After reading the following journal
[link] I am seriously considering taking my artwork down from DA and cancelling my account here.
Seriously.
You know that submission agreement we...well...agree to when we start here? Well, how many of you can say you've read through it fully? Being truthful, I can certainly say that when I signed up here three years ago I didn't. Well...the above journal I've linked has the submission agreement pasted into it with all the important parts highlighted.
We are basically being had here. We are given the impression that our art is our own and that nobody else can use it.
Wrong. Quite the opposite in fact, turns out that DA can use our artwork any which way they like and if you don't like it, tough shit - you signed the agreement. Not only that, but DA can actually supply your artwork to any third party subsidiaries of DA...all without having to pay you a dime. Even if you decided to suddenly just up and leave your account, deleting all your artwork in the process, DA would
still own the rights to any of the artwork you uploaded here. In order to fully cancel your agreement with DA you would have to send them a letter to that effect...
To say this shocked and outraged me would be an understement. Granted, I'm not a professional artist or anything and I don't get paid for my artwork but it still means a hell of a lot to me - my art is very personal to me and knowing that DA can simply poke around my gallery and take any artwork they wish without my prior permission, I'll certainly be a lot more cautious about uploading any more artwork here in future.
I implore you all that read this to check out the above linked journal (
[link] in case you missed it) and make up your own mind on this matter. I know for a fact that I'm going to spread word of this to as many deviants as I can, this debacle should be allowed to go on no more and I for one am not going to stand for it.
For now, I am going to go to bed and mull over whether I'm going to start taking my art down or not. We'll see...