ok. Hold up. I just read through the entire TOS (https://mitscratch.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/4000219182-scratch-terms-of-service) and what I found made me kind of…. Well, sick. You’re telling me that I have spent the past three ish years as an artist on a platform that is allowed to “exploit” my content? I suppose, in the end, it was my responsibility to know this. But this seems to me like a very unjust position to put any child in, especially a child under the age of 15-18 who may not understand what the TOS means. However now that I do know this I must say I am horrified. Not only have I been exploited, I have been exploited underhandedly. I have been lied to by one of my most beloved platforms. I suppose, again, that this thing should be expected nowadays, and Yey I find no reason to be complacent with it. This is not right. My creation is my creation- mine to claim and keep- and I stand by that. Regardless of the buttons I may have clicked three-ish years ago. If I go back three-ish years ago, I would’ve been younger than 18-15. I didn’t even know a TOS existed. No one pointed it out to me, and who cared about the fine print? I just wanted to get on and start having fun! That’s what Scratch is supposed to be about, right? …right? So what do I do? Delete ALL my projects? Stop using Scratch? I always thought I wouldn’t leave Scratch but now I can’t help wondering: would I be safer if I left? Would my art be safer? And it all comes down to my incompetency as a child. I have not enough wisdom to make this decision, furthermore proving my inability to coincide among the technical terms of service. And yes. I know it’s my responsibility to know these things, as the user. And I have greatly failed to take up that responsibility. For that I am deeply troubled. But more troubling, perhaps, is how I have led some of my friends onto this site. What might become of them? This will certainly take more thought, but for now I must join @CatTheLoaf in hiatus, at least until I know it’s safe. The previous project still stands, by the way. I will still be taking down some projects I don’t like. To my scratch friends and scratch users in general, especially artists: I encourage you to read through the terms of service. A lot of it is just words, but I promise you it is worth the read, to know. Don’t do what I did and assume that you don’t need to read it, or skip over it entirely. And please, stay safe. I love you all. Signing off from content creation but open for a chat any time and undoubtably yours, Abtuki
