Jul
2nd
2015
That moment when... · 5:50pm Jul 2nd, 2015
...you find a perfect picture to cover an upcoming fanfic only to discover the artist's DA has been nuked without trace, so you can't actually ask permission to use it.
Curse my possibly-hidebound sense of image-use ethics and my total lack of drawing skills!
UPDATE: User xoid has correctly advised me that instead of just kvetching I should actually take a shot at, y'know, solving the problem. So, looking for "awsdeMLP". I don't even know how to pronounce that.
State the name of the artist. Odds are good that, with the amount of followers you’ve got, someone has an idea who they are or how to get in contact with them beyond merely hitting up their dA.
3199932
I only have the DA handle "awsdeMLP," but I'll add it to the post.
(Also, thanks!)
https://www.google.com/search?q=awsdeMLP&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
The tumblr account is, like, the first thing on Google.
3199957
Images tagged with the artist's name, yes. Looking for the actual artist to contact. Or am I grossly misunderstanding the Internet again?
3199957 What I'm seeing as the first result are the images tagged as that artist on tumblr, not the artist's tumblr itself.
If he can't be contacted I think abandon ware rules apply, just credit as best as possible and he will probably come around if he finds out and has any objections to the usage of the art, which is highly unlikely.
If you can't find the guy, just use it anyway and credit him in the story blurb.
If he deleted his dA account then it's his own damn fault when he doesn't get credit for his work
3199994
3200000
These are totally the rules I play by.
I just use any image I please and link to the source.
3199984
I re-read Beloved and that "symphonies of love" line still plucks the strings in my Twilestia-shipping heart, even if that wasn't what you had in mind. I adore that scene, so consider this a thank-you of sorts:
Googling the artist name "awsdeMLP" leads to Derpibooru, which lists the artist's aliases (artist:awsdedraws, artist:awsdemlp, artist:theformlpganon), the Googling of which leads to one active Tumblr:
http://awsdedraws.tumblr.com/
Not much contact info but at least there's an Ask box, and the blog is recently active. Enjoy!
3200039
I bow to your superior search skills!
Thank you, that is super-helpful! And thank you for the repayment.
ITT: Excellent Google-fu and community support. Makes me proud to have giant wings and a horn permanently inked into my back.
One good method for finding artists is to drag their image into the search bar of google image search.
3200012
3200000
That's not how fair use works at all!
I know we're talking about fanfiction and fanart here, but it disturbs me to see people saying it's an artist's "own damn fault" if art they took off of DA was used BECAUSE it was taken off DA.
3200535
'Used BECAUSE of DA' - could you elucidate that? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't think the fact that the dA account is gone factored into Skywriter's desire to use the art.
My sister, who is a DA artist herself, says it may have been taken down by the artist themselves, which if that is the case, likely means they don't want their art on the net anywhere. Tumblr may be posting the pics without permission.
3200535
Let's not get crazy, it's fanart, there is no copyright, once it's been published it's basically public domain, sourcing and asking for permission form the artist is done out of respect and courtesy to the creator.
3200644
I wasn't referring to Skywriter. You said if an artist deletes thier dA account, then it's their own fault if someone uses their work without credit or permission. I'm disagreeing with that.
3201325
I'm saying if someone deletes all references to their work online, but fails to account for copies found in places like derpibooru or 4chan posts, they can't complain if people use their work without any more attribution than a name - and that's if they even thought to sign their work.
Once your work goes out on the internet, you can try to erase it, but there's a good chance you'll fail because people like to save and archive stuff. You can't expect people not to use it just because you deleted the only way for them to ask permission.
So you're saying that if a way to ask for permission can't be found, the work shouldn't be used?
Why not?
I believe I've found the person you're looking for. By searching "artist:awsdeMLP", a lot of art pops up. Apparently, s/he has several aliases.
Pony tumblr: http://mlpanonart.tumblr.com/
Non-pony tumblr: http://awsdedraws.tumblr.com/
3201572
The same reason you'd ask for permission if a way can be found. Respect for the artist.
3201962
If an artist deletes or neglects to establish the means by which they can be contacted, they're basically just throwing their work out onto the net and abandoning it. At that point it's clear to me they no longer care about maintaining control over the usage of their work. Unless they tried to Delete Fucking Everything for some reason, at which point I don't respect them anyway.
If there's no way to ask permission, permission doesn't need to be asked. I don't consider this disrespectful.
Hey Sky, tell us if the artist says anything in response. One of the saddest things on the internet for me is seeing a space on the internet, once populated by a person's hard work, now desolate and forgotten. It feels like I'm looking at a dead man's possessions or the memory book of a stranger, a glimpse into the heart of a person I'll never have the chance to know. I feel like I have failed to capture something fleeting and precious.
And then there is the fear as well. What if that person is dead, gone or broken? What happened to him? There is a story that should be know, but it is impossible to retrieve. A person that deserves to be mourned and remembered, but instead silently slips out of the minds of the few who ever knew them.
The internet is a web of connections between people and computers alike. When connections are broken, I lose something forever. It is the heart of the "it tolls for thee" concept, where death is replaced by a mysterious absence. Somewhere out there is an artist with a complicated life who loved something I loved and gave freely to me. I want to know if that person is still happy. I want to know that this closed account, like a vacant home, is left barren on good terms.
Heh, I don't know. I must have some sort of abandonment complex. Just let us know if he says anything.
3202070
I disagree with everything you just said, but it's clear I'm not going to change your mind, so I'll stop trying to.
3202148
Well, no response yet, but 3200039 and 3201607 's excellent search skills directed me to the following message:
If this is the same person, and it certainly looks that way, mystery solved.