Over the past few year, my feelings on fanart have changed a lot, and I kind of just want to ramble about that here. Obviously, this is just my opinion on the matter, but I wanted to summarize it here. By fanart, I am specifically talking about art inspired by other pieces of media, or things that other people have created.
Like anything, I think it's good in moderation. It can really be flattering to the creator of the thing you are a fan of (assuming they see it), and can help you find a community of other fans. It is a pretty easy way to get attention online as an artist since people are likely looking for fanart of things they enjoy more than they look for random studies of coffee cups or the like, and there's nothing wrong with that. Fanart can challenge you too. If you're making a comic about Indiana Jones, and using reference photos and doing studies along the way, your action poses are probably seriously going to improve. It also lets you draw ideas that aren't from your own head, so it can push your limits a bit. This is also great for people with art block or just low motivation at the moment, because they don't have the be the most creative person on the planet and can still get results that makes them happy. However, I have two problems with fan art. The first is that it can lead to a lot of copying and tracing. I said earlier using reference images is great, and I do stand by that, but you shouldn't always try to exactly copy whatever you're making fan art for. If that's what you're doing, then people will ignore your art and just go experience the source content. Obviously, if you're just doing studies, then it's fine to copy as directly as possible, and there's a lot to be learned there. However, if that isn't your goal, then you have to add something of your own, be it putting old characters in new situations and environments, or just stylizing it in your own way. For instance, using real life pose references and then some references for a character will help you get better at poses and putting any character in different poses much more than just copying straight from one reference image. Also, the whole point of fanart really is to make something based on the original content, but that takes it further, and just copying does not do that. The other problem I have with fanart is questionable copyright usage. I don't really know how to feel about this one, other than that people need to respect what creators say on the issue. With events like comic cons, tons of artists make money off of fanart related products, and I think that, as if mentioned above, their art goes beyond just the original media it's based off of, then I think they definitely deserve to profit from their work. I just think it's also important to respect the right of the original creators to decide whether or not they are okay with people selling art based on their ideas. A lot of times fanart can create a bigger audience for creators, so I think generally that alone makes them okay with it, but it's just important to listen to the creators. Overall, I would say fanart should be fun, but just to remember to push yourself artistically if you can, and learn from it. Creative new ideas should always be valued and expressed in art, but that doesn't mean that you should never draw fanart either. Basically, just be careful that you aren't just copying things or making art based on them for popularity, but actually are enjoying the art you make and are challenging yourself as an artist.
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Copyright is crucial, determining how much money authors will make, as well as the way that different works can be distributed and used. With more people creating original works for their professions, copyright is becoming more important because of the way it protects authors. However, many people see copyright as an obstacle when they would love to play a game or use a software but don't have the funds in order to do so. So, is copyright fair?
Whether or not a copyright is being infringed upon is completely determined by the author. This allows an author to decide how much of their work is free for the public to use rather than the law completely deciding, while still having protection from the law. Authors can let people use their work, or at least pieces of their work. Being lenient on copyright has its benefits as well as drawbacks. Going back to ancient times, and long before copyright, patents, or any law of that sort was invented, the uncontrolled spread of ideas was important. Technology could spread between different people and even different civilizations very quickly. People could mimic new innovations that they saw, or even directly acquire the inventions rather than having to start from scratch and attempt to reach the levels of sophistication of those around them. This also allowed for a great deal of new ideas to form as people were constantly sharing and comparing technology and looking for ways to make things better. Today, laws are in place that prevent much of this exchange. This is mostly concerning patents. Some inventors are realizing this, such as the CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, and are working to do things to try to revive that innovative spirit. Musk is allowing for anyone to use Tesla technology if they think they can improve it, as long as they won't try to claim Tesla had been infringing on them. However, arrangements like these aren't always practical. It doesn't exactly make sense to give up your characters or artwork so that someone can "improve" it. In the case of technology though, it could greatly benefit society. Another positive effect about not being very strict on copyrights for your own work is that you won't suffer the negative repercussions of diligently enforcing copyrights. While it is always good to have your work protected, if you shoot down every piece of fan art, you probably won't have supporters for much longer, and no fans means no money. However, this doesn't mean that everyone should simply give up their copyrights. Authors should have the rights to decide what happens to their work. If people are turning their work into something that they don't approve of, by all means they should be able to ask the person to stop. Copyright is important because it keeps industries alive. In terms of the gaming industry, if all games were the same, it's likely only the well known companies would make any money while the smaller businesses or authors would flop. It's important to be unique so that you have an advantage over your competitors, and can actually make profit. While it may just seem like greed for an author to care so much about the value of their works, money is important in society in order to keep making new works for everyone to enjoy. Then there's abusing copyright. There is an interesting case between Jim Sterling and a company called Digital Homicide. Jim Sterling, a gamer reviewer on YouTube, complained about the game The Slaughtering Grounds. He deemed the game and "absolute failure" for it's premade textures, looping music, and bad controls. The game was getting a bad rap, and Digital Homicide, the company that created the game, blamed Sterling for their game failing. Unprofessionally, they made videos to mock Sterling, and unfortunately, he fired back. Digital Homicide tried to remove his video by claiming he had broken copyright, but in the end they couldn't prove it. Copyright doesn't just affect companies, it affects everyone. One significant example is that it forces consumers to pay for products and be original, unless they want to be charged for infringement/piracy. In terms of infringement, people have been charged just for hosting a Pokémon themed party without permission. Just simple offenses made without malice could land a person in jail. Even fan art in some cases has been called infringement, although as mentioned above, that tends to kill the fan base. Elaborating more on piracy with an example from the gaming industry: if everyone could make their own copy of Skyrim without having to pay Bethesda Studios anything, the company would lose almost all revenue, and we probably wouldn't see any more Elder Scrolls games. However, Bethesda might be saved if they continued to hold copyright for some of their other games like the Fallout series, whereas other authors may not have a safety net like this. Basically, piracy is theft. While it may seem like digital things should be easily transferable and free, someone put time, and probably a lot of money, into making digital works, be it software, music, games, or something else entirely. It's understandable that people who can't afford certain things are often the culprits of piracy, but that isn't an excuse. It's equivalent to a beggar stealing from a food truck, if the owner doesn't care, they may get away with it, but if they are caught, the law isn't going to say that their actions were justified. People can be charged anywhere from $750 to $150,000 for piracy, much more than whatever the value of the stolen work was. Piracy also hurts authors, and puts our chances of seeing future works in jeopardy. Even though people without much money might think it's fair to pirate the works, it only puts the authors in worse financial situations as well, creating a vicious cycle of money problems. While copyright affects me as a consumer, it also affects me as a creator. Going into game design, I have to be wary of ideas coming too close to other games. Today it seems like almost everything has already been done, and anything that has been done has been copyrighted by someone. When making games, originality is key, or at least knowing how to make games that aren't too heavily influenced by other works. Being charged with infringement would most definitely ruin a company's reputation, and therefore their chances of being very successful. This does go the other way too. As a creator, I could easily become a victim to piracy or infringement. Since I am not in fact the head of Nintendo or any other big game company, if someone were to steal artwork, story, characters, or any other elements of a game I design, I could end up in a lot of trouble. Unless I had a way to prove that I had created the work, it's likely that they could get away with it, and even charge me, saying that I had infringed upon them. Only having registered the copyright with the law would provide full protection. Even if they didn't go to such extremes, a bigger company could get more publicity for their games, and profit off of my work more than I would profit off of my work, which just isn't fair for anyone to do in any case. Piracy could affect me even more. Some digital works now have what basically act as tracking devices. They can detect when a work is being illegally copied/ distributed. I (mostly likely) would not have the skills to set up any sort of security system. It would be incredibly difficult for me to track whether or not my game was being pirated, and I could lose a lot of money from illegal copying. The best thing I could do is make sure I had proof of creating the work, monitoring the gaming industry to look for any rip-offs of my game, and even learning how to set up that security system. Other companies not being strict on copyright could greatly benefit me. If I was able to use another author's engine, modify it, and put my game into it, I would be able to accomplish more than if I had started programming from scratch. This could help, especially if I was inexperienced in building game engines, and wanted a starting point. I would however, have to thoroughly check the copyright rules for the work to make sure that I would not be committing infringement. All in all, copyright laws are incredibly important for any sort of creative industry, and digital work is too easily pirated or infringed upon. It's very important for people to be educated on what copyright laws entail, and how copyright or piracy affect authors, especially those who support themselves solely off of their works. Games are generally under appreciated as works despite containing components from music, visual art, programming, and writing. If people would just take the time to understand why it's important to pay money for games and all other works, a lot of infringement and piracy could be stopped, along with ignorance. |
AuthorHi, I'm Abi, a DSA student who likes games, drawing, writing, and acting. Archives
February 2020
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