ALWAYS SIGN YOUR WORK and other stuff

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Hi folks. I was gonna make this journal sooner or later, but there's not a more appropriate time than NOW, when my 'Sorry we're closed' ry-spirit.deviantart.com/art/S… artwork got posted on 9gag right m.9gag.com/gag/6281912 ! Not only did the person not credit the artist or link it to my page or whatever, they even changed the title of this artwork to 'S**t Happens'. Come on man... WHAT ALSO sucks is that back then I had a different logo, its like that box with a thunder symbol on it, it doesn't have my username on it either... so people could just look at that picture and have no idea who drew it. I mean this artwork is OLD.. like more than 2 years old.. so I was still new to how the internet works when it comes to sharing. So now this 9gag post gets like 16k of likes and over 500k of views and I don't get a single credit. *Flips a table*. Remember how I endlessly praised Joss Whedon a couple of weeks ago because not only did he repost my work on his facebook page, but he also clearly credited the artist with an actual link to my facebook fan page, now THATS the proper way to do things.

Now for you guys, so you don't make the same mistake I did. And don't think to yourself 'Oh my work isn't good enough for people to share anyway.' *slaps your face* LISTEN, this is the internet, people can share things with a single click of a button. Sure there is no controlling of what people share. SO THATS WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

-SIGN YOUR WORK! Always sign your work, and if you can please also make it visible and readable, if your name is Ry-Spirit, you write Ry-Spirit, dont just sign it with a Ry. Cos imagine if someone wants to find out more about the artist and just type in Ry in google, what would they find? I just tried, first result is a Dermalogica Skin Care product on ry.com.au Totally irrelavent to me, do I look like I need skin care? However if they type in Ry-Spirit, it would lead them to the appropriate pages. Which leads me to the next point....

-USE THE SAME NAME IN WHATEVER PAGES YOU ARE ON! If you are on multiple website like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube, MyFace, MyDick or watever. Use the same name. So they all link to each other and people know you are the same person. Another reason being it doesn't make it easy for someone to remember both your nicnames ok? It also prevents confusion amongs people, like they might see an image on MrButtFace's Tumblr, then see it again in MrBumCheek's Deviantart and thinks its a stolen piece, only to find out later in embarrassment that MrButtFace and MrBumCheeks is in fact one person who just felt like having a different name for fun. Bad idea.

-DO NOT ALLOW DOWNLOAD! The thing about Deviantart is when you upload something, the 'Allow download of original (full-sized) image' box gets ticked by default. So if you upload a massive file and have that box ticked? People will be able to get the full size resolution pic down to every bloody pixel. They can then print it off and sell it in shops and conventions without you knowing they are making money off your hard work. Yo good luck with that buddy! So my suggestion is to always tick the box off, or upload a smaller version, if its a portrait artwork, i suggest to have the width set to 600px to 900px. So that even if people try to steal it, they will get the pixelated version and only you yourself has the high resolution file.

-ALL THOSE LEGAL CREATIVE COMMONS MUMBLE JUMBLE ACTUALLY MATTERS! You know after you upload an image on deviantart and on the bottom of the submission page there's an optional Creative Commons box you can click on? ALWAYS CLICK IT! It only takes a few seconds but it can save you legal troubles in the future, trust me I have used those legal shit to defend my work many times. After you click on it, you will be given three options which by default should all be set to 'no'. I suggest you read through what happens when you turn those 'no' to 'yes'. pretty much by ticking the appropriate boxes to it will put a legal mark on your work. You can choose to allow people to reuse your work for commercial purposes if you are feeling generous, you can even not allow people to share you work if you don't want it. For me personally (And if you wanna follow my ways) is to tick ONLY the first option to yes. So the 'Use a Creative Commons License?', turn that to yes. In simple words people can share your work on the internet but they must credit you, they are not allowed to sell it in any ways, they are also not allowed to change your image (like adding their own ugly logo on top of your work, or cutting out your name down the bottom, or adding sparkles etc). If they don't follow these rules, they are doing something illegal. Sure people can still get away with it, they can just hide in their closet and never come out again, but the law is on your side and you should take it.

There you go, I am still a bit pissed off MANY people don't credit me when they share my work, but sometimes its not neccersarily their fault, its like chinese whispers, maybe the first few person who shared my work credited me, then a person shared the image again on another site, then people grabbed the image off that site and eventually I am not longer credited. Thats why you should always have your username on your artworks.. noticed how I always put my logo and username on the bottom of every artwork I do? Its for reason like this. OK? Good keep that in mind, play the game more professionally. Ry-Spirit cares.

:bulletred::bulletyellow::bulletpurple::bulletgreen::bulletred::bulletyellow::bulletpurple::bulletgreen:IT IS CURRENTLY DISNEY MONTH:bulletgreen::bulletpurple::bulletyellow::bulletred::bulletgreen::bulletpurple::bulletyellow::bulletred:


© 2013 - 2024 Ry-Spirit
Comments169
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Ewxep's avatar
About signing:
I don't think it's necessary if I could present the original when asked to.
If I decide to use a signature, I'll make it hard to notice.

About using the same name:
Safety first - so I use nearly everywhere another name.
I even need to if an account has to be closed.

About Creative Commons:
I'm really afraid of the legal pitfalls and I doubt it is what I want.
I don't want to expect this to others either.