Do you want to use my work? Then READ, PLEASE.

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Hi pals!

 

I get many questions from people who want to use my photos somehow – I state they need my permission, but I am too busy to answer their notes and comments at the same time. Very stupid situation that is in fact a trap for all those who are polite and really ask for permission :(

 

That’s why I decided to create some general rules.
And to make it user friendly, I chose the form of questions and answers.
I hope they fit any situation you might think about, but if you get any idea, please, do not hesitate to comment!

 

Those rules will be also on the main page of my account and I will link to them through every of my new deviations :D

 

 

*******************

 

RULES FOR USING MY WORK

 

The main rule is: ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT.

Even if I do not like what people did with my work, I will always treat them nicely when they at least tried to somehow credit me. On the contrary, I will always hunt down people who repost / use my shots without at least an attempt to show that it is my work.


How to give credit? Probably the best way is something like “Original (link to original photo) taken by woxys." But “original by woxys” is fair enough. For people who use my art outside of DA, please, always use a full link to my account “Photo belongs to Woxys: www.woxys.deviantart.com”. The link to particular original photo would be appreciated.


Other rule: never cut my signature, please. Cutting my signature is allowed only in situation 8 :)

 

1) Can I use your photos as a drawing / painting / sculpture reference?

Yes, you definitely can! I am always pleased when other artists use my photos as an inspiration for their own art. So just give me a credit and send me a link to your final work. I will fav it ;) I usually consider such inspired art to be the property of the author who referenced (especially when he/she use my art just to find out how to draw details, like paws of the foxes), but rather contact me before commercial use. But in 99 % cases it would be fine :)

 

2) Can I use your photos for photomanipulations and brushing?

Yes, you can. Again, credit me and send me a link to your work, so I can fav it. In this case, the commercial use of such modified photos might be problematic, so always contact me before you plan to sell your work. If I see there is just a minor change (especially kids love to modify just the colour of the animal’s eyes), I would not be happy if you were selling such art.

 

3a) Can I use your art for any commercial purpose? For commercial purpose, I mean: a logo of a company or any other business, a poster, a motive for ANY thing which is for sold/sell, simply any use that might generate profit, even secondary (a logo, a cover for a book, blah blah blah….). Even if this is just "referenced" - like for example using my photo of a leopard and turning it into a STYLIZED logo/graphic or a T-shirt design / puzzle design.

No, you can not use it for profit without my written permission. I do allow people to use my work for commercial purpose under some condition, but it is always non-exclusive right (so I am still allowed to use and sell my photos). It is always a pleasure for me that somebody wants to use my art and if we finally make a deal! But sorry, I want money. I am too poor to just give my photos away ;) there are only two subjects which might get my photos for free and I would deal with them on particular issues. Thanks for understanding.

 
3b) What about dA commisions? Can I use your photos in that way?
In this case, contact me, please, I will do my best to help :) 



4) Can I use your photos on Facebook / Twitter / any other social network?

I am very happy and grateful when people SHARE my work. That’s the point – if you want to use my work on Facebook and other similar social sites, please, always SHARE, never repost. Simply share a link, never download my photo, uploading it in your own gallery. After all, it would be against rules of Facebook if you do that. Please, try to consider how original artists feel when they see Facebook accounts posting their art, which gets hundreds of shares so original artists totally lose control over their own original creation. The same applies to site like “Pinterest”, “Tumbr” , “We heart it” and other similar pages. I hate them. I hate them with passion.




5) Can I use your photos for my school work/project like a presentation about some animal species which needs some illustrative images?

Yes, you can. Please, do not forget to give me a credit. The rule is the same: “Photos belong to Woxys (Woxys.deviantart.com)”.

 

6) Can I use your photos for a blog / my site?

I am not very happy about ANY reposting of my work, but I understand many people love to write articles about animals and so and they are not able to complete them with their own photos, while I am lucky to be able to snap animals. So yes, you can use them, but ALWAYS give credit, please. And NEVER cut my signature - this rule is especially important when it comes to posting my shots outside of DA. And it would be very appreciated if you stated that nobody else is allowed to take those photos from YOUR blog/site for other use. Also, please consider the number of photos you use for such purpose. Up to 10 would be nice ;)

 

7) Can I use your photos for a roleplay?

This does not make me happy at all, but… yes, you can. But please, up to three photos and always give credit. And I would appreciate if you did not cut my signature. There is also a great site for free role play photos! => www.dawnthieves.de/Web/index.p…

 

8) Can I use your photo for an avatar / Facebook icon?

For avatar here on dA: yes, you can, just give me credit and make the photo some 200x200 px small.

For Facebook: only if you upload it as 50x50 px version. Also, please, give credit.

For Facebook Timeline motive: you can upload only it that size which is required by Facebook itself for such motive and please, put a “Woxys” sign on that photo and give credit, please.

In this case, you might cut a signature, because it would make a total mess in such a tiny picture :)

 

9) Am I allowed to use your calendars and free wallpapers?

As it is also clearly written in the terms of use, both wallpapers and calendars are only and ONLY for privat use, you might also send a link to a friend or print it for a friend. You must not upload it anywhere else, you must not repost it, you must not sell it and you must not sell / repost / upload particular images of the calendar.

 

10) Am I allowed to print your photos?

Yes, but only for private use like decorating your room walls :) the same rule applies to downloading photos, setting them as wallpaper. Private use for one computer is ok. Downloading the photo and sending it to your friend, who would not even know me so he would upload it on some “free wallpaper website” definitely IS NOT ok ;)

 
11) I used dA's Premium content, paying you some points for download. So now I own that photo and I can do anything I want with it, even sell it, right?

Definitely no, it is just for private use. Even DA states that - all my premium content deviations are under "personal/non profit use agreement". You definitely can not gain any photo for your own commercial profit for paying just 100 points (1 USD), sorry :(


 12) Would you send me a bigger size of the photo in your gallery?
Sorry... I do not like doing this :( at first - making the picture smaller is the first thing I do when I start editing. So I would had need to edit it once more. Also, I simply would not feel comfortable giving original size of the photo from my hands, especially when there is just a SMALLER version in my gallery. I can imagine only sending a large, but partly cropped version of the photo, but it would be full of WOXYS WOXYS WOXYS WOXYS WOXYS watermarks. Sorry, I really apologize, but art-thieves made me paranoid that much.



I have stated it many times, but I would like everybody to understand why I am so “hysterical” about such “give me credit”, “do not repost on Facebook” rules.

 

So: if you post art of original artists, let’s call him Mr. Goose, without credit, people have no chance to understand it is not your original work. They have no chance to recognize Mr. Goose as an original author, asking him if they can use his art. Instead, they would take the photo from you. Sharing it on Facebook. In this moment, Mr. Goose is already unhappy, because he’s totally lost any control over his work. Some rude persons even use it for profit, other persons even enter photo competitions with his work and he has only a tiny chance to prove HE is the only person who owns rights for the photo. People even upload his photos on Wikipedia under Free Commons, so much more people even feel free and allowed to use those shots! Mr. Goose feels helpless to see his photos reposted on Facebook with thousands of “likes” and he knows that because of sharing, he now has absolutely NO control over his work and to influence what happens with his property.

And you know what happens finally? Mr. Goose is attacked by people, who state it was HIM who stole the art. When he says “No, I am the one who originally took the photo”, everybody laughs at him, saying that this photo is everywhere on the web.

 

Do you think I am hysterical? I have already seen original artists whose art have been posted many times being accused of stealing, having many hateful comments on their site. Even my own friends had to defend themselves when they entered a competition, some lady found their photos ilegally reposted on some blog and then accused my friends from stealing. We go to ZOOs, we have to wake up at 6 AM to bring photos, we pay for journey, we pay entrance fee, we stay many hours wainting for the right pose, we spend 6 hours in a bus to be able to upload our shots on dA. We do not deserve to get into a situation when we need to prove it was us who really took those photos, not just some thieves.

And I have already gone through a wonderful site with 500 000 fans which kept posting my photos and when I politely asked it to remove my property, the owner of the account sent all half million fans to troll me. My site was full of such hateful comments, because people followed like some sheep. But I’ve managed (together with other DA artists whose art was stolen) to delete that site. But I do not want to go through this again. It was such an injustice it was even painful, I remember how I was trembling with anger and sadness and a strong feeling of injustice.

 

So: I know I am lucky to see and photograph so many animals. I know many people are not that lucky and I want to enable them to enjoy a part of my luck. But please, when you use my work, be fair. I am doing my best to be honest (that such use usually make me nervous), but I am trying to be as tolerant as I feel comfortable. I am trying to be fair, please, be fair too.

 

Thank you for respecting those rules :heart:

 

And if you do not, I will send my daemon psychic fennec fox to hunt you down! :laughing:



 



 

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ladykatina's avatar
Your work is excellent I love and respect wolves. I understand your rules and I won't be posting/sharing your wonderful photos. Keep up the work. At least I can see it here.