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Usage and Copyright QuestionsWhat is copyright?Why do artists get so angry when it comes to copyright? What are your copyright and usage policies? Can I copy or trace your artwork to help me learn? Can I draw a picture of one of your characters? Is it okay if I use some of your art on my webpage? Can I use one of your pictures as a profile pic on a forum/icon/etc.? What is bandwidth theft? What is copyright?Copyright is a law that protects artists and other creators from the theft of their creations. This theft is called copyright infringement.What exactly constitutes copyright infringement? To quote directly from www.rightsforartists.com/ : "INFRINGEMENT- The unlawful use, redistribution and/or exploitation of intellectual property that is protected by copyright, patent or trademark. "The four basic elements that can establish copyright infringement:
Various examples of copyright infringement include: reposting artwork without the consent of the original artist, claiming another person's artwork as your own, using characters that belong to others without permission or credit, and altering. An example of altering would be if you took a pic of Katarina and stuck your own character's head on her body, or colored her pink. Please do not do any of this! These are all violations of copyright. It doesn't matter if you're making any money off of it or not - it's still violating someone else's rights. Copyright also applies to areas other than artwork. Everything on this site, including its name, writing, design, artwork, and any created web graphics is copyrighted to me and may not be copied or altered in any way. So in other words, look, but please don't touch.
Why do artists get so angry when it comes to copyright?There are some individuals who claim that copying is the highest form of flattery. This is not true. That's like saying that you should be honored when someone steals your car because that means that someone out there really likes it. Most artists won't be flattered if you copy from them. Artists put a lot of time and effort (and sometimes a lot of money) into their artwork, and having someone rip off their hard work makes them very angry. Once again, the car analogy - Let's say that you worked hard to save the money to buy a new car (or a more apt analogy might be to say that you custom built one yourself), then someone came along and stole it from you. That probably wouldn't make you very happy, would it? As for the naysayers that claim you shouldn't put your artwork on the internet if you don't want to have it stolen, I say this - would you scoff at someone who had just had their new car stolen and tell them that they shouldn't have taken it out of their garage? Blaming the artist instead of the thief is asinine. Besides, the internet would be a very boring place if no one braved the risk of theft to display their art and writing. Can you imagine an internet with no text or images? It wouldn't be very entertaining.Some people violate copyright on purpose for their own profit whereas others honestly just don't know that what they are doing is wrong. Please be aware that copyright infringement is wrong. Copyright infringement is not only disrespectful towards the hard-working artist; it is also illegal and prosecutable in almost every country in the world. This practice is very dangerous, and it can lead to the perpetrator being taken to court and being sued. Even if no legal action comes from it, it can still damage your reputation. Obviously, it's to your own advantage not to do this. Please discourage others from copyright infringement. Art that is up on the internet is not free and up for grabs. It has a creator. Please keep this, and that creator's feelings and legal rights, in mind.
What are your copyright and usage policies?Check out the full details here.The short version: You are free to download my artwork for your own personal use. You may store it on your hard drive, use it as your desktop wallpaper, or print out a copy for your own personal enjoyment (although I'd prefer it if you bought a print). Don't try to sell it, make your own site with it, copy it directly, claim it as your own work, make clip-art out of it, or alter it. If you see anyone using my work in any of these ways without obvious consent, please let me know. If you wish to use my art on your website, please see this section.
Can I copy or trace your artwork to help me learn?Please don't. I obviously can't stop you, but copying won't help you learn. Copying can be a good exercise and isn't necessarily a bad thing to do, but in and of itself it won't give you the results you're looking for. It's best to try to understand the underlying forms and structure of what you're drawing. Until you understand what you're creating and attempting to improve upon it and make it your own, it remains just that - copying. Straight copying won't help you grow artistically. Besides, there are plenty of errors in my artwork that you'll just reproduce if you copy.If you insist on copying my art to help you learn, please don't post it online unless you mention that I drew the original. If you draw something based on one of my images, please give me credit for the original idea. It doesn't take that much effort to type, "Inspired by art by Kayleen Connell" or something similar. It's just plain rude to do otherwise. As for flat out taking my art and claiming it as your own or altering it and claiming it as your own - that's just lame and you only wind up hurting your own reputation.
Can I draw a picture of one of your characters?Sure! I love to see what my characters look like in other people's styles! All I ask is that you please don't draw my characters in anything higher than a PG-13 context. If you do draw any of my characters, please make sure that if you post the image somewhere you mention that the character belongs to me. Also, I'd appreciate it if you send me a copy of it so I can see it and post it in my Guest Art scrapbook ^_^
Is it okay if I use some of your art on my website?Please *ask* me first. I'll probably say yes, but ONLY if you agree to the following terms:
Can I use one of your pictures as a profile pic on a forum/icon/etc.?You may, provided that you credit me somewhere - either in your signature, profile or icon keywords. Also, please don't alter my original image when doing this, with the exception of cropping. Thanks ^_^
What's bandwidth theft?Bandwidth theft is the term for the practice of taking an image from someone else's website and putting it up on your own site by linking to the image on the original person's website instead of uploading it to your own server. It is also known as hotlinking. What's wrong with this, you may ask? Well, not only is it just plain rude, but every time that an image loads on your site, it slows down the original person's site. If this happens enough, the original person's website will shut down from overuse of the server or the person may have to pay extra money for the bandwidth use. So, to make a long story short, upload art to your *own* server. This server doesn't allow hotlinking to images anyway, so you'd just wind up with a broken image anyway.
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