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...
