Cover Sources -- Why You Need To Start Crediting Shit · 5:18am Mar 19th, 2013
Crediting sources has always been a problem for this fandom, but as of late, it seems to be getting especially out of hand.
A friend of mine posted the following on her tumblr earlier:
And you know what? She isn't alone. There's quite a few artists getting rather upset with this site. It's very, very common for users on this site to just grab cover art where and when they can and simply use it without asking permission or crediting the artist -- or both. If you don't ask for permission or properly credit the original artist, you're essentially giving them the middle finger. In most cases, the cover art is a picture that someone else commissioned, which is to say that they paid the artist to make it for them. So the commissioner paid actual money for the picture so they'd have something nice, and you just went and used it for your cover without either asking permission or crediting the artist. Good job, you are officially a twat.
Some other art pieces are simply something the artist did in their free time -- they tend to be more lenient in regards to other people using these images for other purposes. However, some art pieces were done with a very special purpose in mind. Perhaps someone was feeling down, or there was a death in the family, or some other big event. These pictures tend to have a fairly large amount of sentimental value attached to them, and so for you to simply use it "because it fits my fic" is incredibly rude (and by that, I mean "I will smack you in the face with a flaming shovel" rude, which is really rude).
SO, HERE'S WHAT YOU FOLKS NEED TO DO:
1.) ASK FOR PERMISSION. I know this can be hard for some of you, because OH MAN POPULAR ARTIST IN THE FANDOM THEY'LL NEVER SAY YES. You'd be surprised, however. If you ask an artist for permission to use the picture and they agree, then great, you can just go on with your business. If they say no, then DON'T USE THE DAMN IMAGE. Also, one other thing: If they don't reply to you, that doesn't mean you can just use the image anyways. Silence does not imply neither agreement nor disagreement, but if they don't answer you, you should still respect the artist and not use the image in question.
2.) CREDIT THE ARTIST. Alright, suppose you went to ask the artist, and they never replied, but you really want to use the picture. You just absolutely have to have the picture because it's so damn perfect for your fic. In that case, you'd credit the artist.Fortunately, FIM Fiction already has a box for that. Unfortunately, hardly anyone uses the damn thing.
When you go to edit or create your fic and you get to the cover art, you'll see a little source box like that. All you have to do is type in the URL of the source to the original pic -- if you found it in a reblog chain on tumblr or on ponibooru, don't provide links to those sites. If possible, try and find the original source, which will often be deviant art or some other site (sometimes it can be tumblr -- make sure you have the right URL!).
Now please stop pissing off the artists in the fandom. Thanks.
and this is why I always use screen caps.
well, and one that was made for me as a gift.
I *always* credit the artist if I can find them, and if I don't? I send off a huge search party for the artist.
I just don't get why people have so much trouble with credit.
), the artist is just being a whinny elitist, etc. It takes like, 3 seconds to say such and such picture was by so and so. And 9 times out of ten, that's all the artist wants. Most that I have seen actually like the exposure, provided credit is given.
Worse, I have seen when someone gets called on not giving credit, they throw a HUGE shit-fit on because of it. How the artist is being unfair, or how it's a free country (I REALLY hate that one. That is NOT how the first amendment works, not to mention not EVERYONE is a US citizen
And no, silence does not mean yes! ARGH!
Seriously, this is creative works 101 people. Credit the artists!
People actually do this shit?
Oh come on. I always ask permission for ANYTHING I do, be it making a story that revolves arond an image or using the image itself, even if I end up not making the story. What's so hard about asking?
Jeez, some people.
Think about it like this, writers: Suppose you have an OC. This character appears in all of your stories, and most people who read your stories actually really like that character (hard to believe, but it happens). One of your fans likes this character so much that they decide to use them in their own story. You see where I'm going with this, right? Long story short: Don't be a douche, ask for permission.
I run a group on here and due to it's incest taboo, i have gotten alot of denials to use peoples art works for the header, but you know what...i still have three headers. all three are off deviant art. all are cropped and reuploaded by me there and sourced as originals and the only thing i say is people can not use my specific crops. they can of course get permission from the original artist like i did and crop it themselves. so even though i am making a small claim to there art work in the crop regard and the taboo, i still have found three artist who are ok with me doing so.....it's not really that hard.
I make sure to ask for permission, but right now I have a temporary picture awaiting approval from the artist who put the vector together. If I get a no or lack of a response then I'll just clear it and move along to another one. If I can't find a direct source then I also move along to the next one in line, I don't put all my eggs in one basket as much as people think.
Oh I agree, especially as someone who has both drawn a few covers for myself (they are cruddy, but they convey what I want in a title) and COMMISSIONED a piece specifically for a title for future work.. (one day, work is killing me!)
I always ask permission, simply because, as a DA artist, I have many friends on there I like and respect!
930291
Almost all my covers, at this point, are self-made. However, I'm friends with quite a few artists in this fandom, my girlfriend being one of them.
Crediting is not hard and should always be done. No excuses.
Thanks Vargras, as an artist I don't have any problem with people using my art for their covers, but I would really appreciate it if they asked or at least let me know about it. Having art as a cover for a fic is a great way to get people to see your art, so of course I'm going to say yes if you ask, you know?
And not even having the decency to credit the source? Come on people, that is ridiculous. That is literally the least thing you can do... and you've probably had teachers and professors pounding it in your brain for years to always give credit when you use another source, you can't just forget.
We spend hours and hours making drawings, just like authors do for their fics, and not giving credit or even asking first is basically robbing us of all that time and energy.
Though on the other end, it's annoying when you message the artist(s) and then wait.....and wait and wait and wait. If you're awesome and patient, you'll recognize the artist either missed your message or is just ignoring you and just move on in search of another picture. More impatient and less awesome people will probably just think, "Fuck this. I'll just go ahead and use it and if they have a problem with it, they can say something."
Vargras, did your friend ask the author to remove the image? Most people are simply ignorant of the hurt they're causing or are just impatient and would likely take it down if asked.
Part of the reason I use screen shots from the show itself. They're easy to source, too. I'm as much a pirate of the Silicon Sea as the next guy, but sheesh, at least when someone asks what I'm listening to/watching I give credit where it's due.
Besides, we have a lot of talented artists in our fandom. No point in denying them exposure, right? It'd be like block quoting a story and not bothering to say where it's from. Kinda.
Don't steal, kids, and if you do never pawn it off as your own.
Did you ask Hasbro for permission to sell artwork using their characters?
Commissioned fanart is a violation of trademark law; you're making money off of intellectual property that doesn't belong to you. Hell, ANY unauthorized fan work can make it harder to defend a trademark, even if it's not making any money. Hasbro has every right to shut down any and all fan art, the only reason they don't is because only large, professional-quality, and high-profile fan works present a significant threat to a trademark (see: Fighting is Magic), and going after others would be impractical.
Using the same logic you're presenting here, artists shouldn't be allowed to make fanart unless they specifically ask Hasbro for permission, which they likely won't give because they're far too massive to keep track of that sort of thing.
There's also the issue of finding a suitable cover image if the artist doesn't respond or says no. Your fanfic will never gain attention if it doesn't have a suitable image, and sometimes there aren't that many available.
Suggestion:
Make the source text field a required field, so you can't submit a story without crediting.
Thoughts?
"If you don't ask for permission or properly credit the original artist, you're essentially giving them the middle finger."
That has always been a pet peeve of mines as I grew up around many friends who were artists, some are even rather successful in their own right. They always hated when they'd stumble across a piece of their work being used without permission. It used to be just people re-posting it on other art sites under a different user name.
These days, this site in particular, has become a cesspool for people that just *don't give fucks* about the artists they take from.
I can say from the fact a few people I've talked to on DA have had to come here and demand pieces be taken down because it was, as you said, a cover for another fic—Apple Bloom x Spike have a child fic cover was used for a clop fic, needless to say both the artist and the writer on DA were pretty miffed. (to name one example)
But, yeah. Unless this becomes a rule on the site itself, I don't see people beginning to care anytime soon. Not that they don't all care to give the artist credit, some try, but for examples like a certain pony turned canine fic, they had actually sourced a well known furry porn site *despite* having the artist's name clearly highlighted in yellow/orange that they could of down a simple google search on. It wouldn't have been as terrible a thing if it wasn't for the story being tagged 'Everyone' and the first thing you see on screen is TWILIGHT MASTURBATING as some dude's avatar...
To that guy's credit though, he was super quick to use the *proper* source for the fic after providing the source and explaining why it's important to link to the original source and not a random art site that likely didn't get permission to post their work.
I apologize for the lengthy rant, I won't even touch on that Discord piece cradling Fluttershy who seems to be having a bit of a chat with him about how she wants Twilight to have a good friend after they pass on. With everyone getting bursts of inspiration from great works and others feeling they need that one element to attract people to look at their story long enough to possibly want to click on it, I can see why authors tend to ignore some sense of common decency since this is a pretty competitive site. So many stories and so little time on the front page before you get bumped straight off by a surge of new stories, you just need something *good* to the eyes.
TL;DR I wish this was an actual enforceable rule on the site. At the very least they should not use excuses of 'I couldn't find the name'—aka, didn't feel like trying. Common courtesy, pick some up today!
oh, is THAT what that box is for?
930360
The picture she commissioned from a friend is the cover for a fairly big fic within the fandom: "My Roommate is a Vampire". I don't think it's as easy as simply going, "Can you please stop using this art".
930369
There's so many things wrong with this statement that it isn't even funny. Fanworks (such as art or writing) are largely allowed without any real legal ramifications due to Creative Commons or other such legal licenses -- it's worth noting that Hasbro does not use one of these. However, to shut down several of the larger aspects of a fandom--conventions, fan art, fan fiction, etc.--could potentially be the equivalent of corporate suicide. It's free marketing and they know it.
And no, you can't apply the same logic in this post to what you said. Just because people should ask artists for permission doesn't mean that the artists should ask Hasbro for permission.
930501 930521
I mentioned such an idea on the IRC, but you run into a new set of problems if you do: people would possibly link to themselves, to nonexistent URLs, or to malicious URLs.
931000 It sometimes is. I mean they are using the picture without the artists consent and most of the time people will stop using it if only to avoid having an admin step in. Doesn't matter who wrote the fic and how popular it is, the admins have to side with the artist.
Because every artist in the fandom got consent from Lauren Faust and Hasbro first, right?
I agree that crediting the artist is proper etiquette and should be done out of politeness, but asking permission... not so much.
If your art is being used in improper ways, such as being altered or used for profit, you should have the right to request it be taken down. But that's not the issue here.
I can understand being lazy and just not asking for permission to use the picture. I can also understand being lazy and linking to derpibooru or a tumblr reblog. It isn't right, but it makes sense.
But why the hell would you leave the source field blank? It's right fucking there. Its very existence suggests that maybe, just maybe, it could be a good idea to at least point in the general direction of where you found that cool image.
931000
Well, why not? Hasbro creates media, just like artists create art. Saying that the same logic doesn't apply is hypocritical.
There really isn't an excuse to not put the original link there.
Ex: I not yet actually asked the artist for permission to use his artwork as my avatar, but I have never not linked said avatar to the original. (Check my bio)
Which reminds me, I'm going to ask if I may use it.
(Money's nice, 'cause if they say I can't, I shall commission someone to make kitty ponys)
And that, for those who do one shots, Is why you should you Mylittlefacewhen for your cheap, run of the mill, dime a dozen clopfics about Dash and whomever you feel like her sexing up.
God I hate cheap clopfic one shots that get the treatment of being put on front page versus the guy who's published his 8th chapter of his story that has about 4k word per chapter
I hate it when people do that. I'm not an artist, but I like to see where the original art came from, during those times when I actually like the cover art.