CaitxxSith

I have decided to make some huge changes with my dA to try and get some better use out of it and to really get back into drawing. This will probably include deleting a lot of my old work, potentially buying a premium membership to get my page looking the way it used to, and possibly a name change (pending membership)! So wish me luck, guys. This is in preparation for starting 2014 on a great start, making sure I'm active, and just making art. Because art is wonderful. And if my new style turns out to be a keeper, I will be opening point commissions in the future. A lot of things around the corner...

Today I found out you can search Google with images, so I decided to try it out with some of my artwork just for fun! You know, see how accurate Google was. I knew that some people would use my stuff without asking or crediting since this is the internet, and I was curious as to how many.

But what I found is disgusting.

The one with the most stolen uses is a fanart, so I'm not picky about that. They left my signature on it and it's mostly profile pictures that they're using it for. But then there are images I created for myself only and I wrote in the comments that my work can in NO way be used. Yet here they are, modifying it and removing my name, adding their own things, and taking credit for it. I cannot begin to fathom how that could bring them happiness. The image I am mostly referring to is my Facebook Timeline Cover that I created a while back. I worked SO hard on that thing, and spent a lot of time adding my own personal interests and feelings. To see them violate my hard work because they're too damn lazy to create their own or because they couldn't make one like mine is sickening. So many pieces of my work are used without my permission and they take credit for them. Even websites for resources are taking full credit for them.

I don't want to use "free resources" online anymore, because what if those resources are like mine? They take my name off it, stick their domain on it, and suddenly it's okay to use? I look at the other Facebook covers beside mine and wonder: how many of those were stolen from hard-working artists?

This makes me not want to post anything anymore. If someone else is just going to take it, then why should I put my whole self into these things? What about the cursors I made? The icons? Stuff that I did make for people to use, but other people are taking credit for them. What about my stories? How many people have stolen those? How many people are stealing my ideas this very moment?

I read something on another artists' page a while ago that said: "Take inspiration, not ideas." And I could not agree more. If you look at my artwork and you like it, try to make something with your own hands that was inspired by my work. Create your own cover photo or your own fan art. Make icons that people can use! Be creative! But stealing work? That is a slap in every artists's face -- whether it was their artwork stolen or not. You know why? Because stealing work is like saying they don't deserve the credit - that hardwork is nothing anymore.

I will be placing watermarks through all of my work if I continue to post, and I will reduce the size and quality of each piece before posting it in order to defer theft of quality submissions. That way, I also have proof that I was the creator of the piece. I will also more thoroughly document my process of creating work.

If my not-so-great work is being stolen now, I don't want my good work from the future to be taken. I'm learning early on the first-hand experience of theft. I guess prevention is key -- taking steps before something great is taken.

Anyways, I hope none of the people reading this have (or ever will) steal someone's work. It isn't clever or worth it. All it is is selfishness. I'm an artist, not your personal tool.