Contests & Artists' Rights

I brought this up myself actually. When it come to art of someone original's character it sort of goes like this. - The OC belongs to the creator - The Artist has rights to the art piece but can't use it nor capitalize on the art piece without permission of the creator of the OC. It's a two way street. Both the artist and the owner of the OC must agree to these terms. If the creator of the OC doesn't want the image displayed in let's say - a portfolio, and the artist does so without permission being granted, they're breaking the rules. That in itself is another form of art theft and infringing on someone else's rights. That being said an artist must always state that the OC isn't their own; just like the OC's creator must state the art was drawn by said artist. As mentioned before, most artist's I know are happy to give the art piece for free if they lost the contest. ;] If that doesn't happen however and you want to use that piece than you should compensate - as stated in the first post. With all said. You must make sure you gain permission from all of the artists to use the art work. Which basically will be in your terms of rules. I've noticed that most artists give this freely anyway. As I said, they can't exactly use that art without the OCs permission any who. Honestly; i'd be seeing red if I commissioned art and the artist was capitalizing or completely ignoring the fact that the character is my own. Or plain going against my wishes of displaying it.

my god....i knew it... i knew this type of thing was gonna happen. :l very few people like to listen to properer rules that aren't there... most of the rest only listen when it's an official rule. i hope this kinda stops, at least a little. even though i don't have art contest, i understand crediting others for their work, in one form or another....

Or to cover what Constantine said in shorter terms; The character belongs to the commissioner (/ contest host - you get the idea) The art belongs to the artist. There's a huge difference between the art itself and the content within said art. To take the example from the contest rules - Imagine I drew a picture of Naruto. It was relatively well-received. Then I claim that it's mine - As in, everything. Am I right? Obviously not. The character I drew, is not. I did not come up with the design. But I did make the art. Therefore the art is mine, but the character within the art is not.

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Here's where I go on a shpeel! Japanese copyright is (in general) a lot more forgiving in terms of capitalization. They see it as more of a homage than they do an infringement (obviously push things too far and that changes, but Nintendo, in example, have gone on record specifically saying that they don't intend on criminalising their fans. #Respect! That's the reason this site even exists. That's the same reason that fan-art of Pokeymans can be made and sold by artists at conventions and such). Western copyright is (in general) a lot more stingy. It's a lot more "I made this. It mine. If you want to do something with it, respect my wishes." Now. The reason for this isn't actually anything to do with a difference in copyright laws. It's to do with a difference in the proprietor of the laws. The user of them. By this, I mean, the person who says "This is mine". Going back to my previous example, Nintendo is very chill. They don't intend on criminalising people for using their stuff and it's all very relaxed. You're probably more likely to get a message from them to discuss resolution than you are to just wind up with a lawsuit one day. (exaggeration!!!) However, you'll find a lot more cases of action being taken by people in, say, America or the UK, for their copyright "being infringed". I just want to say, that neither of these is the wrong way to go about copyright. It's entirely down to the person who holds the copyright to distribute how they enforce it. Whether they're "stingy" or "relaxed" about it - they're not in the wrong for doing it. It's their work, after all, right? Whether that's designing something, or making a piece of art surrounding that design (two seperate elements)... Anyway. The point I'm making here is that the idea of "copyright" is essentially - This applies not just to artists, but to the creators of OC's as well. If someone drew Garth without my permission and without the intent of telling me, crediting me or even going so far as to claim him as their own... Action would be taken. That's an infringement on my copyright of the character. Sure they made the art, but I made the character - sure, he's a Riolu in the "PokéVerse", but the entire character developed around him can be applied to alternatives - like an irl equivalent would be a literal Jackal. What about in other verses? Still applies. The character's design isn't limited to the "body" you place them in. And that's the beauty of creating your own character. Anywho. Ramble over :P

I have a quick question. In most of my contests, I include a form. On that form I add a section basically asking, "Even if you don't win, may I have permission to use your work with proper credit?" This seems to be the proper way to get about use of entries? Receiving permission and then giving proper credit?

Yes, that is the proper way! That's brilliant :)

I have a question, sorry if it's a bad question but it's been bugging me because some people after they say yes for people using their drawing they entered about a few days later they change their mind but the host of the contest have already used the art in something else (this is after the contest has ended) would they be breaking the rule though?

As a fellow artist, this is very much appreciated! I haven't even looked at the forums yet, and really didn't think anyone would be as rude as the try such a thing, never mind a bunch of someones >< It's sad that this post is even required e.e;

Part of the reason I don't normally participate in art contests. Copyrights can be violated in many ways, whether intentionally or on purpose, plus I don't want my ideas stolen through art theft.

Dear Arceus! That's terrible! Quite frankly, claiming that the artists automatically forfeit their copyrights upon entry is just flat out STEALING! Pardon the caps but this just ticks me off! (and that my sister is an animation major in college and I think of how hard she works on her art)

Thank you