After almost a decade of being an artist, there’s one thing I see and deal with more often than I’d like to admit: art theft.

We talked about how to prevent copyright infringement as a growing artist a few weeks ago.

And, today you’ll learn how to prevent and defend your art from others infringing on your copyrights.

Table of contents

1. Know your rights and defend your art
2. Prevent online art theft
3. Find out if someone has stolen your art
4. Uh, oh! Someone has stolen your art -- Now what!?
5. Submitting a DMCA takedown notice to defend your art
-- Important considerations --

1. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND DEFEND YOUR ART

Every so often I hear growing artists say that they wouldn’t be upset if someone stole their art. That they’d be flattered.

That it would mean their art was good enough to be stolen.

But, that perception only lasts for so long. Once someone actually steals their art, they no longer take it as a compliment, but an attack on their copyright.

And rightfully so.

You have rights to your art from the moment you create it. And you also have the right to defend it from others who wish to abuse your creations.

[Note: Even so, whenever possible, make sure to register and copyright your creations for further protection.]

For example…

I create many fan arts on different topics and the most popular ones feature Markiplier and Jacksepticeye.

A while ago someone used my art of these youtubers in a Youtube video without permission or linking back to my gallery.

When I asked him to credit me for the art – someone else jumped in and told me that the youtuber in question could do whatever he wanted because since I had drawn fanart of people I didn’t own, I couldn’t claim copyright over my own art – and thus, everyone could use my art as they pleased.

Can I get a "Hell, no!"?

Don’t let anyone mislead you! You have both the copyright and the right to defend your art if you don't like the way in which someone has used it.

This particular story had a happy ending and I've worked with that youtuber in multiple projects since.

The issue was that random user trying to convince me that I didn't have ownership over my own art and that anyone could use it.

People will try to manipulate you into giving up your rights and you have to stay strong and defend your rights if someone has infringed on them.

2. PREVENT ONLINE ART THEFT

The best thing you can do to save yourself a few unnecessary headaches is to prevent and dissuade thieves from stealing your art.

The best way to do this is by adding a visible watermark to your works before you share them online.

But, don’t add a watermark that is small, hard to see and easy to crop out.

Ideally, your watermark should:

Have your username (if you have the same one across all your social media) or your main gallery’s address.

     Be easy to see and read, so that just by looking at your watermark, people can find your online gallery

     Be in a place where it can’t possibly be cropped out without ruining the piece

     Have reduced opacity so that people can easily see it but not be too distracting

Here's a sample of one of my artworks. The arrows show the position of all the watermarks I included in the piece.



If you can, be sure to upload small files to your online galleries and keep the high-res file for yourself. That will make it harder for thieves to profit off your art in most cases.

3.  FIND OUT IF SOMEONE HAS STOLEN YOUR ART

Most of the times, someone will warn you that your art has been stolen and point you in the right direction to find the thief.

But, if you don't want to wait until someone else stumbles upon stolen copies of your art and you want to take the initiative, there are a few things you can do.

1. Search for the main keywords you used in your art

You need to do a Google search using the keywords that describe your piece the best.

For example...

When I want to check if my Markiplier, Jacksepticeye and/or Five Nights at Freddy's fanarts have been stolen, I search for the main keywords in each piece:

      Markiplier FNAF fanart
     Markiplier Jacksepticeye fanart
     FNAF fanart

Alternatively, you can try searching for your piece's title and see what shows up.

   2.  Search for your username

This is another good option. If they downloaded the image from your site, your username is probably included in the name of the file.

So, it will be easier to find stolen copies by using your username.

However, this may trigger all of your official and legal art to show up, so you'll have to filter the results.

For example...

Most of my art is posted on deviantART and, oddly enough, that's also the place where people steal & repost my art the least.

So, to make it easier to spot stolen copies, I'll tell Google not to show me any result from deviantART.

To do this, all I have to do is search for:  rydi1689  -deviantart

Or, in your case: [Username] -[Website you want to omit in the search results]



And it will automatically filter the results and show everything but deviantART content. Now, I can browse around the content and notice stolen content faster.

Filter your own results to spot stolen copies of your art faster!

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Want to know more about defending your art from thieves? How to get the artwork removed without having to scream at the thief or feel helpless when they block you?
Click on the button below to read the full post and find out how to protect your art and leave the drama for another llama!

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FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE!

Being a growing artist is easy! – Said no one, ever.

Everyone who’s ever been interested in art has seen it happen. The dreadful moment when an unsuspecting person redraws or reposts someone else’s art without credit or permission.

Once word spreads of what this person has done, all hell breaks loose. Everyone flocks to their account, pitchforks up in the air, ready to flame them for stealing someone’s art.

Some politely ask them to remove the work. Some tell them to credit the artist. And some tell them… to burn in a fire.

It’s a terrible experience for everyone involved. This usually causes that person to vanish off the face of the internet for a long time. Many of these were growing artists that simply didn’t know better but meant no harm.

But, because of this, they never nurtured their love for art or improved their skills.

They’re still too afraid to share their own creations with the world, in fear that those people still remember that they once made a mistake that cost them more than just mean comments from strangers.

You could end up in that same situation if you don’t know how to avoid it. Strive to learn the basics of copyright and respect other people’s intelectual property as much as yours.

You don’t want to add unnecessary obstacles and stress to your path as an artist.

HOW TO AVOID COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

1. ASK FOR PERMISSION FIRST!

One of the most common ways newbie artists have to practice and get in contact with art is by recreating other people’s artworks.

If you’ve decided to practice by recreating an existing piece of art made by someone else and you want to post your result online: you need to ask the artist for permission.

How can you find their stance on people using their art and/or ask for permission?

Ask them on their online galleries such as deviantART, their Facebook page, their Instagram account or any other social media platform they are in.

If they don’t reply, that does not give you the right to post it online.

   Look around their galleries and websites to see if they have any FAQs that specify if and how people are allowed to use their art.

   Check for any copyright notices around the artworks. In some cases, certain artists specify that you are not allowed to use their art without their written permission, or at all.

Keep an eye out for these, as they will be key to know if you can post your work or not.
   
Have others asked for permission to recreate that piece? Did the artist give them permission to do so? Was the artist happy to see others practice by eyeballing their artwork?

These don’t constitute permission, but they’ll give you an idea of how likely you are to receive it from the artist if you ask for it.  It also shows you whether that artist is happy or upset about people doing so.

If the artist doesn’t state anywhere that you can’t use their work, openly prohibits the use of their work in any way and you don’t have permission to use their work: do not post it online.

2. ALWAYS CREDIT THE ARTIST!

I strongly advice you against posting your recreated works online if you don’t have permission to do so. However, should you decide to take the risk and post it online: always credit the artist and link back to the original artwork!

It’s not alright to use someone’s art without permission, but if you also fail to give credit where credit is due, you are unknowingly claiming ownership and copyright over the artwork.

This could result in a whole lot of trouble...