Images - Who Owns What?
By: Balance Keepers
Welcome to the wacky world of anime, where image mean nothing, and everything. Ever tried to draw and image of Sailormoon using 'Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss'? It's hard, especially for me. ^^; But, it's possible. Let's say, in theory, I drew this really awesome image of Eternal Sailormoon performing her awesome attack, scanned it, colored it on the computer, and then posted it on my webpage. Let's also say that it is a fairly close resemblence to Sailormoon anime artwork. Now, I put a note on the bottom of my page that specifically says don't use the image without asking me, and I have my e-mail address linked. Then, let's say someone wanders onto my page and 'borrows' the image to make a layout for his/her page. I find out via one of my friends, and now the scenario is set, onto the actual rant.
Do I have a right to be angry? Some people would say no, that art on the web is for anyone, while others would say yes, that I slaved over that image and it's rightfully mine to distribute (as long as I don't infringe any copyrights - this will be dwelled on later). So, what do I say? I have every right to be angry, since I did say that no one could use the image without my express permission, for anything, not even building a shrine to my goddess-like nature (^^). Now, if the person had asked, it would be another story all together. But the point is that the person took something that was not theirs, when there was a note saying that they could not.
Technically, this is copyright infringement (not court worthy, but it is). By making the image, I created something out of nothing, making it all mine. I have a personal copyright on the image I drew, for the fact that I drew and colored it. Technically I could take the person to court, since there have been cases of such in the past (that were won by the original creator). But, I'm not bitter/vicious, so I would just tell them to remove the image or I would inform the webspace provider that they were using (technically) illegal images.
Anyway, it may not make sense, but I had to say this. It's just one of the many rants that sits inside of me waiting to be let loose. If you disagree with me and want to discuss it, you can always e-mail me.