Rant + friendly reminders
202
2024-06-29に共有
I’ve noticed quite a bit of ‘Art theft’ going on around here, whether it be heavily referencing art or ocs without credit, tracing without credit, or straight up claiming art as your own when it really isn’t.
That’s obviously v annoying to the artist, as it feels like people aren’t appreciating the work you’ve spent hours perfecting.
Everyone wants attention, in some form or another. People want to be recognized, praised, and have a good reputation. Producing artwork is one way to get that attention: If enough people like your art, they’ll want to get to know you better, and they’ll want to talk to you. They might even talk about you to their friends. Thus, you get more attention.
Artists work hard to refine their skill, day in and day out. They work hard to earn people’s respect. They work hard to come up with ideas for characters or stories to keep their viewers satisfied.
Yet, there are people out there who don’t want to do the hard work, and they take ideas and / or artwork. When someone does that, it feels like all the time and brain cells the og creator put into that work accounts to nothing. It’s aggravating to see someone take your idea, even more so when you can tell that it was heavily referenced or straight up taken without credit.
(( in complete honesty.. imao almost every artist has done this at some point or another. I myself had a friend who was a super-amazing artist and I looked up to them, so much that I practically stole their oc designs and artstyle… not cool at all >_< ))
As a result of this, ive seen so many people attacking others for stealing artwork or ideas. Here’s my hot take tho: When we’re confronting people about art theft, we shouldn’t be like “omg stop taking their art, you horrible person,” and be rude or aggressive about it — that person simply wants to be recognized and appreciated.
I mean yes, its somewhat flattering, because like “oh someone REALLY likes my art”, but I’m tired of finding someone taking art, tracing, or stealing an idea, getting unnecessarily angry about it, and leaving a passive-aggressive message on their profile about it. It doesn’t do anything beneficial — Not only does it hurt the other person, but it hurts me, as im guilty for acting so harshly and not remembering that the “thief” is an actual human with actual feelings.
Instead of that, I think we should just let them know that “Hey, this artwork doesn’t belong to you, please give credit” and leave it at that. Don’t pester them about it. Add tone indicators to let them know that you’re not trying to be mean, so that you don’t receive a negative response. (( If they just ignore you and keep doing whatever they’re doing, it’s probably best to just report their projects and leave them alone. It’s not a good idea to get mad and yell at them, as that will do absolutely nothing. )) Just be polite about it, and remember that there’s someone behind the other side of the screen.
Another hot take… if anything, I feel we should actually encourage an ‘art thief’ to take up the art journey themselves. It’s a good hobby, it stimulates your brain, and you’re much better off doing that than stealing. Of course, being an artist has its highs and lows, but it’s an overall rewarding experience.
(( also just want to add that im not saying that using references is bad: using references is like one of the most beneficial things to do to improve. However, if you’re closely referencing, say, an oc or a story or something or other, you might want to either give credit for the ideas, or avoid posting about it at all… just so that people don’t start coming after you ;) ))
Uhhh TLDR: Don’t be harsh about confronting someone who’s stealing art or an idea, try to be polite (( especially since we have a varied set of ages on this platform )), and better yet, just don’t steal / heavily reference art or ideas without credit and / or permission — being original is more rewarding <3
Stay safe out there, touch some grass and never stop creating !!
- Fizz