Before I start, I wish to note that remixes can be done correctly. I have seen some very creative remixes in my time. I am not suggesting banishing all remixes forever. Anyways, onto the post:

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If you didn’t know, a new guideline to the CG has been added which is as follows:

Embrace remix culture.
Remixing is when you build upon someone else’s projects, code, ideas, images, or anything else they share on Scratch to make your own unique creation.
Remixing is a great way to collaborate and connect with other Scratchers. You are encouraged to use anything you find on Scratch in your own creations, as long as you provide credit to everyone whose work you used and make a meaningful change to it. And when you share something on Scratch, you are giving permission to all Scratchers to use your work in their creations, too.


So, my first question is what defines “remix culture?” Is it actively remixing a project or using something from anywhere on the website?

“You are encouraged to use anything you find on Scratch in your own creations, as long as you provide credit to everyone whose work you used and make a meaningful change to it.”

This means, as an artist, as long as someone changes something MINOR in the project, they can use my work. So, theoretically, someone can change the music in a project and repost it without giving credit, even though they haven’t edited the art. However, they have edited the project, so they can’t get in trouble for it. Even if someone were to report the repost, the project might not even be taken down because something about it was “changed.”

My second question, how will this be moderated and what qualifies as a valid “change?” Will ST take down projects based on credit as much as they do change? Or not? The guidelines also don’t state how much change needs to be added before the community guidelines say “nono, you can’t do that.”

“And when you share something on Scratch, you are giving permission to all Scratchers to use your work in their creations, too.”

Define “creations?”

Do you mean my artwork or any music I might make? Do you mean my characters or stories? Do you mean the code I use in my project?

As stated above, what does it mean when someone reports a project for theft? Is it just devoid of any meaning now?

An artist’s work is not yours based on the grounds that you “changed” something. If you take something someone put effort into without credit, that violates this guideline:

Treat everyone with respect.
Scratchers have diverse backgrounds, interests, identities, and experiences. Everyone on Scratch is encouraged to share things that excite them and are important to them—we hope that you find ways to celebrate your own identity on Scratch, and allow others to do the same. It’s never OK to attack a person or group’s identity or to be unkind to someone about their background or interests.

Remixing as a concept is fine. However, there is an issue when a platform condones and even supports said disrespect. It’s like a kick in the teeth and a spit on the grave of all artists on the website. It isn’t fair for our work to be used without credit/consent while we can’t even leave teasing remarks in our projects because they’re “mean spirited.” It isn’t like the art community is some tiny little fleck, it is almost the entirety of Scratch. The guidelines don’t protect the integrity of creations and artwork.

Most of the remixes on Scratch are uncredited reposts and recolors for a reason, the community guidelines support their existence.

- - -

With that has been said above, I want to suggest a few changes to the guidelines.

1. Make the guidelines less vague. State what defines things like “remix culture,” “respect,” and “creations.” It is hard to follow guidelines when you don’t know what breaks them, what they mean, etc.

2. Remove rules that allow people to use other’s work without permission and credit. Any project that uses someone else’s work without permission and credit should be reported and taken down.

3. Before editing or changing Community Guidelines, ask the community for input. This can be done in various ways from links to polls that appear in everyone’s inbox to forums where Scratchers can debate and discuss the change. Get. The. Community. Involved. This will prevent people from getting angry because of new changes/new changes being added that will hurt the website.

I wish to note that you can respect remix culture while doing the above. People can redraw the sprites in a game, and give credit to the creator for the code. Sure someone else did the code, but they did the art. You can edit a project to be more humorous while giving credit to the creator.

- - -

Notes: Please don’t just comment “Support” or “No Support” without explaining why you feel this way. Read the whole OP before responding.

Thank you for your time today.

Users are already required to credit their sources. No rule on Scratch overrules that.

Community Guidelines wrote:

You are encouraged to use anything you find on Scratch in your own creations, as long as you provide credit to everyone whose work you used and make a meaningful change to it.

Creations refers to everything you mentioned.
The guidelines probably refer to any change in the project as a change.
If you see a project using your work without credit just report it for not crediting you.

IStealBones wrote:

Most of the remixes on Scratch are uncredited reposts and recolors for a reason, the community guidelines support their existence.

Based ln the other quote, that is simply not true.

First, you can review this announcement to see what our remixing policy is: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/417686/

IStealBones wrote:

So, my first question is what defines “remix culture?” Is it actively remixing a project or using something from anywhere on the website?

“Embrace remix culture” basically means “Accept and support the remixing feature on Scratch, and the policies around it.” Don't discourage it (that's not allowed).

IStealBones wrote:

This means, as an artist, as long as someone changes something MINOR in the project, they can use my work. So, theoretically, someone can change the music in a project and repost it without giving credit, even though they haven’t edited the art. However, they have edited the project, so they can’t get in trouble for it. Even if someone were to report the repost, the project might not even be taken down because something about it was “changed.”

If no credit is given, then the project will be removed since there is no credit. Whenever someone uses art from another Scratcher, they must give credit. In addition, they must also change something about the project. So, projects which are exact copies of another project will be removed even if they give credit, and projects that don't give sufficient credit will be removed even if it is not an exact copy.

IStealBones wrote:

My second question, how will this be moderated and what qualifies as a valid “change?”

If a human looks at it and can clearly find a difference, then that is a valid change. In particular, if one pixel color is changed and we don't see that, then the remix may get removed.

IStealBones wrote:

Will ST take down projects based on credit as much as they do change? Or not?

Hopefully I answered this above. Change and credit are both very important in remixes.

IStealBones wrote:

The guidelines also don’t state how much change needs to be added before the community guidelines say “nono, you can’t do that.”

Again, it should be a noticeable change. That should be reasonable. Actually, equally as important, anyone who remixes a project should state in the Notes and Credits precisely what they changed in the project. That way everyone can see the changes.

IStealBones wrote:

“And when you share something on Scratch, you are giving permission to all Scratchers to use your work in their creations, too.”

Define “creations?”

Projects, for one. Also, they can use any art in your project as a profile picture, for example, as long as they give credit to you on their profile.

IStealBones wrote:

Do you mean my artwork or any music I might make? Do you mean my characters or stories? Do you mean the code I use in my project?

If you share your artwork, music, characters, stories, and code on Scratch, then all of that can be used by someone else on Scratch (as long as they give credit). Pretty much anything you share on Scratch can be used by someone else, with credit.

IStealBones wrote:

As stated above, what does it mean when someone reports a project for theft? Is it just devoid of any meaning now?

Usually “art theft” would refer to “This person used my art and did not give credit and/or did not change the original project and/or are claiming that they made the art.”

IStealBones wrote:

An artist’s work is not yours based on the grounds that you “changed” something.

Right! For any art you use on Scratch that was not created by you, you should give credit for it.

IStealBones wrote:

Remixing as a concept is fine. However, there is an issue when a platform condones and even supports said disrespect.

Based on my answers, I am hoping you still don't think this. We absolutely do not support stolen or uncredited work.

IStealBones wrote:

It isn’t fair for our work to be used without credit/consent

Careful there — credit is required, but consent is not required. That goes along with the “anyone can use your creations” part of the Community Guidelines. No one needs your permission to use your creations that were shared on Scratch.

IStealBones wrote:

while we can’t even leave teasing remarks in our projects because they’re “mean spirited.”

That's just a way to prevent lots of arguments and drama. Please use the Report button on any projects which use your creations without credit, and don't respond to them. Anyone who willingly steals art is likely not to change their mind from someone calling them out.

IStealBones wrote:

It isn’t like the art community is some tiny little fleck, it is almost the entirety of Scratch. The guidelines don’t protect the integrity of creations and artwork.

Again, we require that Scratchers give credit for any art which they use and did not create themselves.

IStealBones wrote:

Most of the remixes on Scratch are uncredited reposts and recolors for a reason, the community guidelines support their existence.

That's not correct, the Community Guidelines explicitly state that you must provide credit if you use someone else's work. If it's a “repost” (i.e. “unchanged”), that's not okay either, even if credit is given. On the other hand, recolors (with credit given) are okay.

IStealBones wrote:

Make the guidelines less vague. State what defines things like “remix culture,” “respect,” and “creations.” It is hard to follow guidelines when you don’t know what breaks them, what they mean, etc.

I would think that “respect” is somewhat given, I'm hoping that they teach what “respect” means in school. Essentially, “Be nice to people.” One could look it up in a dictionary, too. “Creations” refers to anything that you share on Scratch. “Remix culture” is probably a little less self-explanatory, but I hopefully clarify it above.

IStealBones wrote:

Remove rules that allow people to use other’s work without permission and credit. Any project that uses someone else’s work without permission and credit should be reported and taken down.

Nowhere do we say that you are allowed to use others' work without credit. Yes, you can already report content that uses others' work without credit. As for permission, however, we won't be doing that — you don't need permission to use others' work on Scratch, as the ability to freely use/remix anothers' creations to enhance your own creations is a core value of Scratch. If you are not willing to allow others to use your art without permission (but with credit), then please do not share your art on Scratch.

IStealBones wrote:

I wish to note that you can respect remix culture while doing the above. People can redraw the sprites in a game, and give credit to the creator for the code. Sure someone else did the code, but they did the art. You can edit a project to be more humorous while giving credit to the creator.

Sounds like a good remix opportunity to me! You wouldn't necessarily need to redraw the sprites (unless you wanted to), as long as you gave credit.

IStealBones wrote:

Thank you for your time today.

And thanks to you as well. Very well-written post; I hope I clarified some stuff for you. Again, we also have an announcement here describing more of our remixing policy: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/417686/

Za-Chary wrote:

IStealBones wrote:

My second question, how will this be moderated and what qualifies as a valid “change?”

If a human looks at it and can clearly find a difference, then that is a valid change. In particular, if one pixel color is changed and we don't see that, then the remix may get removed.

Are you saying that if one pixel color is changed and you do notice it, it won't be removed?

Currently on Scratch to use someone else's work they have to be credited. Remixing automatically does that. Hope this clears up something if you choose not to read Za-Chary's message (which you should!).

I recommend you use the offline editor and not share your projects on the Scratch website if you don't want people using your art without permission.

NormalMaker wrote:

Za-Chary wrote:

IStealBones wrote:

My second question, how will this be moderated and what qualifies as a valid “change?”

If a human looks at it and can clearly find a difference, then that is a valid change. In particular, if one pixel color is changed and we don't see that, then the remix may get removed.

Are you saying that if one pixel color is changed and you do notice it, it won't be removed?

No, I'm pretty sure that he means that it has to be an obvious change, not something you have to scan for.

2. Remove rules that allow people to use other’s work without permission and credit. Any project that uses someone else’s work without permission and credit should be reported and taken down.

Permission is not required.

Terms of Use wrote:

3.6 Commercial use of Scratch, user-generated content, and support materials is permitted under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.

This means that everything you post can be used by other people. If you don’t agree with this then don’t use Scratch.

1. It looks like that first sentence is a dupe. For the rest, Za-Chary* has explained this.
2. Unfortunately, that is rejected.

TOLORS wrote:

3.2 Disable remixing or censor minor remixes
One of the most important ideas of Scratch is the share aspect. Scratch is a website not only for displaying your work, but also for sharing it with others, and by posting your project on the Scratch website you agree to allow others to remix your work. You are not allowed to write “Do not remix this project” in the Notes and Credits of your project; you may get alerted for this, because it discourages remixing.

A remix of a project is allowed on Scratch, even if the remix only contains minor changes (this includes recolors). However, when you remix a project, you should put in the Notes and Credits what you changed. If you see a project that contains no noticeable changes, please use the Report button on it so the Scratch Team can take a look at it. This suggestion extends to “extremely minor remixes,” such as a remix of a game that gives you 2 points per second instead of 1. As long as the user explains what they changed about the project and gives proper credit, this is okay.

3. If you want something in the Community Guidelines to change, then use the Suggestions forum. It is what gets the community involved.

With all this being said, please read The Official List of Rejected Suggestions and this guide to find duplicates.

No support. As said before by Za-Chary, and many more, there are ways in place for people who steal art and make invalid remixes. It is also rejected to ban remixes or censor remixes with small changes. The Community Guidelines also make you give credit

Support. As an artist, I feel consent is very important if people want to use my art. Za-Chary stated that any Scratcher could take my art and use it as a PFP with credit without permission - how would I feel if I saw my art being used and I didn't even know? Pretty confused and angered. Scratch was a big part of my development as an artist, it disappoints me that Scratch is denying consent.


Also, based on my understanding, if you post art on a different platform that copyrights media posted on it BEFORE you post it on Scratch, this copyright is at a higher “rank” and I could file a complaint if someone used my art without my consent - which is the case for me. I post all my art on Toyhouse, which copyrights and protects my art. (please correct me if I'm wrong.)

EDIT: I recently read a comment saying that by joining Scratch, you're already giving your consent. I understand that, but would still prefer a clearer way to give consent clearly.

cringey_art wrote:

Support. As an artist, I feel consent is very important if people want to use my art. Za-Chary stated that any Scratcher could take my art and use it as a PFP with credit without permission - how would I feel if I saw my art being used and I didn't even know? Pretty confused and angered. Scratch was a big part of my development as an artist, it disappoints me that Scratch is denying consent.


Also, based on my understanding, if you post art on a different platform that copyrights media posted on it BEFORE you post it on Scratch, this copyright is at a higher “rank” and I could file a complaint if someone used my art without my consent - which is the case for me. I post all my art on Toyhouse, which copyrights and protects my art. (please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Here's a helpful Terms of Use quote.

ToU wrote:

4.3 All user-generated content you submit to Scratch is licensed to and through Scratch under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. This allows others to view and remix your content. This license also allows the Scratch Team to display, distribute, and reproduce your content on the Scratch website, through social media channels, and elsewhere. If you do not want to license your content under this license, then do not share it on Scratch.

Scratch has the Creative Commons license, so as long as there's proper credit, copyright is rather useless.

If someone doesn't give credit, report them. If they do, then it just benefits everybody! They get a chance to work with some amazing art and add in their own ideas, and you get more people seeing your amazing art. Remixing and giving credit is a win-win.

cringey_art wrote:

As an artist, I feel consent is very important if people want to use my art. (…) Scratch was a big part of my development as an artist, it disappoints me that Scratch is denying consent.

We're not really “denying consent” — per the Terms of Use quote that @DarthVader4Life provided above, you are already giving your consent by sharing your art on Scratch. Consent is pretty important, but as stated in the Terms of Use, sharing your art on Scratch automatically gives others consent.

cringey_art wrote:

Za-Chary stated that any Scratcher could take my art and use it as a PFP with credit without permission - how would I feel if I saw my art being used and I didn't even know? Pretty confused and angered.

Understandable — and these are the sorts of feelings that you must consider before sharing art on Scratch. If you think you may be confused or angered by someone using your art without permission, then you should not share that art on Scratch.

cringey_art wrote:

Also, based on my understanding, if you post art on a different platform that copyrights media posted on it BEFORE you post it on Scratch, this copyright is at a higher “rank” and I could file a complaint if someone used my art without my consent - which is the case for me. I post all my art on Toyhouse, which copyrights and protects my art. (please correct me if I'm wrong.)

I don't know how Toyhouse works, but if you share your art on Scratch, then you are sharing it under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license (see @DarthVader4Life's post above, and/or the Terms of Use). Under this license that Scratch has, anyone can use the art that you share on Scratch, as long as they give credit, and no permission/consent is required. This holds if you share your art on Scratch only, or if you share your art on Scratch and then share it elsewhere, or if you share it elsewhere and then on Scratch. As soon as you post your art on Scratch, you are giving others permission to use your art with credit, regardless of wherever else you shared your art.

https://scratch.mit.edu/download

No one can use your art without permission if you keep it on your own computer.

samq64 wrote:

https://scratch.mit.edu/download

No one can use your art without permission if you keep it on your own computer.

What about the people that DO want the Scratch community to see their art, and receive feedback/praise from it, but DON’T want people to have immediate access to use it elsewhere?

TMF10 wrote:

samq64 wrote:

https://scratch.mit.edu/download

No one can use your art without permission if you keep it on your own computer.

What about the people that DO want the Scratch community to see their art, and receive feedback/praise from it, but DON’T want people to have immediate access to use it elsewhere?

I don't think there's much you can do. Even if you don't share your art on Scratch, a lot of art-sharing platforms are not okay to share on Scratch — those websites can be easily used to share personal information.

Za-Chary wrote:

I don't think there's much you can do. Even if you don't share your art on Scratch, a lot of art-sharing platforms are not okay to share on Scratch — those websites can be easily used to share personal information.

Precisely. How is one to migrate to separate platforms, with protection for their art, without losing a great deal of their fans and supporters? And if they don’t do so how can they post art on Scratch without the possibility of it being used without consent?

TMF10 wrote:

how can they post art on Scratch without the possibility of it being used without consent?

I'm afraid that is not possible.

TMF10 wrote:

Precisely. How is one to migrate to separate platforms, with protection for their art, without losing a great deal of their fans and supporters?

I suspect this is not possible, but maybe there is something I am overlooking. One could use the migration to a different platform as an opportunity to “start over.”

Za-Chary wrote:

We're not really “denying consent” — per the Terms of Use quote that @DarthVader4Life provided above, you are already giving your consent by sharing your art on Scratch. Consent is pretty important, but as stated in the Terms of Use, sharing your art on Scratch automatically gives others consent.

Understandable — and these are the sorts of feelings that you must consider before sharing art on Scratch. If you think you may be confused or angered by someone using your art without permission, then you should not share that art on Scratch.

I would consider putting a sort of checkmark to click when you're signing up for Scratch - like how you sometimes have to click “I accept the terms and conditions” - so people know they are giving consent for Scratchers to remix their projects without additional permission.