fannish etiquette question

[ratcreature]

With the proliferation of Tumblr, what do you do if another fan just reblogs your pictures? I understand that one of the reasons people like Tumblr is because it is so easy to just post a bunch of pictures and video and such, but I do have a notice that I don't want my art distributed without permission, because I'd rather like traffic to come to my site than some random Tumblr or other site. (This seems to be an ongoing problem for me of late.) Am I just behind on the new fannish normal?

Comments

[ratcreature]

The attribution isn't the problem here. The owner properly credited me and linked back (otherwise I'd never noticed). But they uploaded my picture to their own Tumblr, so now for example if I wanted to remove my fanart I couldn't because it is uploaded in places I don't control. Like when people post collections of their favorite fanfics in their own webspace with proper attribution, fandom still thinks that is not okay but archiving without permission.

[pocketmouse]

Ah, I see. Yeah, no, I think fandom is moving in that direction. There's still no harm in asking, I don't think you're going to be taken as uptight as long as you're polite, but I suspect it's going to be more and more frequent. I'm not sure, I'm not really one for fanart myself.

[ratcreature]

I probably won't complain. It's just awkward, and they credited, and in practice I have not set up my website in a way so that I could effectively remove my art again, because I allow robot indexing and archiving, so for example my art is also on the WayBackMachine and so on. Even though in principle I much rather have people link to my site or embed a preview from my dA account, so that I notice views and traffic, and maybe get comments sometimes.

It's more that I'd really prefer fandom to be as considerate of artists as of authors and think this Tumblr thing and art reposting through, before it just becomes established.

[astridv]

It's more that I'd really prefer fandom to be as considerate of artists as of authors and think this Tumblr thing and art reposting through, before it just becomes established.

Seriously. Imagine the outcry if people reposted other people's fic, even credited with a link back. Bah, I don't have to imagine it; the few times I've seen it happen it did not go down well.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, that's what gets me most. Everyone is expected to be really careful with every snippet of text and giving all sources or it's "plagiarism" and of course full archiving is a big no-no, but with images all is fair game.

In my more cynical moments I think especially with the sourcing (which at least this Tumblr did, which isn't even the norm, I would have never noticed if it hadn't) it's because you can search for text, but the chances to find out where an image came from if it isn't sourced is pretty much nil.

[astridv]

Imagine someone 'reblogs' one of your pictures on tumblr, and you in turn 'reblog' one of their fic on LJ. 'Cuz you like it just that much. Would seem only fair, right? And yet it sounds like a surefire case for fandom_wank.

[astridv]

Yeah, no, I think fandom is moving in that direction.

Huh. There's an unpleasant thought. I never before thought about locking my art, but should I notice strangers uploading my art elsewhere, I might actually consider it.

[ratcreature]

I've had that happen to me pretty consistently, albeit at a low level, ever since I first started posting art, despite not being prolific or popular. Probably because I allow google searches of my website.

Like, I've had my second comic fanart ever reposted on another LJ and mocked for its slashy subjects, had my HP art reposted on a HP fan message board, found out from someone on my flist that someone else had used one of my slashy Batman sketches for some weird contest thing on a Warren Ellis' site (that person pasted my art into something else, and also removed my sig, so maybe that was "transformative")...

But I fear if Tumblr gets more and more popular and image "reblogging" becomes the norm it will happen all the time.

[astridv]

Like, I've had my second comic fanart ever reposted on another LJ and mocked for its slashy subjects, had my HP art reposted on a HP fan message board, found out from someone on my flist that someone else had used one of my slashy Batman sketches for some weird contest thing on a Warren Ellis' site (that person pasted my art into something else, and also removed my sig, so maybe that was "transformative")...

Weird, that's really a lot. I've been trying to think of occasions when it happened to me but the only time I noticed someone reposting my art in full was when someone translated my x-files comic into Russion. And that I had no problem with... since by translating it they added something new to it, I guess, and didn't take away from my own reader base. And they linked and credited.

[pocketmouse]

I think it's in part because while it's somewhat easy to repost part of a fic you like, it's hard to repost just part of a piece of artwork.

[astridv]

Yeah, that might be a part of it. It's no excuse though. Especially since it's not that hard to figure out how to modify a picture, and there are plenty of people in fandom who would explain it to those who ask.

[ratcreature]

Also, it's not as if artist weren't often providing thumbnails themselves, but you don't see those "reblogged" with a link to the original, it's the whole image that gets taken. I have 120x120 thumbnails on my website, and provide embedding on dA, so in either place someone could find a way to reblog the equivalent of a fic quote without any image editing whatsoever. But that's not what happens.