.::Real Artists Don't Copy::.

I love drawing and sharing my graphics with you! It's something I feel passionate about - having this creative outlet really feeds my soul. The thing is, when people take advantage of me and abuse my graphics, that's when it becomes no fun anymore. I spend hours and hours working on my little pixel graphics, and become very attached to them, like they're my children! So, when someone does something like copying, tracing, stealing, or making derivative works from my graphics, it really hurts me. I try not to take it personally, but I am only human and I can't turn off my emotions.

You see, I try my best to respect the rights of other artists and, maybe foolishly, I expect everyone else to do the same. But sometimes, as is the case recently, some people feel the need to destroy what I have created and ruin my love for the graphics community by copying, stealing, or redistributing my beloved pixels. Why? I will never know why others resort to such things, why they would ever copy or steal from another person. How could they be proud of themselves when they take someone else's work for their own?

What is worse is that they are breaking the law, it's called copyright infringement. Pretty much everything on the web, in magazines, my site etc, are copyrighted by someone. This means that you must have proper permission to use another person's work, even if you modify or edit it. I have all rights to the graphics on my site, except for those made with other people's outlines. But my tubes are 100% drawn by me, and therefore 100% copyrighted to me. When someone copies my graphics and posts it on their site, claiming that they made it, they are breaking the law.

I try to be a forgiving person, and I honestly do understand that people make mistakes (I've certainly had my fair share of them). But when someone copies/steals my graphics, and blatantly puts it on their site, proudly claiming that they made it themselves and that they have a "right" to copy and refuse to remove it, that's when I get upset. That's because they are not just hurting me, but they are hurting all of the people who have purchased my original graphics. And that's not fair to them.

So I ask you, no I beg of you, please do not support people who copy. It's not okay. I don't care if someone saw something and then days later, they think they have an original idea in their mind and end up drawing something almost exactly the same as another artist. That doesn't make it theirs, it's still copyright infringement, and it still doesn't exclude that person from the law. I have done it before myself, where I drew something and it ended up looking similar to another person's work, but I always delete it if that was the case. And if someone ever has a problem with my graphics, I am open to people writing to me. I will try to accommodate them by removing a graphic if it does appear to be similar and I will deal with the person in a professional manner. I just feel that is how I would want to be treated and that it's the right thing to do.

Please know that I do not sell as-is or tube licenses to any of my work, so if you see someone using graphics that look like mine, and you're unsure if they have permission, please feel free to send me an email to find out for sure. Thank you for reading and for your continued support as I try to concentrate on making cute new graphics for you to enjoy.

If you are interested in learning more about copyright, please see these sites for further information:

Copyright on the Web
Fair Use and the 10 Percent Rule
deviantART's Copyright Policy (also addresses some copyright myths)
Copyright in the Visual Arts
Copyright and Fair Use Overview