[For Mods] Curious about some Art related things

[Temrin]

Really curious, what is the BCfurries policy about people uploading images to their profile pages/albums that arent theirs? Not even commissioned by or for them?

I honestly see quite a bit of this and can find a lot of those images and the people they belong to (artist and commissioner) online and they wont match up to the person here. (sometimes i even know who the art was meant for or when its the artists fursona and most definitely not the uploaders, here.)

I guess being an artist myself its irksome to see people disrespecting copyright policies. >. >
So i'm curious about this.

Thanks for hearing me out.

~Temrin

[tokar]

i agree with you on art that is NOT in the public domain.  if it is a private piece one should have the permission of the artist and or the fur that owns the piece.

my suggestion is to call them on it and suggest that they get a new pic.  if they don't then contact the artist for violation of copyrights.  then the user might get a clue and stop using the pic in order to prevent themselves from being sued.

defending oneself from a copyright infringement can be very expensive.

[ravewoif]

I really don't see the harm in it. Not everyone can draw what they imagine so as long at they aren't claiming the artwork for themselves. The avatar is representing the character depicted not so much the artist that drew it. Credit could be given to the artist in the custom title of the profile because I doubt certain people will remove their avatar just because they are asked to.

[Temrin]

I really don't see the harm in it. Not everyone can draw what they imagine so as long at they aren't claiming the artwork for themselves. The avatar is representing the character depicted not so much the artist that drew it. Credit could be given to the artist in the custom title of the profile because I doubt certain people will remove their avatar just because they are asked to.

My apologies but i have to disagree with you. Some artists do not care if their artwork is reposted. But if you actually read a lot of artists ToS', They do not allow it. Also, most people do not credit at all, so even if they arent claiming the art, they are still reposing it without permission which is a violation of copyright law.

Just because you cannot draw does not give you permission to take something that someone else has done and upload it elsewhere under your name. (posting it to profiles here is posting it under your name. Claiming it or not.)

Thats like saying, i dont have enough money to buy a smart phone so i'm just going to  "borrow" someone elses without letting them know. >. > (its still stealing.)

If the person commissioned the art and it is OF their character, and the artist allows it, then ok! But i see people on this forum uploading pictures of other peoples -personal- fursona's and not giving credit at all. That is not right. (To even post them at all since it is not even their fursona!) If someone took my fursona and was posting it all over their page (which makes it look like thats their character) I'd be extremely pissed off because Temrin is the product of my imagination and evolution of said imagination for the last almost 10 years. (since before i was on FA.)

If they do not take it down because they are asked, thats when board or website admins are contacted. The original artist as well. If the original artists asks it be taken down most sites will take it down due to the copyright infringement and the fact that the artist could take legal action. Agreement from the poster or not.
I'm sorry but it -is- copyright laws and a person doesnt have the right to take it just because they cannot draw or dont have the creativity to create their own character. (Thats what adoptable or similar idea's are for. to get your own idea/character. There are plenty of free ones so not having money is not an excuse.)

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but copyrights -are- there for a reason.

I am more interested in what the moderators of this forum have to say about it.
Since its their final call if they want to get involved with taking things down if someones uploaded content that is not theirs. (and its not just avatars. People have posted plenty of FULL images that are not theirs in their own personal photo album on their profile. The one that is hosted on this website. Of characters i know, and i know are not theirs. Not to mention when i know said particular artist has specifically stated multiple times and publicly that their artwork is not to be posted without permission.)

Edit: Also would like to point out that "the avatar is representing the character depicted no so much the artist drew it" Uhm... Its not their character. So they shouldn't be using it when its not theirs to begin with. >.>
There are a lot of people on these forums who are looking for people to draw, trades, etc. there are plenty of opportunities to find and get artwork just here on the forums alone. Let alone DA, FA, and the plethora of other websites that furries frequent.

[Choco]

I do agree with you Temrin it really erks me too when I see other's use art that does not belong to them or they didn't make especially when it's a character that I recognise and know that it's not that person. There are quite afew artist's out there that do draw or do things like adoptables for free you can take a look at my FA for example quite a bit of stuff that is in there was free stuff that people have drawn for me so having no money should not be an excuse.

I've been fortunate enough to have Choco for as long as I've had without someone trying to steel her but I know that with the way things are nowadays it wouldn't surprise me if someone tried to and you can bet that I will not be happy at all about it. I too am curious to know what this site's stance is when it comes to Copyright protection for Images both in Avatar or in the personal gallery format? I'm assuming that something is in place

[ravewoif]

My apologies but i have to disagree with you.

    No worries I was just going off personal opinion, but since I'm not an artist, I guess I can't really say anything. I know some artists have a policy that as long as the image is not profited from (altered and claimed as original) and credit is given, then you can use the image without having to even ask the artist, but those are far and few.

[Temrin]

Still curious about this.
No mod response? I would even be happy with a note. i'm just honestly curious what the standpoint is :/
If i should just leave this alone and assume that people can freely post without permission here without consequence, or if i should be reporting people who do this :/
Heck. i would even offer up my time to help monitor uploads and make sure that copyrights are not being stepped on.

[RainRat]

Of course we can't condone copyright violations. If the copyright holder contacts us, we will of course remove it(except the narrow case of fair use). If the copyright holder doesn't contact us, we probably won't do anything, since we don't know if the poster has permission. But we reserve the right to investigate cases.

[Temrin]

Thank you for answering RainRat. ^^