Where to draw the line? Stealing Art/Copyright Infringement

Moderation
#1

Proposal:Do not tolerate any stolen art. Specifically, draw the line of what is/isn’t.

Summary: Rarible users are stealing other artists’ work and changing/modifying tiny elements, clearly still stolen and blatant lack of effort and skill.

Greetings, everyone!

This is a topic to discuss the moral integrity of the platform and essentially a code of conduct on Rarible that we tolerate/do not tolerate–help to define the standard of what is acceptable and what isn’t. I have brought this up several times and it loves to get swept under the rug, brushed aside, mainly by those who are advocating it and/or profiting off it. The whole “meme culture” is great in many ways, who doesn’t love a good meme? Unfortunately, this has lead into some less than respectable areas and poor practices. Many love the element of “true digital ownership” which is wonderful, yet don’t value and respect the ownership or property of others. What I mean is how can you value true ownership and be perfectly content to steal other artists’ work and then change a few pieces and then call it yours, THEN profit on it (most likely washed anyways… oh yeah, it gets worse lol). Regardless of the speculation, this is not only a moral issue, it’s a legal one and could potentially bring more negative attention to Rarible. My focus is more on the moral code than the legal… as it’s just blatantly disrespectful to the original creators. Not sure if you can use another artist/creator’s work? Contact them. If it’s publicly shared, read the type of license they have on their creation(s).

Where to draw the line? Vote Yes (Acceptable) or No (Not Acceptable)

1. Recreating a character or new art from another artist/creator’s pre-existing work? Yes
(Creating from scratch)

2. Take pre-existing art/images and plaster over, edit it, modify, etc. (without artist perm.) No
(Not creating from scratch and don’t have artist’s permission & legal rights to use their art.)

I am not listing examples or calling out specific people on the platform. My intention is to bring up the issue and topic of discussion rather than point the finger and try to attack certain people that are blissfully dancing in this gray area.

All the best,
YuurinBee

1 Like
#2

I think you raise a very important point, but I am afraid that the notions you gave are not feasible for 21st Century art.
Memes definitely are part of the arts today and memes being second iteration art (the second option you gave) I would be very sad to not see these on the RARI platform.
In my view the priority for now should be to hinder the sale of outright copyright infringements. Differentiating between the different shades of gray in second iteration art can be covered at a later stage.

4 Likes
#3

It’s getting incredibly difficult in the digital age and with a massive population, there’s no doubt there. This proposal isn’t wanting to end memes by any means. It’s a social experiment to see what other community members feel is acceptable/unacceptable. I already have a good idea, if this was proposed and able to be voted on where most people would cast their votes. Just a learning experience.

*I’ve also edited #2 to clearly define what I was going after. Thanks to @autumnwyvern for suggesting in Discord.

#4

Idea’s should be shared, but artists should be valued. So #1- YES, #2 NO. Digital artists get their work stolen constantly, it would be fantastic if Rarible could be the blockchain solution to that problem, and not just add to it and make it worse.
Being so early in the game now everything is still novel and fun, but unchecked if 90% of the work becomes recycled memes and stolen art no one will take this platform seriously. There is a real collector culture out there, and this may be a niche that outlives all of us if played right.

1 Like
#5

i think memes live for themselves and are subject to modifications, yes i would not like to see an 100% art piece been stolen here, but hey this is just the beginning, lets keep building, making and producing digital art with the authenticity than need to be successful.