You’re browsing on your favorite art website (DeviantArt, Pixiv, etc.) and you find a wonderful piece of art.

You think, “Oh! This is pretty! I'll just remove the watermark and use it.”

Wrong.

If there’s one thing that gets on my nerves, it is when someone’s hard work is not credited. Be it art, research papers, school projects or any other form of work, people should be given the proper recognition they deserve.

Tieing in with the first idea, the second idea is not respecting the artist’s wishes. Let’s say that in the first scenario, the artist did find out about you reposting the art without prior consent. They ask you to take it down but you refuse to do so. What now?

Last week, this was the case for artist @Lunacyhime "Lunacy" in which a dispute happened between her and another user on Twitter regarding the use of her art.

I'M INTERNALLY SCREAMING??

"lol?" pic.twitter.com/Oy2JMZ9fQA
— Lunacy (@lunacyhime) April 13, 2017

Shown in the Tweet, Lunacy found a user who was using her art as a profile picture. She sent a message telling the user to change the picture to which the user replies with “Shouldn’t really matter. It’s not that good anyways. Looks like a sketch.”

Other users were unsure of what the problem was. One user asked Lunacy “What’s so bad about using someone’s art as a profile picture? It just means they like the art that the person drew and want to use it.” To which Lunacy replied, “I want people to ask me in the first place before using my art for whatever they want. Some posts can be commissions, gifts, [etc.]”

“It’s more of a don’t use before asking problem than a credit one. Even though crediting is still necessary.” Lunacy noted.

With the creation of the internet, certain restrictions had to be created dictating what users have free reign over which is why “Copyright” was created for both physical and digital original works. In 1991, the first public website was launched but only until three years later in 1993 was there any actual legislative action. Signed in 1998 by President Bill Clinton was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a copyright law that controls infringements on the Internet.

Fun fact, Renaissance artist Michelangelo signed his named on the Pieta sculpture for he feared of people claiming it as theirs. Because he signed his name, Michelangelo's name became known for his master craftsmanship.

As a freelance graphics designer, I always make sure that the resources I'm using are either filed under royalty-free or I have permission from the author. Royalty-free, in other words, is being able to use a work without the need of permission. Sites that I frequent such as Envato allows me to buy a product giving me a “Regular” license that permits me to use the product. Note, I am able to modify it for my personal use but I can’t redistribute or sell it using a Regular license but if I wanted to sell something I made using the product, I’d have to buy the “Extended” license to which I have to pay more money for it.

In fact, the Odyssey requires writers for the cover photos of articles to either be their own photos or cite the photo. Personally, rather than looking on Google Images, I always make sure that the image is a stock photo and browse on stock photo sites such as Pexels and Adobe Stock.

Does the words "Bibliography" and "Works Cited" ring a bell? There’s a reason why schools have you practice citing sources in your papers. Because of the notorious term known as “plagiarism.” Like what many teachers have said countless times, failing to properly cite your sources (and formatting it in MLA) while in college will not only look embarrassing but will also result in failure of the class or even expulsion from the school.

Now that you have a rough idea of copyright, was the user in the wrong for using a piece of art without prior consent from Lunacy?

Absolutely. According to Copyright.gov, your art is considered copyright protected from “the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”

Aside from copyright-related terms, I think by being a decent person, asking for permission never hurts. But then when you deny the request from the original artist asking you to take down their own work is disrespectful. Furthermore, claiming the art as their own is even more disrespectful.

“Every artist has the right to demand common decency from someone, to ask them to respect their wishes when it comes to content they made. All in all, it just boils down to respect. Having your work stolen speaks volumes to the artist about how little people care about them. So respect the people who make the content you appreciate. Their art is not your right.” Said Twitter user @Arucelli.

What doesn’t make sense to me is the fact that in the original tweet, the user blatantly called the art “not that good anyways” and that it “looks like a sketch.” So, you’re using the art as your profile picture and then call it bad?

What?

I love logging in to Twitter to see what artists have made or retweeted and the art community holds a special place in my heart but like any other community, it does have its downsides.

To my readers, whenever you are using something that you didn’t create, take five seconds to be a decent human and cite it. Perhaps you found the picture of Google Images and want to use it, first, always assume pictures of Google Images are copyrighted unless otherwise stated, If you can’t find the source of the picture, ask around for the name of the artist or use the “Search by Image” function Google Images uses. Don’t modify the art, crop out the watermark, etc. Whenever the artist asks you to remove their art off of your page, respect their wishes because they have the right to file a copyright complaint.