[Art Theft]
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Art theft is becoming a serious problem on Deviant Art, whether it's posting a screen shot from an anime, tracing that picture from google image, or even stealing from a fellow deviant, it's becoming more and more of a problem every day. Whats worse if that the majority of Deviant Art members are too trusting and assume no one could do such a thing, but there ARE people out there who either don't know this is wrong or simply don't care. This is Deviant Art. We are a community of artists who draw our own original pictures and share our talent with everyone else in the community to admire. This is NOT photobucket or myspace, just another place to throw any old picture from whoever up to make yourself look "interesting". Stealing art does not give you more of a personality and it does NOT make you a better artist. Many of these art thieves get away with it because the community isn't informed on how to spot art thieves or how to prevent it. Stealing art on DA is lieing. Even if you say in small print in the artists comments that you didn't make it or you traced it, people are still going to assume you made it and praise you. Because Deviant Art is meant for original art, many deviants will assume that the picture is original and fav as much as they can.

Posting some one else's picture on Deviant Art is against the rules. THIS INCLUDES TRACING.

One reason for art theft is that a lot of people don't read the rules. The FAQ clearly states that:

"Generally speaking any submission which is directly built upon the existing work of another artist or photographer can be considered to be a case of art theft."

"The type of fan art which is deemed acceptable for submission are those work in which the submitting artist has done 100% of the work."

Theres many ways that people find to get around creating their own art, which include tracing, manipulating, recoloring (usually found in sonic things), painting over, editing, cropping (usually to get a signature or watermark out), and direct stealing. And YES,

Traced pictures are Art Theft.

Using sprite from a video game is Art Theft.

Vector tracing is Art Theft.

Screen shots are Art Theft.

Scanned pictures from books or mangas are Art Theft.

Recoloring someone else's picture is Art Theft.

Adding a speech bubble or words to someone else's picture is Art Theft.

Editing someone else's picture is Art Theft.

Posting someone else's picture is Art Theft.

Posting something from a Doll/Character Generator/site is Art theft.

Using a "doll" base is art theft. (unless there's proof the owner gave you permission)


Many ignorant people think this is the place to come and post random pictures they've found that make them look "cool" or post pictures from their favorite anime. Others post pictures to try and deceive people into thinking they have talent. Whatever the reasons may be, don't fall for their trap and favorite every cool picture, and don't become an art thief yourself. Even if it is out of ignorance, theft is theft. It's about time the community stands up and takes back originality and honesty.



[What You Can Do]
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You can stop art theft and discouraging them by making sure a deviation ISN'T stolen before you favorite or praise it. Check to see if the style and quality of that picture is relative to that of their gallery. If the picture seems any bit familiar, do research. Google image and Deviant Art search terms that relate to that picture. Always look for signatures in the artwork. A lot of art thieves forget or don't know how to remove the signature of the original artist. If you see one in a deviation, make sure to google that name and see if its the same person that submitted it.

If you find a stolen piece of art, Report it. After you do so, you could try explaining the rules and regulations to them (not rudely). Some people are stubborn and simply do it to try and get popular or have absolutely no morals, but a few are just ignorant and never took the time to figure out what Deviant Art is and read the rules.

You can protect yourself by putting water marks over your pictures or adding your signature in your art somewhere. Make sure to inform your friends of art theft so neither you nor them become a victim.