mana-ramp-matoran:

modaltmasks:

mana-ramp-matoran:

modaltmasks:

toatom:

demitsorou:

It really is discouraging to find out that after the whole escapade @toatupac keeps doing what he’s doing. It is even more discouraging that we, artists, get treated like shit and get hate for being reasonable angry, for trying to protect our intellectual property.

Do you think those cool images that pop out of nowhere? Guess what, we do not click a button and art happens. It takes our whole lives for this amazing art to happen. It’s work, as much as being a doctor is work. Being an artist involves a lot of learning, and even injuries (carpal tunnel, for example).

And in the end, you defend people who benefit from reposting our artwork because it’s convenient for you to view it on some other website. Well, guess what, we do not create art for YOUR benefit. Reposting art gives us nothing, especially for artists who struggle to provide for themselves. @toatupac reposting my things doesn’t generate profit for himself, yes, but neither it generates profit for me. He takes my thing that I spent time on, spent life on, and gets views on his page, and I get no views on my things, I get no people coming to me, having conversation with me. All I get is some absolute braindead people posting very gross comments under my art in a place where I have no presence, and it is heartbreaking.

Artists share art because we want to, it is our right to showcase our artwork. especially for whom it is a source of income. I demonstrate my work to attract potential commissioners, so I might pay my bills and won’t have to starve this month.

So right now, I am deciding to cease posting my art online. Some of you might think it’s defeatist of me, and yes, you might be right. But if I lost this battle, in the end, I win the war. You know why? If I won’t post anything, he won’t have anything to repost. And if more artists decide that, you know, we just won’t post art anymore, then where he is going to get this content? From his ass?

I don’t think so. Watch me pull down every artwork I posted on the internet and have absolutely no art for you to repost. What are you going to do next? Oh, maybe you should start drawing yourself? So I can repost your shit and claim it as my own so you can have a taste of how it feels.

@toatupac because the tag didnt work.

Just took a look through his instagram and found some of my stuff there too. If you’re following @toatupac, or know anyone else that follows them, please let them know that they are reposting other people’s work, and stop letting them gain popularity from content that they do not have permission to use. Giving credit does not equal getting permission, let’s try to stop this permanently this time.

Damn this shit is still going on? I thought we squashed this beef. Where is this happening now? As someone who’s seen their MOCs blatantly plagiarized I absolutely side with the artists. No one should post our work without our permission and even if they “mean well” they’re still just leaching off of our success and hard work. Fuck that. I looked on IG and Toatupac doesn’t have an account there, nothing came up in the search but that doesn’t mean they don’t have another account. Where else is art being posted without permission? 

Here is where most of the art is being reposted. I also found a good illustration of why this is hurting artists.

Note how even though they give credit, they don’t provide a link, or even say what site I’m on. Someone, like in this instance, would have to specifically ask to be able to actually find my other stuff because they can’t find me with the information provided, and this is the only picture I could find where someone does ask. This is one of the big reasons why it’s important to ask for permission, so that if permission is given the creator can be sure that anyone interested can get into contact with them/find their other stuff.

Well you need to remember Instagram doesn’t allow Links in the descriptions of their posts. The best a person can do is give credit via the Username and point out which platforms you’re on. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. IG is a really bad platform to do this kind of posting. You see it on other sites where it’s not so vilified because you can directly share from the artist with a link to the original post or they include one. On IG It comes off more as plagiarism instead of signal boosting.

The best answer I can give is to sign up for an account and start posting yourself there, that way you’re more visible. IG isn’t a bad site to be posting your kind of work on anyways. in your particular case it would be great for how-to’s and WIP photos. Things you don’t want cluttering up your main channels, but is a great way to engage with your audience. If you’re actually on the site, you can directly comment the account posting your work, and ask them to either remove the content or tag you in it.