ARTISAN CRAFT / DIG. ART / PHOTOGRAPHY / TRADI. ART



Just the other day I came across a particular kind of account that itself linked me to many other accounts of the same kind. I’m talking about those accounts made mostly by teens which galleries are full of celebrity potos and such. The kind of accounts that would be more appropiate of fotolog or even myspace. Those galleries are immensely big, impossible for me to report all of them in one day.

Two News Articles about this kind of accounts:
[link]
[link]

I found a couple of people that were doing their best to inform those young members that deviantArt is not the correct place for them, ‘though I’m afraid that most of the times they choose to ignore their kind advice. You can read =Karmillina’s and ~antuchisbloom’s journals here [link] [link] but they are in Spanish, so, with the permission of =Karmillina I’m translating most part of her journal here, with some personal adds:



There is an increasing new trend among deviantArt hispanic memebers , specially among the teens. They all have the same taste in music and a common hobby: the making of graphics and blends. And one more thing: all those blends are made of photos of celebrities.

What is so bad about that, they ask? Well, it is quite bad, if one uses common sense or is good enough at English to understand the Terms of Use of this community.

Now, the big question is:
What makes celebrities’ photos a prohibited content in deviantArt?
Almost all websites and forums have their own rules. Before joining them one must read the Terms of Use and agree to them. If they are not informed when joining, or if they have any doubt, they shouldn’t hesitate to ask for assistance.

Same applies to deviantArt. We must know its rules. But where do I find such rules?

In a big place such as deviantArt there is, of course, a complete section called FAQs (Frequestly Asked Questions) This way, if we click on the small arrow next to our username, a small menu will unfold and at the end of it we will find the Help & FAQ. In the “Help With” menu there’s the “deviantART” option, and inside this option there the “ Policies” section.

Now let’s skip some of those FAQs and go straight to our section of interest: “ Permission Issues” From there we have selected a few that are more relevant to this case.

FAQ #306: Does "Crediting" let me use whatever I want?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: It is necessary to have full permission of the photographer which work we are using. There’s a good reason for that: Those images were most probably taken by a professional photographer that was paid for their services, and thus they are the copyright owners. If you cannot contact such artist/photographer, the most sensible thing to do is not to make use of their work in deviantArt.

FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?

Yes and No. Let me explain:
There are two kind of images in internet. The copyrighted ones and the royalty-free ones, which, as the name says, are free to be used.
By default, we must assume that every image found in internet is protected by copyright. Really, almost every one of them, may it be a piece of fanart that you found in a japanese site or the scan of a book’s cover, or even the gif of that funny animation that was sent to you via a chain mail, are copyrighted. It is for something as simple as respect, towards yourself and towards the author of that funny animation, that you must not upload it in your dA gallery. Because it isn’t your creation.

However, there’s a kind of image called “stock”; royalty-free images. Those images are marvellous. You can freely use them as you please most of the time, as long as you respect their quite simple Terms of Use (which normaly include the giving of credit and the non-commercial use) Stock images are perfect for traditional artists to use as reference as well as for digital artists. It is not difficult to find stock: deviantArt has a full section of stock specially made by dA members for the use of dA members.

You can find the stocks here: [link]

Google, Photobucket or celebrities’ galleries are not places to find stock. You must look for them in websites that have been specifically created for this sole purpose. Such websites are, for example, sxc.hu [link] dreamstime [link] and morguefile [link]

Now, a recollection of the most frequest answers:

“Why are you bothering only me?”

We are not here to bother you, we are here to advice and warn you. This proves that people worry for you and your account. We may think that you really have no idea what is going on and we wish to inform you before someone gets you reported to the staff. In any case, it would be all your fault for not looking into that you can’t and can upload in your dA gallery and why.

You do not have to feel targeted. You won’t be the first, nor the last to receive a warning. Or to get all your stuff removed by the staff.

“Many people do that.”

So what? Give me the links so we may warn them too.

But seriosuly, many people take drugs, get drunk, steal, kill, etc ect. Does that mean it is correct? The fact that many people do it does not make it correct. On the contrary, you are feeding un unpleasant stereotype: Teenagers (most of them latinamerican) that have a liking for Disney Channel artists, that upload fonts or brushes without the permission of the original author, as well as blends of their favorite celebrities. They get childishly mad if you try to explain that what they are doing is wrong. All their friends and watchers are “artists” of the same kind and they congratulate them upon having applied a coffee overlay on the photo they found in Google.

deviantArt is HUGE and the staff is not as numerous as you may think. There are probably millions of memebers for every one of the staff, and even if it is hard to believe, those people have lives outside their computers and cannot keep an eye on every gallery. This is why the report button exists. It is our responsibility to report any infringement of the rules if we have proof and we know for certain that such content does violate any rule.

“Give me back my blends.”

Sorry, but I’m no memeber of the staff and I don’t have the power to do that. In any case, if the staff decided that your image had to be deleted, don’t you think that means such image shouldn’t have been uploaded in the first place? If the staff removed it from your gallery, does not that mean that you were wrong to upload it? Think about it.

“I’m not hurting anyone”

If you and your account are “anyone”, then yes, you are hurting “anyone”. Your account can easily be banned from the site, not only suspended. Isn’t that embarrassing? “Oh yes, I was banned from dA because I infringed copyright…” That is a most embarrassing thing to happen. If that were to happen to me I would feel like crawling under a rock.

But the most affected is deviantArt itself. You are hurting this Art Community by uploading prohibited content when you expressely know that you must not.

dA gives us a place to share art, to contact with artists. We have journals and amazing features like the Collections and the Critique, as well as a huge section dedicated to resources. And they ask for nothing in return. You do not even need to pay to be a member of this site. Yes, you need to pay subscription if you want to be a Premium Member, but is it really necessary? non-premium members have almost all the same features as premium ones. The only thing they ask in return is to respect the rules, respect the community, respect the artist and respect yourself. It's not that difficult, isn't it?


“This is the only thing I’m good at”

Bullshit. We all have some hidden talent waiting to be unfold. But if that is true, then pardon my language, what the heck are you doing here? This is an Art Community, not a social network. You are here either because you’re an artist or because you appreciate and support Art . If you are none of those then this is not your place.

“And what should I do then? I don’t want to leave this place but I don’t want to have problems either."

Why don’t you make use of stock images, or even make your own stock? You can for example make your own textures for your works, using a piece of paper and a bit of coffee. What about a photo session with your friends? You would have a greeat time! You can also draw, even if you are not good at it, because in this place you can improve your skills. There are actually many things one can do without infringing any rule.



Some more FAQ,s of interest...

FAQ #572: What does deviantART consider "Fan Art" to be?

In short, for fanart to be considered thus by dA the artist must have had started with a blank slate and perhaps a reference (a pose, character, location, or other source) and proceeded to draw, paint, or otherwise create every line and place every color with their own hand. No tracing, no coloring a piece which lineart was made by someone else.
Crediting the resource is good etiquette.
Screenshots, scans, official artwork, celebrity photos and such are not fanart, since they are the legal property of another artist.

FAQ #8: What does deviantART consider to be Art Theft?

FAQ #193: How do I prove that I had permission to use someone's work?