NotCliche

I would credit this… but…

Well, well.

The issue of crediting artistes on their own works have seemingly gotten a lot of attention these days. People goes “image boards should just die” and while others offer a two way approach on this issue. Some of them are better though, giving a friendly reminder on the importance of crediting the images you use to others.

There are, of course, others, since this is the internet we’re talking about. Information, binaries, images, packets blah-blah goes around the world as fast the your bandwidth allows you to.

NotCliche, for one (or rather, me) uses images that is gotten from Imageboards regularly as a way to open a post. Since I can’t draw things for nuts – unless you consider stickmen as art –  Imageboard is more or less a way for me to grab some pictures.

Which comes to the main point of this post:

Crediting is important. It tells the artist that you appreciate their work and would want to use their work. If you’re planning to use their work as an opener, a layout, a header, a banner or anything like that, it’s extremely important that you reveal that they are actually the rightful owner to the picture.

As a person who have been through quite a few experience where my work (literally work, you know, codes and stuffs) was literally ripped off and then claimed as their own, I know the feeling of… well, being ripped off.

If you’ve been visiting NotCliche regularly, you’ll notice that most of the images used in posts are often followed with a caption, or simply a word named “Source”. These are actually links that will bring to you to the original webpage where I’ve found the image.

However, there are times that it’s nearly impossible to find a link to credit the artist, simply because of the fact that there are over nine thousand million billion trillion zillion gabillion pictures out there with absolutely no original source linking to it. It’s the internet we’re talking about here, people come and go in a blink of eye, and sometimes it’s just difficult to find the person who actually draw them.

There are multiple ways of getting through this problem, although I can’t think up of any solutions that are quick and foolproof. However, there are some ways that both sides (artists and bloggers) can do to make this happen:

Bloggers:

• A simple “Source” with a link attached to it won’t hurt your overall layout. Just paste it in.
• It’s not that difficult to copy and paste the link on your address bar. Might as well, you know.
• Even better, if you know the artist, e-mail them and ask for permission. This will effectively eliminate all the problems with a single artist. Heck, that artist might even help out in your post’s images next time!

Artists:

• Have a signature along with your work. I know a signature can ruin your overall picture but…
• Send an e-mail to the guy (blogger) stating that you’re the rightful owner for the post and ask him to credit the image, or remove it.

Of course, some of the other artists sites such as pivix.net and deviantart allows you to accurately identify the artist straight away, but sometimes, Imageboard is a better way to source out a huge variety of pictures. Some of these imageboard, such as danbooru (which i frequent to for images) actually have a feature where the original source is stated.

It’s possible to just link the whole image to danbooru, or if you’re kinder, you can link to the original source. It works both ways.

The bottom line is that: treat people as they want to treat you. It’s a simple sentence, yet holds so much meaning. I mean, if they (artists) helps you by increasing the look of your blog, why not help back by providing your readers with a link to their works? It’s a win-win situation!

However, regardless of how people may say, phrase, or anything pertaining to that, it’s still up to the individual to be responsible enough to credit these artists. Remember the cause and the conseqeuences. Always.

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