some thoughts on the deviantART issue from someone who's been there.

[bagshotrow]

Hey dudes

 

 

I've been observing the chatter about your forum by certain persons on DeviantART and I thought I would offer some objective advice.

 

It so happens I used to moderate at Pokemon Aaah!, and I administrated the Pokemon Zeo forums for several years. We were exactly the same deal as you guys (MyBB forum and everything) except we did Pokemon cards. Yeah. So I know where you are coming from.

 

 

I would like to stress how important it is to provide credit and get permission for the artworks you use in your cards, whenever it is possible to do so--and it nearly always is. Even if it means waiting a day or two for a reply, I urge you to at least make an effort to get their OK. They will almost never say "no".

And if the artist comes 'round causing a fuss, asking you to take so-and-so down... just do as they ask. This isn't a legal thing, this is a respect thing. We're all artists here; we've got to respect one another's wishes, even if they seem unreasonable.

 

 

That said, a lot of people on DA are putting on their internet lawyer hats and threatening you with all sorts of legal doomsday warnings. Know that these threats are technically legitimate. A well-off artist can potentially pursue legal action if they find their work reproduced on one of your cards.

 

But in all my years, I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPEN.

 

And when it has happened in other scenarios, even relatively high profile ones (the Todd Goldman/Shmorky debacle comes to mind),

 

it VIRTUALLY NEVER GOES TO COURT.

 

They will ask you to take it down, and turn over any money you've made from it (which in this case, is none) and that will be the end of it. No one wants to spend money on a lawsuit when a settlement can be reached without one. This all goes back to respecting your fellow artists.

 

 

Admins:

Sorry they're coming down so hard on you when you are really not the people at fault. If your traffic and userbase is anything like Pokemon Zeo's, it is unreasonable to expect you to police your forums 24/7 for "art theft". However it would be downright decent of you, and it would quell a lot of the drama, spam, and legal threats, if you would explicitly discourage that kind of behavior on a case-by-case basis. Which it looks like you are doing. When an artist shows up complaining, let your users know that you will be siding with the artists. Consider having a "do not post list" of artists that don't want their work used, and post this prominently for future reference.

 

 

And finally, I have to encourage all of you to try and come up with original art to use in your cards. Not because it's legally safe, but because it's awesome. I'm sure that some of you already do use art either made by yourself or made by another forum member. And the more you hold yourself to this practice, the better at it you will become, and the better and more popular your cards will become. It pushes the whole art form to another level. This is how I got my start... not that I'm a celebrity or anything, but I'm definitely good enough to create whatever illustration my works require, and I developed that skill making art for my fake cards. And the main draw to Pokemon Zeo was definitely the cards that featured original art by members. Some of them are hanging on the wall at Wizards of the Coast to this day. I am 100% serious.

 

So consider, card makers, finding a source of original art. Even if it's not as technically advanced as the official stuff, there's nothing like a picture DESIGNED to be used for your card. I swear.

 

Alright, enough textwalling. Don't be discouraged or intimidated out of what you do, guys. Just be aware of the people you're citing. Being on good terms with a few fan artists, after all, can do you nothing but good.

 

 

 

--bagshotrow

aka Samuraimole

 

my dumb art website

http://bagshotrow.deviantart.com

[Larxene]

tl;dr

 

Sounded smexy though. =)

[Chaotix®]

You my friend, win. Thank you for making this thread. This should clear up many arguments and abuse towards the mods of this forum, by people who do not understand why the DA rule is in motion. Thanks again for your time =D

[Pikachu]

Falling Pizza should read this

But thank you for your kind contribution

p.s mind PMing me the link to your so called called 'Pokemon card Maker'?

[Chaotix®]

^ Iz not a Pokemon Card Maker, Pikachu-San =P

 

They have blanks, and members make customs from the blanks.

[Cyber Altair]

Shame some noobs still can't figure this.

 

Common Sense but at least someone posted it =P

[Bloodrun]

^ Iz not a Pokemon Card Maker' date=' Pikachu-San =P

 

They have blanks, and members make customs from the blanks.

 

Here:

 

[/quote']

 

Chaotix, posting Other Forum links publicly on the board is against the rules, no matter what situation it is.

 

But, to the member who posted this thread.

I thank you for your time in typing this up and sharing your story, as I will be keeping this on hand to reference to it, I appreciate you trying to help us.

[Falling Pizza]

Yes, this is a great post, and I hope it will clear up some of the confusion surrounding the rule.

 

bagshotrow: You're right about our traffic being too large to "police" the forums for stolen artwork. We've set up a notification system for artists to contact us by to take down their work, and once reports start coming in, you can be sure we'll be compiling a list of artists who don't want their work used at all.

[Akira]

Thanks, this thread should hopefully prove to be very useful for future card makers.

[JesusofChaos™]

Fair use.

[Lemniscate]

Thank you

[bagshotrow]

Fair use.

 

Although you are very unlikely to ever end up in any legal situation, I would be real careful with the "fair use" argument. Fair use is designed to protect people using copyrighted images for informational purposes--for instance, on Wikipedia--but even Wikipedia has very specific rules they have to follow (size of these images, for instance) to remain within the law. Occasionally fair use protects images used for purposes of commentary and criticism--for instance, to prevent corporations from having articles taken down which make public criticisms of their products--but that's hardly the case here.

 

I'm pretty sure you'd have a hard time applying "fair use" to these images since there is usually no commentary whatsoever being made about the original work.