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Copyright Issues (And How Creative Commons Can Help)

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A few issues have come up on this blog about sharing and reusing other people’s artwork, the major ones being reposting paid content and pornographic depictions of “avatar” OCs. Copyright is sometimes brought up against certain usages of art, especially those that an artist would probably be against.

Of course, practically no one wants to break the law, and there likely is a good case to make against these usages. But I think the copyright sort of argument is weaker than it seems. Besides ignoring limitations on copyright like fair use and fair dealing (which are for another time), it ignores the fact that there are lots of things that we do that many artists would accept and even support, but are technically still copyright infringement.

Examples:

  • An artist posts art for free on a website (like deviantArt, FurAffinity, InkBunny, or Hentai Foundry [depending on the type of art]). Other people share the art on other sites where reposting art is common (like Tumblr, Twitter, e621, Derpibooru, and Paheal [again, depending on the kind of art]). The artist probably doesn’t mind and might even encourage it, provided that proper credit is given (and the artist isn’t running ads on a personal website or account).
  • Someone makes fan art of an artist’s OCs. That artist later leaves positive remark on the fan’s work. The artist might even share it with other fans. It seems clear that the artist is okay with others depicting those OCs.

Even though an artist might be totally fine with these two situations, they’re still illegal in many cases. That’s because copyright says that creators must give explicit permission before anyone shares or uses their work in any way. Many artists don’t give clear permission, even though they probably would if someone asked.

In the paid-content issue, I mentioned Creative Commons (or “CC”) licenses. They make it clear: They’re an easy way for you to give everyone permission to share or use your work, given certain restrictions that you can choose. Doing this gets rid of any legal uncertainty behind reposting your work, which will make the copyright argument stronger.

Granted, some people make an informal statement of permission (“You can use my work as long as you give me credit,” for example), but I recommend CC licenses because using them is easier than spelling out all the conditions, and, more importantly, they’re written using legal language that has a better chance in court.

Sound good? I’ve made a quick-start guide to using CC licenses; check it out!

Anonymous asked: Kill all men.

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mlpafterdarkforever:

[While I’m aware this is a troll ask, I’d still like to point out something here.]

I think you’d be hard pressed to find as many women willing to do a lot of the crap jobs that allow the rest of us to live our lives comfortably.  I don’t see many “feminists” fighting for the right to inspect sewers, mine coal, or pick up roadkill.

I’ve always found it interesting that you see “feminists” whining about “lack of representation”, but only in the fields that are desirable.

True equality means accepting the bad along with the good.

This also means that women who abuse, sexually assault, and murder other human beings of any age should receive the same treatment and penalty that a man would. 

It means paying the same rates for insurance.

It means accepting the idea of paying for your own meal on a date.

Gender equality is not equality if you only want the aspects that are convenient and favorable to you.  And if this is the kind of “gender equality” that you preach, you’re not a feminist.  You’re just a spoiled ████.

May 2014 Post Spree

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Basically, I have a bunch of posts from the beginning of this month. In order to keep them from getting any older, I’m just going to post them right now instead of queueing them.