Single post in Contests & Artists' Rights

Animela is correct in stating that PF1 and PFQ have nothing to do with each other-- so yes, the origin of the screenshot does matter. Despite a fair amount of the current staff operating on both, the rights held by each site are not the necessarily same. Think of PF1 as Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, and PFQ as OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire. Are they the same thing? No-- they're based off the same thing, but they're not the same thing, or Game Freak may as well have just done a re-release of the original GBA games. Instead, new Pokémon were added, new characters were added, multiple locations and characters and even the plot itself have been revised. Did everything from the first game come back in the second? No- the Game Corner missing from the second games even though it existed in the first is a relatively good example of the games adapting to meet with legal requirements. You know, kind of like what PFQ is doing now, differently from PF1. To address your issue with PF1 nonetheless, the rules on submitting sprites were clear: if you submit a sprite and it's pending decision, you can't use it for other things because, in that period of indecision, the sprite belongs to the site, effectively disabling you from submitting it elsewhere. If it's rejected, the sprite's rights are returned to you and you can do whatever you want with it. But if it's accepted, the "contract" you signed upon submitting the image becomes binding. The submitted image then belongs to the site, but still credits the artist. Such a disclaimer is always put on the submission page. What applied to PF1 does not necessarily apply to PFQ, and so anything that could hold true to PF1 does not have to hold true on here. We are trying to change the way things work. We are still trying to save all the things that made PF1 good, and make PFQ better. If you'd rather stay stuck in the past and use PF1 as basis for your arguments, instead of look at what's happening now and see what we're trying to achieve...well, it's kind of unfortunate that indeed nothing has changed, but then I'm no longer talking about the site. Also, as a personal comment on the matter... PF1 never actively went out asking users to submit art for them for free. If you submitted art, it was entirely you voluntarily submitting work. Even I submitted some sprites, one of which was actually released (Kamaitachi Floatzel, if you were wondering). I've submitted ~4 other sprites but, while one was acceped, none were released. I knew fully well the risk that PF1 would own the images...and I didn't care. That's what I wanted; I wanted my art to be released and enjoyed by the users. Seeing that was compensation enough. Seriously I SCREECHED IN PURE HAPPINESS when I came across a few users who were even making armies of my Floatzels because they loved them that much. Now that I'm an artist for PFQ itself, I feel the very same way. I contacted Sei knowing FULL WELL that this was a voluntary job; I would not be paid, the art would be owned by PFQ, etc. Yes, staff might be compensated for their work- but it is not proper payment in the slightest. It doesn't even equate to minimum wage. But I didn't sign up to be an artist to be paid- I signed up to produce artwork for a site I enjoy, to try to give the users something to enjoy. If you wouldn't want to do this? You know what - fantastic. Good for you, more power to you, etc; that's your choice and I support you making that decision. But you're not me, are you? You don't get to tell me if I'm being "exploited" when it's something I personally chose to do.