I tried to come up with a non religion themed rant, so here it is. People ask me why I don't have much art on the net.  People ask me why I'm leery of having my artwork scanned.  People ask me why I haven't joined Yerf or Side7 or such... The reason is that people don't respect electronic art.  I've seen people color other people's art without asking and then assume they're doing the artist a favor.  I've seen art that was freely available on the net get swiped  and downloaded and used in magazines without credit to the artist, shown in forums that the artist would not want their art shown in.... and generally treated like crap. It's this utter lack of respect that has me scared over each little image I have on FTP sites and on this web page.  I worry that someone will steal my buttons, my little graphics, they'll find my private directory and go crazy.  It seems more and more art is getting stolen, and the people who steal it yell louder and louder about why it's okay for them to steal it. Part of me wonders if it's because some people can't create their own art that they feel the need to justify themselves by stealing someone else's creative work and trying to piggyback their name to it.  Most of the people I know with Photoshop don't know how to use it.  Most of the people I know with rendering programs don't create anything themselves, they just steal models off the net and add pretty backgrounds or  lighting to them. Here's some rules I have: 1.Unless it is specified that the art is freely distributable and is allowably altered, DON'T DISTRIBUTE OR ALTER IT. 2.You are not doing the artist a favor by coloring a black and white image without asking.  You are not doing the artist a favor by adding details or changing things in a picture that the artist didn't do himself.  Most will take it as an insult. 3.When in doubt, ask.  4.If you are given permission to work on an image, always give credit, always say what you're planning on doing, and always show the finished product to the artist. 5.Just because something is available to download does not mean that you have free reign to do whatever you want with the image.  The artist just wants to share their work for others to see.  If just posting something to the net made it public domain then there would be a lot less art out there. It's all about respect.  Artwork is someone else's property.  You don't repaint someone else's car without asking them just because they let you drive it once.  You don't rearrange someone's furniture just because they let you visit their house.  Well, you don't mess up someone's art just because they let you visit their webspace to look at it. For those if you who think it's unfair, I ask you why you think such?  Call me a cynic, but I tend to think that the people who  complain the most about artists enforcing their copyrights are the people who steal the most and respect the art the least.  If not being able to leech off someone else's creations will hurt you that badly, then you deserve what you get.  If you are so lacking in creativity that you cannot create works of your own without stealing from someone else, then the best thing you can do is delete your graphics programs, erase your directories, throw out your art supplies, attack your  computer with a hammer... and then go and take up a hobby like golf or such. If you cannot grasp the reasons why artists are protective of their work or why they want you to respect it, then you are not an artist. -Genesis Whitmore, 02-99 Click here to go back