixiv rule lol).
Me gusta (4) though. So maybe if someone really wants to use my art (yeah right dream on aozo), they can PM me first and I uncheck that thingy for 'em? Do you think I can make it selective that way? xD
Last edited by Aoz0ra at 5:46:53 AM CST on January 16, 2012.
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
UPDATE: Thanks to all your feedback, we will add the ability to block specific pieces. Though if you turn off sharing, you won't be able to allow specific pieces.
twilight samurai
Redeemed (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Number 2 is the one I see with the biggest opposition and difficulty to execute. How are you going to ensure this part of the policy is kept?
I guess it's an interesting thought, but I don't know if it'll fly that well.
SunfallE
Nyaa~ (ZE MEANIE) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
(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.
Personally I think that if the artist of the fan art gives the thumbs up for them to host it elsewhere, like say DA. Then it should be fine. Because in the end it is their fan art.
I also think having the option to remove some from the list of artwork that can be used is a good idea. A blanket approval is a bit too broad, especially for artists who have a lot of works uploaded.
In the name of the tune I will punish you!
Michiyo Shimizu
Queen of theO � (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
This is interesting. It'll be a good way for me to get off of my butt and start making artwork for others who might want to use it in their wallpapers and such and also experiment with vectors. XD
I am not a follower, I am a friend. I do not ask for subscribers, only friends.
Ritona
Hunter (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think this is a great idea. I can definitely think of a few artists I'd love to use in my work.
"You won't like me when I'm psychoanalyzed."
Stocking
Shadow (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I don't really have any objections to it.
Nothing I make it high quality though.
That's something for other artists to deal with. |D
Hulaberry32
Primadonna (Otaku Legend) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
There are a lot of talented artists on this website, and I think this would be a fantastic way to advertise their works. I for one barely see any fan arts because I tend to only view eCards and wallpapers. If we were to fan arts in eCards and wallpapers, the art would be appreciated by many more people who wouldn't typically view those works. I think it's a great idea; not sure if I would ever use any fan arts in my cards and whatnot, but it's a cool prospect, and I just might!
chichi6
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
ill make this simple yep i like it. cant wait to see what comes out of it>^<
Fish n Chips
Otakuite++ | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
This is stupid...if people are going to be stingy about someone else using their art they shouldnt post it online...thats just begging for trouble. That aside, it sounds a tad hypocritical to say, "You cant use this fanartists knocked off work, because its not yours, but you can use this artists original creation." Idiots...
lunesoldier20
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Oh my, I actually like this idea. As an artist, I say this is a good feature and as a potential designer, it is a good way to cut out the need to ask permission to use it and waiting forever to get an answer.
However, like many other people, I'd say, this should be applied to individual works and as a whole as three different options: allow all to be used, none to be used, or selected ones to be allowed to be used.
Darkarax
Resident Dark Lord (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
As someone who does mostly wallpapers these days, I think that this feature will make finding source images a lot easier (providing that the original artists are okay with it of course).
As for how often I'd use this feature, I'm not really sure to be honest. I never know what wallpaper I make until the inspiration strikes me. Even so, it'd be nice to have the option. Plus who knows, this could provide a way for fan artists and designers to collaborate more.
The greatest fear is that of the unknown.
Timcanpy14
Grand Otaku | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think this is a great idea. The way I see it, it's a benefit to both graphic designers and artists: graphic designers will have more images to choose from, and less-known artists will have an opportunity to get more attention. Perfect!
The Mask
Detective Mask (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@moonlit dream:
Thanks for that. I was re-reading the policy before I saw your reply.
If this is the case, then it seems okay at this point.
Last edited by The Mask at 9:41:04 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
"Students, be ambitious!"
CelestialSushi
Lombax of Earth (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Interesting idea, but I'd personally prefer being asked first if anyone ever wanted to use my artwork. Not that they might, but still... if they asked and it wasn't for anything objectionable, I'd be fine with it.
And I also like the idea of being able to choose individually which pieces can and cannot be used. I know it's not on the list, but you can put me down for another motion towards that.
Last edited by CelestialSushi at 9:39:40 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
moonlit dream
Supreme Individual (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@The Mask:
It's the e-cards and wallpapers that can't be uploaded to other sites, not the fan arts, to clarify.
Last edited by moonlit dream at 9:37:36 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
renjifangirl18
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
i'm ok wiith it
tho no one uses my fanart anyway :/
Prominence
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think that this policy should only allow members to use art on TheO that was submitted as fanwork for an already existing anime/manga/show. Not original manga/anime or personal works of art. If I upload a personal piece of art that is not anime-related, I don't want somebody else turning it into an e-card or wallpaper. If I had wanted it to be that, I would have made it as such.
Angel Zakuro
bird nerd. (Otaku Angel) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@Adam:
Okie-dokie, then I don't think this is such a bad idea~ :) I'm glad there's the option to shut off the permission, too.
edisshort
State Alchemist (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think this is a fantastic feature. There are a lot of awesome pieces of art on this site. Its a great way for those artists to be seen outside of the fanart section. And for the designers, they've got a lot more stuff to work from. And if its only for theotaku members, nobody could make any money off of it. So its really just an awesome way to show off your's and other people's hard work.
Aria Sky
Senior Otaku | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Wait, I thought we were allowed to use any of the scans from minitokyo? If we aren't.....oh shoot. I use them for all my wallpapers.....
But, I think this new thing is nice. There's some amazing fan arts on here that I would love to turn into wallpapers....if I can have their permission of course.
Last edited by lhtkid at 8:58:37 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
kisskiss-bangbang
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Seeing how I've already done a few things such as this(with full permission from the original artist) I do not see a problem with it. However I am weary of stating full and outright support behind this policy. I would like to know more of the fine print regarding such a matter, after all thats ushally the important bit to read.
For the most part I see this as being met with little opposing force. Which is quite a good thing I think.
matt
KyanChan
Grand Otaku | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
This is an awesome idea!!! Wecould use our friends fanart to make them a personalized gift!!! It's such a good idea!!!!
ChibiSasuke
13th Angel (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
LOL I think I would die if someone actually used my art for their graphics. In the good way. ; u ; I'd be overjoyed with happiness~ I was actually somewhat honoured and mad when a person plagiarized my crappy Teto sketch about a year back lol.
It's probably better everyone's default is off to begin with, though. There are some artists here that are inactive, and they might not appreciate their art being used without knowing about it. Other than that, it sounds like a pretty good idea.
kilalalover
Sheep Eternal (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think this will allow the designers to show other people work that artists they don't know have done. This will allow more people to connect and share, so I think it's a good idea.
It also allows you to disable the feature if you don't want others to use it, so that's good to.
Also good that citing and credits are given so no stealing takes place.
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@Angel Zakuro:
You are right
Angel Zakuro
bird nerd. (Otaku Angel) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
So this is for the card/wall makers that want to use fanart from theO in their stuff? Right? It wouldn't work say...if you are making an e-card, but want to use someone's WALLPAPER in it, right? That's still plagiarism lol.
tutcat
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Mmm...I suppose this is a pretty good idea. Though I think I would like it better if you could manually choose which art you want to be able to be used,and which art you don't :/
HelloKatty
Protos Heis (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I don't want people using my drawings in their graphics so i'm glad I can shut it off.
Shineska
Otaku Eternal | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
There still isn't anything stopping anyone from uploading the work outside of theO without permission of the original artist. That's all I have to say.
umchan649
Senior Otaku+ | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I'll be sounding like a broken record repeating what I like about this. I think that this sounds like a good, workable system that would really help people out, open up new sources of inspiration, create new friendships, all that good stuff ^^
I will say that agree with what I've seen in a couple of comments about having options for individual work, if at all possible. That way, if I create something that I don't want others to use, I wouldn't have to turn the option entirely off. Either way, though, I like the idea a lot!!
Support KIRA
Sleeping Dragon (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@lunastarz:
I agree =w= d
Inspiration is a wonderful thing <3
lunastarz
Pokemon Master (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Great Idea Adam~
Now making it easier for designers to find their images! Best way is to search on the very site they want to submit it<3
I don’t have an issue with this at all seeing that I have already been doing this with a fellow TheOtaku artist.
An example for those interested~ [my art, her wallpaper] CLICK!
As artist, our work is vulnerable to anyone who knows the right click and save trick once we post it here. Its up there with the Copy/Paste. It’s a Rule of the Internet my dear. So aren’t we already risking it? O=O
And aren’t we all striving to get our work in that pretty little featured box? Having another member feature your work in one of theirs would be 10x greater.
You INSPIRED someone!
Its also very reasonable that you are given the option of turning it off. So we all win no? :]
Hurrhurr<3
~lunastarz~
Last edited by lunastarz at 8:01:37 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
wallpaperotaku
The Hero of Time (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Sounds good to me as a designer and artist.
The notification would be flattering and this would help us grow into fun partnerships I think. The option to turn it off is all that concerns me, and it's there. So no problem :)
Last edited by wallpaperotaku at 7:55:38 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
catsworld
Senior Otaku+ | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Sounds like a cool feature! Not that anyone would use my works but sure~
Agreeing with thelostsindar, I think we should be able to keep certain works to ourselves, ones that we really don't want anyone else using like of OCs. Otherwise it sounds good! Being PMed when someone uses your work is nice too. *would probably have a spaz attack if someone used my work I'd feel so loved XD*
TheAnimator
Otakuite+ | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I don't mind some people using my FanArt...But if it goes TOOOO out of hand by any chance; and at the moment it aggravates me ; at least I have a pretty little button to stop them :D
kyouyarenge
Grand Otaku | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I personally don't have any problem sharing my works. As for using other peoples, I think it would be good to be able to use wallpapers or fan art with eCards, too.
thelostsindar
The Wandering Elf (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
My first response was a bit of nervousness, but after thinking it over for a moment I think this will be fine, especially since we have the option to turn it off. I really like that the artists will be contacted by PM, too. I do think that HawaiianBabidoll made a really good point though in that it would be nice to be able to choose for each individual piece of artwork. I can already think of some of my drawings that I wouldn’t want to be used (like those of original characters), but there are others that I wouldn’t mind.
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@Katana:
It explicitly says so when you submit the wallpaper/eCard. If you submit the work elsewhere and are caught your theO account can get in trouble.
Last edited by Adam at 7:31:08 PM CST on January 15, 2012.
Adam
Baron Von Kumichou (Founder) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
@:
Just the wallpapers/ecards made from the fan art
moonlit dream
Supreme Individual (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I personally think it sounds cool, because it'll give the graphic artists some options to work with, and unknown users who make great art more publicity. ;o It's fine with me.
On the topic of random people saving and uploading: Random people already have the "opportunity" (not to give it a positive connotation) of saving other artist's artworks as it is. How would this feature make that any different? This feature obviously won't decrease the chances of art theft, but it really won't increase it either.
xNotUnderstood
I am Delin! (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think this would be a fun idea! I think this would surely benefit me if I wanted to a PGR wallpaper or E-card.
Don't lose the moon while counting the stars
Kasbaarg
Immortal We Ride (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Not that anyone would use my crappy art but heck no. *runs to turn it off* I mean you can keep the original person from posting outside theO, but anyone could come on here, hit right click save and upload it anywhere they wanted. Yes they can still do that with our orginal fan art anyways, but...yeah.
Katana
Goggalor (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Um...okay.
1.) As an artist, I don't care. But honestly, most things I post up aren't in high res for the very reason that I want to prevent theft. One person may use a high-res version of what I post to make a wallpaper, but another just might steal it.
2.) How can you guarantee that the work will not be posted outside the community? Paranoia kicking in, but there's nothing to prevent anyone from putting it up elsewhere. And this could just apply to a random stranger, meaning they're stealing from two people now rather than one.
3.) As a designer, I don't see myself using this. Very rarely are there arts that are a.) of a high enough resolution to use, b.) clean enough to isolate and implement, and c.) just plain something I want to use. I am not dissing artists here, there are plenty of talented people, but a lot of stuff just doesn't lend itself to wallpapers because they weren't made with that format in mind. If I want to make something that badly, I'll contact the artist, but this has come up so few times that it's pretty much a non-issue.
"In Kat's wor we trust."
HawaiianBabidoll
Pro-Procrastinator (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
As an artist, I wouldn't mind letting others use my work for graphic designs so long as it is linked back to the original, however I would like a feature that allows artists to choose specific drawings to exclude from these rights.
While I don't mind the majority of my work being used by others, some of the pieces I'd prefer to stay in my portfolio alone and untouched.
aka yuki
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Good idea now people can choose to let others use their work ^^
Morbid Dollie
Strawberry (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
I think it's a great idea, honestly. If I were good at fan arts, I would surely let wallpaper/eCard artists use my artwork.
-those with the biggest hearts hurt the most
FaithlessFighter
Otaku Legend | Posted 01/15/12 | Reply
Fair is Fair.