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

here via metafandom, and i have thoughts!

[ursamajor]

I think part of the reason it occurs is because of the way Tumblr tools are implemented - the "Share on Tumblr" bookmark has six tabs, one of which is labeled "Photo," and when one shares a photo this way on Tumblr, it is automatically uploaded to Tumblr (and shrunk if applicable). You can use the "Text" tab and code your own image tags if you want to hotlink a photo/not upload said photo to Tumblr, but there are limitations in the "Text" tab that are not present in the "Photo" tab (a key one being that you have to code your own HTML), on top of it not being the intuitive place to go to Tumblr a photo.

It is also a major PITA to actually get a photo deleted off Tumblr, IME. I decided to remove a specific photo at one point. Deleted the post, but the photo remained on Tumblr's servers, and I eventually had to email Tumblr Support to get the photo removed from their server. I don't know if this is still the process to get a photo removed, as this was several years ago.

As for why it doesn't seem to happen wholesale with fic, I wonder if it's because it's much easier as a Tumblr "curator" to select a fic "excerpt" for sharing (something of a length that would fall within the realm of fair use, and something that can be a more effective "teaser" than an art thumbnail) than it is to do a similar thing for an image. To make an image thumbnail, for example, one has to have access to an image program, as well as knowledge enough of how to make that image program work. In addition to the knowledge, it takes a lot more time to download an image, create a thumbnail of it, and then re-upload it somewhere - and with the Tumblr workflow thrown into the mix? Even less feasible. Text, on the other hand, is a very easy copy-and-paste away.

Re: here via metafandom, and i have thoughts!

[ratcreature]

I get that ease of use influences things, but someone still decides to just upload another fan's whole art to their own blog rather than linking it. It's not like Tumblr makes them do it.