For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, “art theft” is basically when you take an art piece off the internet that isn’t your own and give no credit to the original artist. Art theft can take many different forms: from simply tracing something to taking a whole art piece and pretending that it is your own.

This is a really big problem on Scratch and I think more needs to be done to prevent it. I know many talented Scratchers who have had their art plagiarized and nothing has been done to stop it. Art isn’t only being stolen from Scratchers, I have also recognized art off other websites (e.g. Deviantart) being stolen by other people.

Here are some suggestions I have to reduce the amount of art theft:
1) Tell Scratchers in the Community Guidelines to give credit always.
2) The Scratch Team needs to be more aware, so they’ll crack down on the issue.
3) Encourage people to report any plagiarized art to the Scratch Team.

If you have any other suggestions, I can’t wait to hear them!

Thanks!

How is it theft?
Is the original owner deprived of the art?
No? That's what I thought, therefore it can't be considered to be theft.
I do not support this suggestion.

1) yes
2) this would happen if people reported

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

How is it theft?
Is the original owner deprived of the art?
No? That's what I though, therefore it can't be considered to be theft.
No support.

I think you're just confused by the wording. They mean that people are taking other people's art without credit and claiming it as theirs. It's not okay, and it is a crime (though nothing bad legally would probably happen on Scratch, it's good to learn about plagiarism)

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

How is it theft?
Is the original owner deprived of the art?
No? That's what I though, therefore it can't be considered to be theft.
No support.

I think your confused by what I mean. “Art theft” is the term artists created for redistributing art without giving proper credit to the original artist.

I see your a good artist
Support!

 continue this hashtag if you live in australia [img]http://u.cubeupload.com/rabbitcarrots/FEDB1435D41540BFB9FB.jpeg[/img] is the image code xD oh and btw this siggy is from @Hellounicorns2    :cool:

Wait a minute…
We can report not giving credit to the original makers(It is in the report list).

when I receive [Game published!]
go to [itch.io]
think [This is an awesome game I should buy it!]
Buy it!

Use da report button.

Art theft is already against the rules. Support for making more Scratchers aware of the importance of giving credit.

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Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

Agreed. All they need to do is credit.

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

No, the same does not apply here. You said you replaced someone in an orchestra because you worked hard on your violin skills… you obviously deserved that position as you worked hard for it.
People who are stealing art do not but the effort into making it and are getting credit for it, which is unfair to the original creator. If the original artist gets payed for their work, they could be losing money because people are viewing the thief's copy of their art.
Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to create an art piece or animation?

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

No, the same does not apply here. You said you replaced someone in an orchestra because you worked hard on your violin skills… you obviously deserved that position as you worked hard for it.
People who are stealing art do not but the effort into making it and are getting credit for it, which is unfair to the original creator. If the original artist gets payed for their work, they could be losing money because people are viewing the thief's copy of their art.
Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to create an art piece or animation?

Let's say, I am just naturally excellent at the violin, and with no effort at all, replaced someone's position in an orchestra.
Did I steal their money?

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

No, the same does not apply here. You said you replaced someone in an orchestra because you worked hard on your violin skills… you obviously deserved that position as you worked hard for it.
People who are stealing art do not but the effort into making it and are getting credit for it, which is unfair to the original creator. If the original artist gets payed for their work, they could be losing money because people are viewing the thief's copy of their art.
Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to create an art piece or animation?

Let's say, I am just naturally excellent at the violin, and with no effort at all, replaced someone's position in an orchestra.
Did I steal their money?

that also does not apply. if i go to a bakery, take a cake, and tell everyone i made it, who gets the credit, the baker, or me?
what art thieves are doing is re-posting somebody's art, or tracing over it.
if i walk into a bakery, take a cake, then put more frosting on it, did i make the cake?

pinkieofthepies wrote:

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

No, the same does not apply here. You said you replaced someone in an orchestra because you worked hard on your violin skills… you obviously deserved that position as you worked hard for it.
People who are stealing art do not but the effort into making it and are getting credit for it, which is unfair to the original creator. If the original artist gets payed for their work, they could be losing money because people are viewing the thief's copy of their art.
Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to create an art piece or animation?

Let's say, I am just naturally excellent at the violin, and with no effort at all, replaced someone's position in an orchestra.
Did I steal their money?

that also does not apply. if i go to a bakery, take a cake, and tell everyone i made it, who gets the credit, the baker, or me?
what art thieves are doing is re-posting somebody's art, or tracing over it.
if i walk into a bakery, take a cake, then put more frosting on it, did i make the cake?

Credit is irrelevant. Wanting credit is just selfish.
The baker gets the money, what more should he care?

I'm not entirely sure what Scratch's current position on this is, but I do know the following:
- Reuploading (or remixing) somebody else's art with absolutely no changes is against the rules.
- Reuploading (or remixing) without credit is against the rules (although projects that break this rule are not necessarily removed; sometimes its author is merely mandated to include credit).
- If art is permissively licensed (which includes all art shared on Scratch), and the project makes changes, it is allowed (even if those changes are just a recolor). To be clear, some small changes are not allowed, such as changing a single pixel, or changing a watermark.

I do not know where Scratch's position is on using non-permissively-licensed art is a constructive manner. For IP owned by large corporations, Scratch generally does not care, because the artworks' use on Scratch is sort-of protected by Fair Use (and simply by the fact that nobody really wants to sue a children's programming website).

However, I would be inclined to say that Scratch should not permit usage of non-permissively-licensed art that is not huge corporate IP, as there no real reason to be using an individual's personal artwork in your Scratch project, and for many artists I imagine it would feel like a bit of a violation.

It's kind of a strange position to hold, because there's not obvious justification for “you can use Mario, but not somebody's personal artwork.” However, I think the difference is that Mario is IP that is already being used by a plethora of people, while somebody's personal artwork does not have nearly the same reach.

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

pinkieofthepies wrote:

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

badatprogrammingibe wrote:

rainbowsnowflake wrote:

jromagnoli wrote:

LordOfMuffins wrote:

Thank you so much for suggesting this, my biggest pet peeve ever is when people say “all credit to the original creators” and then are too lazy to link to the creators! Making linking the creators mandatory would make it so people who deserve attention for their work get noticed, this is usually hours of work wasted because of an art thief. They could actually be losing money!

Who would be losing money and why?

Well, people who make art as their job (such as animators on youtube) can lose their money if others get attention from taking their work. It's sort of the same with people on scratch, because the person who stole their work is getting follows, loves and favorites for it.

Say, I work hard at my violin skills, and replace someone's position in an orchestra.
Am I stealing that person's money (as I would earn the money from that position in their place)?
No.
Same applies here.

No, the same does not apply here. You said you replaced someone in an orchestra because you worked hard on your violin skills… you obviously deserved that position as you worked hard for it.
People who are stealing art do not but the effort into making it and are getting credit for it, which is unfair to the original creator. If the original artist gets payed for their work, they could be losing money because people are viewing the thief's copy of their art.
Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to create an art piece or animation?

Let's say, I am just naturally excellent at the violin, and with no effort at all, replaced someone's position in an orchestra.
Did I steal their money?

that also does not apply. if i go to a bakery, take a cake, and tell everyone i made it, who gets the credit, the baker, or me?
what art thieves are doing is re-posting somebody's art, or tracing over it.
if i walk into a bakery, take a cake, then put more frosting on it, did i make the cake?

Credit is irrelevant. Wanting credit is just selfish.
The baker gets the money, what more should he care?

1.The violin comparison isn't a good comparison to art theft. Your comparison is more like someone liking one person's art other the other. Let's say personA is on an orchestra and personB records them playing a song. PersonB then replaces personA on the orchestra by playing the recording of personA playing. That is a more accurate comparison to art theft. However art theft is more of personA composing a new song, and personB claims that they composed the song themselves. PersonA worked hard to create a new song, and personB is getting credit for it even though all they did was take all the hard work personA did and claim they did it.

2.Wanting credit for something you made is not selfish. Artists do not get money for art theft. Not giving credit disrespects the artist because they do not get recognized for the hard effort they put in that made the piece of art exist in the first place. How would you feel if you worked really really hard on something, then someone else claimed that they made the thing you put the hard work into making, and that someone got praise for making it when you were the one who made it?

I don't see anything you've mentioned that isn't already being tried. I agree that pushing the community more to report art theft is good, though.
I'm neutral on this.