azurite | Entries tagged with youtube

Once again, someone has stolen work by my friends from my website to post up in a badly put-together YouTube "AMV" using a tired song that's been done before. (Also known as "yet another Cascada "Everytime We Touch" Seto x Anzu video. Actually, to be more accurate, this one also includes Seto x Kisara and Seto x Shizuka.)

bewareofdogz (I think),

lin_ko, Sempaiko,

uni_chan, I recognized all your work without a shred of credit (e.g. "Art by So-and-So) or a link back to any of our websites, e.g. BEA or DeviantART. Countless other fanartists were ripped off too, I'm sure, but I don't recognize the works of any potentially-notable Seto x Kisara or Seto x Shizuka artists.

I've already reported this to YouTube, but since I'm not the actual "copyright" holder of the artwork, you guys might need to do this as well. You'll need a YouTube account to submit the complaint form electronically, but I think there's still an email link buried in the Help files somewhere. If you need help locating it, let me know.

I took down BEA's fanart page ages ago, but someone determined enough could probably find the art elsewhere. I know

uni_chan has every right to display her amazing works on her DeviantART account. You'd think things like watermarks and, in the case of her image that got stolen (a gift to ME, which is why I got especially angry), text indicating who the image is for, who it's by, and what it's for (if anything), would stop people from using it without credit in a video slideshow. Maybe the idiot
"artist" thinks that because there's text on some of the graphics (namely the icon

uni_chan made for me, along with the WDKY Seto x Anzu art), it gives credit. Problem? The video has a strict resolution, meaning even if someone full-screens the video, the quality won't improve, so the art's text will remain illegible.

I've had con-artists (which is a much better term, I think; the term "artist" by itself for these people implies a measure of creativity which is clearly not present-- after all, there's no originality in a video that's been done before and only uses other peoples' works) say that they got the images ages ago and didn't remember where they got it from. Okay, fair enough, it happens to all of us-- but WHY USE THE IMAGE!? This is Common Sense 101, people: if you don't know where something came from, don't use it! This applies to all kinds of things. For example, you see a tissue lying on a table. Your nose is a bit runny, but who knows where that tissue's been? Do you pick it up and use it, even if it's crumpled into a ball?

NO!

And in the case of fanart, whether or not the original artist put a watermark or signature on it, you recognize it as fanart. Few fanartists can or even make the attempt to pass off their work as so close to the original that you'd need to double-take. And if you recognize something as fanart, and you like it enough to think, "Gee, I'd like to include this in a video tribute" or something, why not make the effort of Googling the pairing name plus the term "fanart" or similar to try and find the original artist to a) ask their permission; b) give them credit with a link back, and maybe even c) get permission to use more, newer, or shinier artwork? It's not that hard.

Anyway, I suggest any Azureshippers, artists, or simply honest people head on over to this video. Rate it 1 star, like I did. I didn't comment on it, but the temptation is certainly there. I might try to keep it private, to PMs, because "nasty" comments exploding on the video message board doesn't help anybody (besides, YouTube's thread folding is horribly disorganized). Obviously, if you the artist, or you, a friend of mine/any of the above-named artists wants to comment, feel free.

Above all else, all I seek is credit-- not a link to my YouTube account or even to BEA, but names to EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTIST and links to THEIR websites, if applicable. It's simply not fair otherwise, and the video should be taken down.

ETA: My PM to the poster; I think it's nice and not mean at all. Of course, I didn't mention that I already reported it to YouTube, but s/he doesn't need to know that.

Hello,
I'm writing to ask you about your video set to Cascada's "Everytime We Touch" featuring Seto Kaiba and a number of other girls from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
I noticed that you used a great deal of fanart, some of which appears to have come from my website, the Seto Kaiba x Anzu Mazaki fanlisting, and some of which is by some good friends of mine. At least two pieces of art were gifted to me explicitly, and feature my name or the acronym for the title of my work. No credit is given either in the video or in the info, linking back to my website, giving the names of the original artists of the work, or linking back to the profiles of the artists. It is unfair to use the artwork without their permission/knowledge and without any credit.
I would be happy to provide you with the artists' information for those Seto x Anzu artworks that I recognize so that they can be properly acknowledged.

Thank you for your time,
-Azurite

I didn't make any threats, I didn't make any ultimatums. I don't think I was rude or mean or nasty. If I could have written it better or should not have bothered writing it at all, tell me

ETA2: *sigh* This is getting to be a rehash of what happened two years ago. For reference, users whose videos contained lifted artwork:
* ShizukaKaiba (whose video is posted above; she never responded to my PM, but the video seems to have been taken down)
* TeaKaiba (who has also been rude about it, but attempted to give credit after further discussion)
* AncientMemories (who has been extremely rude about this in the past and "attempted" to give proper credit but instead made it seem like *I* demanded credit for the works that weren't mine, but were hosted on my site(s) and made by my friends)
* AnzuTealover (who has been polite about this in the past)
* crazysycochick (who has also been rude about it, but attempted to give credit after further discussion)

So far all I'm doing is sending them PMs if I notice there is either no credit or the credit is incorrect (e.g. giving it to me instead of to the artists, and not providing links). I guess it's foolish to assume they'll do any extra legwork, especially for older videos that have already been posted, so I've been providing the exact timing of the images, the artists of the images in question, and the artist name plus a website link if I have one (which I do for almost everyone involved). Hopefully that plus some politeness --instead of nasty comments left on the video or immediate reporting to YouTube-- will help this situation.

In the meantime, I encourage any and all DA artists to watermark their art (you can do it easily in your Edit Deviation options). BEA's fanart section will never come back, and I'll probably be removing the Fic Art section of my old Yu-Gi-Oh website too. This sucks that I have to do this, but there are some people out there that seem to be too immature, rude, or selfish to think that real artists deserve credit for their hard work and creativity.

crossposted to