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As you know, I started a DeviantArt account back in the early fall of this year. My goal was to earn a little money off of my cartooning via merchandise offered on the site, while also sharing my Sailormoon art with some friends I already have on there. Simple, right?

Well two days after posting one of my pics of Kousagi, I get a slue of nasty emails and comment posts from DeviantArt staff AND from a few Codename Sailor Earth haters. Apparently Photoshop edits are against the rules. Funny how I was NEVER told about this! In fact, when you join DeviantArt this is NOWHERE on the “Terms and Conditions” page. Had I known about this, I never would have posted squat from www.moonsisters.org , but live and learn I guess.

But there’s more. Apparently if you’re ME, it’s wrong to post Photoshop edits.

BUT If you’re http://bunnytsukinoserenity.deviantart.com/ and you want to steal an animation I made 5 years ago for moonsisters.org, and you want to post it here: http://fav.me/d3212fg then you’re an “artist” and people should respect you. Ah what?

Oh and this is a good one: http://fav.me/d2rv759 Hey thanks for the shoutout, but did you REALLY take a picture of yourself ripping s**t from my site? AH YEAH YA DID!!

So I notice that 5 of the pictures I edited and posted to moonsisters.org YEARS AGO are cropping up all over DeviantArt. Now I’m pretty pissed off.

So I blasted each of the thieves, telling people “Hey! This person STOLE from MY site!” via the comment boards, then I emailed DeviantArt staff, providing them with links and PROOF of when each and every single picture was made, posted to my site, and when these thieves stole my content. I wanted the pictures taken down.

I get a terse email back for each picture ~ From the DeviantArt staff ~ telling me that
1. These are Photoshop edits and therefore NOT art
2. I have NO RIGHT to try and protect ANY of my edits, for they are not art.
3. The links and screen caps I provided are invalid, because this is “not art” and again, I shouldn’t be defending MY stolen art, for I am a thief myself for having made it.
4. Clearly there is something wrong with ME, that I am a problem because I posted these pics to begin with.

I was ready to snap.

Then came the final blow. I noticed that I wasn’t making a dime off of ANYTHING I had up for sale on my account!

DeviantArt claimed that even though I gave them my PayPal info and an address to snail mail checks to, that somehow I didn’t provide them with enough data to process any orders, and therefore I was not eligible for payment, should say a coffee mug with my art on it be sold.

Which brings me to this point. This is how DeviantArt sets up your payment.

Let’s say you buy a coffee mug with a picture I drew on it, through DeviantArt. The mugs are $11.99 a piece.

According to them:
1. 10% of the cost goes to making the $11.99 coffee mug.
2. 20% of the cost goes to me.

Where does the remaining 70% of that 11.99 go? DeviantArt. Yeah. For real. And that’s BEFORE you add the shipping charge.

So let me get this right. I hand draw a wrestler. I post it to the site. I agree to let you make a coffee mug out of it. You take 70% of the pay??? Ah BULLSHIT!

So this was the letter I sent them:

To Whom It May concern;

Due to unrelenting harassment, stalking and personal attacks upon myself and my cartooning, I have decided to terminate my account with DeviantArt effective immediately. I have been the victim of consistent cyber bullying, theft of my artwork and malicious messaging, all of which were duly reported and yet, no resolution was forthcoming. I was told by the staff at DeviantArt that since my content was fan-art, it did not meet with the criteria of “original” art and therefore, was not worthy of being protected by the same rules that apparently applied to other DeviantArt accounts. I am completely disheartened by this lack of protective action and will alert both friends and work associates who frequent DeviantArt to these less than supportive practices. When account holders come to the administration for assistance with problems of piracy, stalking and theft, we would hope that these matters gain proper investigation and resolution rather than ignoring the problem and placing blame upon the victims. I will never again utilize DeviantArt for any purposes whatsoever and will steer far clear of anything associated with it. You would do well to implement a more fair investigatory practice when cyber attacks occur to those you proclaim to represent.

Sincerely.
K. Ake

Now for the kicker. You know all the bullshit I initially went through with being told that I was wrong for posting Photoshop edits of Sailormoon? Well I invite you to browse around DeviantArt. Try searching for Kousagi, Rini, Chibiusa, Peruru and I promise you there will be COUNTLESS edits and Photoshopped pics.

So then I take a trip to Wikipedia to see who owns this site. Here’s what I got:

DeviantArt[2] (official typeset as deviantART[2]; commonly abbreviated as dA) is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. DeviantArt, Inc. is headquartered in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States.[3]
Copyright and licensing issues
There is no review of potential copyright and Creative Commons licensing violations when a work is submitted to DeviantArt, so such violations can remain unnoticed until reported.[clarification needed] A mechanism for notifying administrators of potential copyright and licensing violations is available.[19] Some members of the community have also been the victims of this type of abuse from disreputable vendors using artwork illegally on products and prints.[20]
[edit] Termination of Scott Jarkoff
On July 29, 2005, co-founder Scott Jarkoff was removed from the DeviantArt staff, angering members of the community.[21][22] DeviantArt staff have portrayed his termination as necessary, but this assertion was disputed.[clarification needed][21] With Matthew Stephens' resignation in 2003, supporters of Scott Jarkoff assert that now neither of the founders remain in DeviantArt’s administration. In contrast, Sotira insists he was a founder, and also the first full time working staff member of the DeviantArt administration. The DeviantArt administration has been generally tight-lipped throughout the incident, due to legal restraints.[21]
Various campaigns have sprung up in support of Scott Jarkoff, including the "Bring Back the Community" campaign, "Save the Alien", and "Yellow Day" (because Jarkoff was known as the "yellow alien," Jarkoff's mascot) which was carried out by many of Scott Jarkoff's supporters.[23]
On July 31, 2005, Sotira posted an official response to explain the situation.[clarification needed][21] The response to this entry was mixed.[clarification needed] Jarkoff also posted an explanation on his personal website.[clarification needed][22]
On October 7, 2007, Jarkoff wrote a journal in which he complained about his video getting deleted due to a copyright violation.[24] On October 13, 2007, Sotira responded,[25] claiming that Jarkoff lied about his role in DeviantArt’s development, that Jarkoff did nothing on the site in the beginning, and that he was the one who fired Matthew Stephens in 2003. He accuses Jarkoff of hypocrisy by saying that Jarkoff still owns shares of DeviantArt stock.[citation needed] Jarkoff claimed he needed money to sue Sotira for wrongful termination, and even went so far as to set up a fund for it, but Sotira claims that in reality, he had more than enough money to cover any legal costs for any lawsuits.[citation needed] Sotira implies that Jarkoff defrauded even though Sotira was going to use DeviantArt’s money to fight any legal battle against Jarkoff.[clarification needed][26]

Now if you’re reading this, I advise you to do the following:

1. Take your art down, and go find another site. If you have Sailormoon art, you are more than encouraged to email it to me, I will post it on moonsisters.org with 100% credit to you.
2. Cancel your DeviantArt account. If this happened to me it can AND WILL happen to you too.
3. Tell your friends/family.

If you’re brave enough to stay on (why would you?) and you see ANYTHING of mine on there, raise Hell. Let these bastards know that this is NOT acceptable.

Aside from alot of harrassing emails and the fact that there were people ripping off content from moonsisters.org and taking credit for it, the main reasons why I deactivated my DeviantArt are:

1. IF you sell anything through them, you will only make 20%. 10% goes to production cost and DeviantArt makes the remaining 70%. You are essentially giving them your art for pennies.

2. They will NEVER try to protect you should a thief report your work without permission.

3. They claim that Photoshop pics are “not” art, yet they allow people to routinely SCAN stuff from the Sailormoon manga!

4. New artists will be flagged for Photoshopping, but this site still has Triple X material on it. Some of it is of underage characters. REALLY??

I'm not gonna quit drawing or Photoshopping, but I think I can do better.

i'm sorry to sound as i know i will be, but the issue here is not deviantArt's fault. they have the law telling them that Photoshop manipulations are illegal unless the one altering the original image has permission by the owner of the original image, and by that legal standpoint, without that permission, it is not an original piece of art. if you had classified the picture properly, i doubt anyone would have complained, and there are classifications for manipulations and fan art, of which yours qualifies.

i've been using dA for many years, and see this happen to people all the time because they don't understand the system, which is somewhat flawed in cases you mentioned, like sexually themed art that is not honestly art but pornography. however, this case of yours is clearly a misunderstanding of the system.

you cannot claim others of using your fan art to dA because it is fan art, thereby having no copyright to you. if someone has posted a picture you drew, by hand or Photoshopped, of a bunny, that piece of original art would be, under copyright, yours. at the same time, it would also be prudent of you to pen your name to all your original arts, and after you place an appropriate copyright on your fan art, asserting that the fan art is done by you. that kind of work is allowed.

similarly, there are some people who make art based off others, but they constantly refer back to the original source of their work, which makes their original artwork legal, allowing for dA to make sure no one affronts their rights. the fact that you do not own the images, nor received permission by those who do, means that what dA did is legal and standard in these situations.

again, i am sorry i sound as i do, but the issue is not as you'd like, and i cannot change that. i'd like to make it clear that if you reposted your work and classified it properly in the system, that no one would report it and people could enjoy it more.

the comments you've made on the sales bit is also inaccurate to the system in place. if the work was your own, then you would be getting money, but seeing as it is not, dA doesn't put that work out to be sold. also, they prefer that you set up a membership so that you receive a profit from selling your artwork. that way, the cost of making the items is already covered, and most who have memberships for that purpose do make a profit on their work.

subsequently, dA better aids users who have memberships for the main site and produce original artwork. those who have memberships and only work on fan works are still aided, but only if they abide by the rules of the law and the system.

once again, i'm sorry how i sound saying all this, and i do understand where you're coming from, but i also see how you have misunderstood the system and the law on matters such as these are.