Doll Tumblr for pretty BJDs (updated to be less offensive X__x)

Well, hopefully this is okay to post here, I really didn't think it deserved a thread all by itself.

For the most part, I've found in my experiences on tumblr, that if you ask nicely, nudge, or just tell the original poster, hey, this photo came from here, can you please credit it properly, they'll go ahead and do it, or remove the post. The BJD community on tumblr's gotten more then a few of the tumblrs posting nothing but BJD photos without credit shut down when they refuse to comply, and we turn it over to Tumblr and their TOS team.

We're in the middle of one of those instances now, and I would appreciate it if people could PM me with identifying information for photos from this tumblr: http://welcome2thedollhoues.tumblr.com/ We've got a few of them already, but we need to compile a list to turn over to Tumblr for the TOS violations.

I don't want a lynch mob going after this person, she's already gotten catty, abrasive and defensive to our initial polite heads up, we just need the info so we can properly report it, and let the people in charge handle it appropriately.

Mods, if this doesn't belong here, or needs it's own thread elsewhere, please let me know and I'll be more then happy to have it removed/and or repost as needed. Thank you!

 

I think drama can be avoided if the photographers watermark their work. Include some kinda link or who the picture is by. That way if there is no source, people will still know where it's coming from.

 

I acctually really liked this blog...she made sure to give credit and link back to the original and yet everyone continued to hate on her to the point that she had to delete it. People have to stop being so sensitive.

 

Well, darn! There goes my chance at getting one of my boys prettied up enough to be included! Not like that would ever really have happened. . . any one of mine being in there that is, prettying them up is always an ongoing project.

I'll maintain, that if those who feel that it's wrong to repost photos without asking permission (credited or not), then they had better go after those who repost company photos on DoA without permission. Even if this person had only used watermarked photos and linked back to the original source, people would still scream if the owners weren't specifically asked. Fair is fair, after all.

Oh, I see now. . . heh.

 

Hmm... looks like the original tumblr is gone... (damn, I wanted to look through it and see if my photos were good enough to be ganked. My perverse curiosity was piqued.)

As an artist who has had her art stolen in the past - actually stolen, mind you, not credited back to me, but claimed as the theif's own - I find this sort of behaviour to be reprehensible. I want to know where my stuff is - who has linked to it, who has posted it. When I was into fanfiction, I frequently did internet searches to see where my work ended up and was often surprised to find it recommended on sites I'd never heard of. I'd shoot off an email to the person who reccomended it to say thankyou for the recommendation, and how surprised I was to find it (or be linked to it by someone else as the case was, every so often). Secretly I would have liked to have been asked, first.

But when my artwork was stolen, I was heartbroken. Mostly because with every piece of art, the creator can spend hours on it only to have someone take it away and claim it as their own. All of your hard work and labour, and then someone who doesn't understand just how much hard work and labour art can be swans in and takes it, and gets credit that they don't deserve.

The issue here I believe falls somewhere into the grey area in between. While the person is not actively claiming the credit, they're still not linking the original work or crediting the original artist - and this opens up the grey area where another person finds and shares the picture while not knowing the original artist to credit and as such the image becomes more and more distanced from the original artist. This is the issue.

As work becomes less and less linked to it's artist, the artist gets less and less acclaim for producing the work. If someone is using photos to promote their bjd related business (face-up, customisation and mods, even perhaps producing BJD) then if it's linked without credit, the person gets less people linking to their site, less people buying their products and less financial compensation.

In this situation, it has a real world reprocussion.

It may be that someone is just sharing pretty pictures of their doll, and then as time goes on, gets less and less acclaim because their pictures get further distanced from them. Or, it may be that a customisation or creative business gets affected. Either way, the damage is done, and the picture is distanced from the original owner of the copyright, because credit wasn't given, or the original source of the image wasn't linked back.

It isn't hard to ask someone if you can share their picture. All it takes is two minutes and an email. It isn't hard to link back to the original image - all it takes is one line of coding. One hyperlink.

It's lazy not to do it. If you don't do it, it means the next person who comes along and wants to share the awesome can't do it, and the picture and the original artist fail to be linked. And hey, the next person can't see all the OTHER awesome pictures from that original artist because they don't know who they are.

EDIT:

TL;DR: Crediting is good because it shares the awesomeness around. Not crediting is bad because it means that the artist and artwork are no longer linked.

 

The pictures on this site had been linked back to the original source. Click on the picture and you'd be taken to the photographer's site. They didn't use pictures that weren't from the original source and would take them down if asked. It's not always feasible to ask permission. I don't know about most people, but my email has a junk filter on it and I may not bother, or be able to find, a legitimate email among the one thousand plus ink/loan/ADD/Viagra/online school spam that I'd get every week.

Now if it was a photo I'd taken of a doll I'd sculpted myself then I would probably ask to be credited in a line of text under the photo. But just photos of a doll I bought. . . the click-through link would be good enough.

I guess I should be happy to work as an artist in the Stone Age. All my work is on paper, to come and take it from me they'd actually have to break into my house.

 

The site is an appreciation site??? It's fun? No one is making money or getting hurt here.

 

That's basically my take on it. too. I feel like there are a lot more important things to worry about than a site with pretty pictures, regardless of how they got there.

 

One could argue that the solution to this is quite simple. If a person doesn't get a reply to an email they sent, they don't post the picture.

I was unaware that the site linked back to the original work - I can't access it because either Tumblr disagrees with me or the site has been taken down - but I still believe that an email asking if it's okay to post the work would have been at the very least polite.

But I think this is the old adage "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" in work. >_>

 

*shrug* There probably wouldn't be anything to look at in that event.

But. . . I take and post photos for my own amusement. I certainly doubt anything I've done would be worth "borrowing," with or without permission. It's the same with my art. . . I'm pretty sure, even among what I've posted online, that nobody would bother to "borrow" it or claim credit. Reposting sites like that one are not anywhere on my list of things to get worked up over.

 

I'd much rather someone just posted my work with credit than go through all of the trouble to find me, e-mail me for permission and eagerly await my blessings and written+signed permission form, along with a checklist of what and how I expect them to officially credit my work and whatever else silly things I decide to do. Chances are by the time THAT whole debacle is over they wouldn't even want to post my photo/drawing on their for-fun, non-profit blog that does NOTHING other than give me more exposure to a new audience/fans of other people whose photos were features. The impulse is gone, they've found a more interesting picture. Or, they never get my return e-mail, and don't post it. I'd just be shooting myself in the foot, because it seriously does more good to me than anyone else to make sure my art is out there as far and as wide as possible.

Because seriously, there's an even SIMPLER solution. If you're really worried about making sure that everyone knows it's your work, then it's your responsibility to be proactive. Create a signature, a clearly visible and distinct pen name/artist's handle; write your website url on the picture. That way, no matter how many times the picture gets reposted with/without credit, anyone who's interested will still have a clear trail back to you. I've done this for a few things I was really proud of and spent a long time on (though looking back, I really shouldn't have because they were all kinds of awful). I used to be really active on this set of online anime forums, and I've found my stuff reposted in the "funny fanart" section a few times, without any credit (mostly because I didn't try to claim it as mine either - they weren't even signed), and it just felt good to see that other people liked my silly little comics enough to show them off to other people. I take full responsibility for them going uncredited, because I didn't feel that it was necessary to ensure they could be traced back to me.

Honestly, I love it when I find my work featured somewhere (especially if it credits back, like this blog), regardless of whether they ask me if they could or not. It's nice, it gives me at least a few new watchers/audience members. I wish my doll photos were good enough to be reposted on someone else's blog, but they're just really average and run-of-the-mill, so that's not happening any time soon, haha.

 

I don't really find it offensive since the person who made that tumbler never said the he/she own the pictures. If my doll was posted on that site I will even be proud rather than be offended. and if you click the thumbnails it will be redirected to the original picture.. so I don't think there is a problem for me when pictures of my dolls are being shown in that site =D

 

Hmm I think it really depends on the venue, so I agree with some people here already. I feel that a Tumblr like "Welcome To The Doll House" is fun and is a 100% fan page. It doesn't seem like the creator is taking credit for the photos, instead they are sharing their favorites with everyone. However, if someone steals someone's work and claims it is their own, then shame on them! Stealing someone's work is horrible, and is a different ball game.

I agree with Lelite though, that it is important to put a signature or some kind of mark on your work to protect it. If you're putting your artwork online, it is silly to be surprised if it pops up somewhere else. It's important to think ahead about these situations and to protect your won work, because if you don't who will?

 

Looks like it got closed. I'm happy because I had seen my pics posted there without my consent and I was really angry. It's not about people saying things like 'oh, it's great!' which one truly appreciates, it's about you not knowing WHERE your doll pics are posted. It's not like they're making money out of it or stealing or saying it's theirs, but you never know where the image is. That is what kills me. I hate it when my images are reposted without my permission. Does it hurt to ask?

 

Yeah, well, the problem with the internet is that, once you post something somewhere, you're kinda relinquishing control of it cos if it's on the net, it can be taken. People can download it and repost it, even when you print "DO NOT REPOST!!!" all over it in three-foot high red letters. It will happen (no matter if it's legal or not - just look at all those illegal download sites - they close one down, three new ones pop up). So I guess the only way you can be really, really, REALLY sure that something you don't want to have reposted isn't reposted is to - not put it online ... (I'm not saying it's ok to repost other people's pics, artworks, fan fics, whatever - I'm just saying that that's what people do cos that's how people are.)

 

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with this because they do credit the owner and also, they're complimenting people's BJDs. This would only be offensive if it was a tumblr for insulting people's bjds.