The title is self explanatory. So, art theft. Oh, art theft. When people take someone else's art and claim it as their own work. Of course, that's not what everyone is always referring to in these rants when they talk about "art theft". Sometimes it's about those who give credit but use art without permission. So, let's discuss. First up: ---ACTUAL ART THEFT--- This is when someone uses someone else's art without giving credit, basically claiming they did the whole thing. This usually means they didn't change anything, however I also include when they did change something but didn't give credit to the original, basically claiming they drew it from scratch (woo, unintentional pun) when they didn't. This is simply wrong. Seriously, don't do that. And the ST REALIZES that it's wrong. THAT'S WHY IT'S AGAINST THE RULES TO USE OTHER'S ART WITHOUT GIVING CREDIT :))))))) Admittedly, they don't enforce this rule nearly as much as they should. Still, though, at least they got one thing right. And now for the more... ehem... controversial side of this debate. ---"I GAVE CREDIT!!!!!!!"--- Now, is this right or wrong? Well, in this situation, if they give credit, it depends on the source. If art is shared in a scratch project, then it is entirely legal for someone else to use it in their own project, as long as they give credit. I mean, that's not to say they should. If you want to improve at art, then you should draw things yourself. Using other people's art like it's a coloring book isn't going to help you at all, it just makes you seem lazy (like I was with that thumbnail, but even worse). But it does mean the original artist can't tell them, "you need to take that art out of that projekt because you don't have my permission to use it" because, well, they do. You gave them permission by sharing it on scratch. And I'm not going to say "post your art on another site instead" because you've clearly already been told that many times and that would just be rubbing it in your face that you don't HAVE any other sites to go to because of restrictions, whether from your parents or your school or the sites themselves. I know, it sucks and it feels like your art is being stolen. But, think of it this way: if they give credit, people still know it's your work. People who may not have seen it otherwise will see it. And then they'll think, hey, that's some pretty good art, and you gain more fans. Not sure if that helps, but if it does, *ahem* You're welcome Now, on the other hand, if you DO have access to another site, and you shared your art there and not scratch... then they need your permission to use it. On scratch, you can basically do whatever you want with copyrighted stuff without getting into trouble-- UNLESS the owner of the copyrighted stuff comes in and tells you, hey, that's mine, and I don't want you using it. Then... well, you can't legally use it anymore. Sorry, pal. So, yeah. Just tell them not to use it, if they continue to use it, report them to the ST. ---CREDITS--- The scratch cat belongs to the ST, it was edited by me. The ST (Scratch Team) runs scratch. Consider this a bit of constructive criticism for any scratcher in an art theft case, whether they be the thief, the victim, or someone defending one side or another. If I got any facts wrong here, please let me know in the comments!! I'd really like to fix any mistakes here!! =^.^= Part II is going to be about unfair bans, and, well, certainly much more of a rant than this one was. There's a lot of anger there, I'll explain further in the project itself ^^'/ Part III is about 3.0, because... three. It was fitting. That'll probably be much less rant-y than Part II, but a bit more rant-y than this part. "Smell ya later!" -Blue
