(no subject)

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

This is just a question.

As an artist, what do you do when asked to draw a character that you KNOW does not belong to the person commissioning you?

I recently had a situation occur where a commissioner wanted me to draw a character that I know did not belong to them. I had seen this character recently myself (it was by a rather well-known artist), so I knew the context, I knew the character was created for a specific person, not the person wanting to commission me.

I politely declined the commission, stating that I was aware that the character did not belong to the person wishing to commission me, but I find myself wondering if I should alert the original artist that this commissioner is trying to commission art of their character.  In this case, the art that was going to be commissioned would not have been a SFW commission and would not have been anything even like 'fan art' of the character.

I don't like to stir drama, but I do find myself thinking that I should tell the original artist, given the context that the commissioner wanted the character drawn in.

I'd welcome some opinions on this though.

Comments

[kaelstra.livejournal.com]

I would just decline it and leave it at that.

[slinkslowdown.livejournal.com]

I'd decline it and inform the owner of the character. If it were someone doing that with a character of mine that I don't allow others to use/draw without my permission, I'd want to be told about it.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

Yeah...and I just saw that I'm not the only person they commissioned. There's at least 3 other people that have already done commissions of this character...so I'm making a note now to send to the original artist/creator of the character.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Personally, my OC is a representation of me. I'd certainly like to know if someone was trying to commission adult material of them without my knowledge. I would tell the owner privately.

[skittlewolf.livejournal.com]

This is my feelings on the subject as well.

[casteddreams.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[kasune.livejournal.com]

All of this. Some people have emotional attachment to their characters altogether, not just their "persona/fursona," too!

[maxi.livejournal.com]

Also agreeing with this.

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Thirded.
Though I am confused, so the 'original artist' doesn't own the character, they were just doing a commission of it, right? In that case, I agree with what gatekat said--let the character's creator know about the situation, but leave the artist out of it. It's not your place to go on a crusade for this character or the character's owner. The owner can decide what to do about this for themselves.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

In this case, it was the artist who created the character as a gift for the person the character belongs to. So, I'm chosing to alert the artist, since they created the character as a gift for the other person to begin with.

[zaulankris.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. My main character is also a representation of myself, it'd be super gross to find images or her doing naughty things that I didn't OK.

By telling the owner the worst that can happen is they confirm they don't care.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

Yeah...and I just saw that I'm not the only person they commissioned. There's at least 3 other people that have already done commissions of this character...so I'm making a note now to send to the original artist/creator of the character.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

After a fair bit of digging, I ended up finding out that this person has been commissioning multiple pieces with this character. Including making an f-list page for this character.

The person who owns the character has been informed, and she's privately going to the other artists that were commissioned and asking them to take down the art.

So, the situation is being taken care of. But I'm debating if I should make another artist-beware post just so that commissioner doesn't do this again.

[deejthistle.livejournal.com]

Including making an f-list page for this character.

Oh wow. That's definitely taking it to the next level (especially if the character's a personal avatar) :S

Good on you for alerting the owner.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

That's some creepy shit yo :(

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Honestly? Yes. This is something I'd like to know as an artist who does commission work. Given my emotional attachment to my own characters, I'd feel terrible if I accepted a commission like this.

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

skeezy D: yeah make an AB of this guy, please. a lot of people DON'T check with char owners, and an AB might help stop this guy.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Exactly this. I've had a situation like this happen to me and I was upset to see that a few other artists that were commissioned knew the character belonged to me and didn't tell me what was going on or stop the commission. It would be a good idea to tell the person that their character is being used.

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

Alert the artist? No.

Alert the person who owns the character? I probably would, but it depends on their public stance about fan art and NSFW of their chars. But I'm often considered a real ass and social undesirable too.

Do it by notes if you do? Absolutely.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

I did go ahead and alert both. The artist created the character as a gift for the person that owns the character, so I felt in this case that both should be told. Particularly because I found out (from shouts on the commissioner's page) that he's been commissioning other artists for works of this character, and I felt like both the artist and the owner should know about this.

[exo-formicidae.livejournal.com]

depends if the person claim the charas as their or not.
If they say me and *name*, then I will send a note to the other person regardless if they have permission or not. This have saved me before.

However, if they claim to own it, I would be a little rougher flat out decline based on that. In the second scenario I would most likely also send just a small neutral note to the one I thought was the original owner. - especially if it's nsfw

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

If someone other than the character owner is commissioning me, I always require them to have the owner of the character send me a PM stating it is ok to draw their character (and specify that it's ok for an adult picture). For legitimate presents, it takes some of the surprise out, but I don't give out exact details of the pic so there is still some mystery for the receiver of the gift.

It may be above and beyond what an artist is legally required to do, but I feel that, as personal as some folks' characters can be for them, this is the safest route.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And as I've found out after a bit of digging, the person that was going to commission me has been commissioning other artists for art of this character as well.

I've spoken to the person that owns the character, she is understandably upset, and she is privately talking to the artists who were commissioned for art of this character.

So, the situation is being taken care of by the person most affected, but I'm wondering I should make another artist-beware post just so the commissioner's theft of the character is publicly known.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

While character theft as a general discussion often comes up here, making a beware about it would really depend on the situation. Generally, character theft isn't valid for a beware, since most characters are not trademarked and are therefore not legally protected. The exceptions for this which we have allowed in the past are instances where there it is used as blatant harassment/stalking (multiple pics of extremely inappropriate art) or as impersonation in order to scam people.

If the owner of the character feels this is a valid case, they are more than welcome to submit a beware, and we moderators could review the details and see if it fits our criteria.

[takesu.livejournal.com]

If they are claiming the character is their's, I would notify the rightful owner. It would not hurt to send a courtesy PM if you suspect something is wrong.

[houndofloki.livejournal.com]

If the commissioner is claiming to own the character, I would definitely inform the actual owner.

If the commissioner did not claim to own it, I'd check the owner's profile first just to see if this is one of those people who's a-ok with NSFW art being done of their character. If their profile doesn't explicitly that they are, I'd let them know.

I hope that sense. It does in my head, but I think it came out convoluted (lol).

[tartii.livejournal.com]

You should absolutely, 100% notify the original owner of the character that somebody has attempted to get adult material of their own character.

Unfortunately there was a severe case of someone commissioning artwork of another in the past right after that person had struggled to get out of the relationship. The 'commissioner' was continuously buying adult material of this character against the owner's wishes, causing a lot of mental strain.

I will not go beyond that, but it is definitely something that needs to be brought to their attention. That way, the owner can be aware, and if they so choose, take action.

that sounds familiar

[kestral-kitsune.livejournal.com]

i had a friend do that to one of my characters but told the artist he paid that it was his, and got a porn commission of him,apparently the artist felt that something wasn't right and did some digging. she let me know, refunded him and never finished the picture. I know I was not a happy camper about this going on.

but I'd let the person owning the character know that they're asking about commissioning art of their character.

[dilario.livejournal.com]

this actually happened to me recently; amazingly, I actually had drawn the character's original reference sheet, so I knew it wasn't theirs. I talked to the person about it (nicely, it went along the lines of "I'm confused because I've drawn this character before, but it was for (other user)?") and I also talked to the original owner of the character. Luckily it turned out alright for me, but even if it hadn't I would have wanted to alert the original owner to the theft.

[magedragonfire.livejournal.com]

A question kind of related to this, to any artist-folk who want to answer - if a commissioner approaches yon artists with a NSFW request of two characters, one of which doesn't belong to the commissioner (and you know this by the commissioner's own admission or by knowing the character from somewhere else), do you check to see if the piece has been okayed with the second party?

What about SFW pictures of either someone else's character or a pair/group of characters together?

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

i'd say Yes and Yes. just cause i've been on the receiving end of "surprise" nsfw art which was actually a grudge piece for banning the commissioner from a chat (his behavior was hella inappropriate).

the artist never told me, and i guess he had her convinced he had permission or we were "good friends, it's a surprise" but the end result was that the artist felt bad for being dragged into someone else's grudge and being paid to draw revenge-rape art.

even a SFW picture can make people feel uncomfortable if the person commissioning it is an...unwanted admirer. it's just best to check.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

Echoing others I guess but I just wanna point out that it should not matter whether it's adult material or not (Unless specified by the owner somewhere that one is allowed, but the other isn't)
If the owner doesn't want their character drawn by others, it should encompass all artwork of that character until otherwise specified.

I happen to be someone who owns a "do not draw" character. I don't even like SFW gift art of my fursona.

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

Personally, I would like to know if someone was trying to commission art of my character.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

"I politely declined the commission, stating that I was aware that the character did not belong to the person wishing to commission me, but I find myself wondering if I should alert the original artist that this commissioner is trying to commission art of their character."

Approaching it from the other side; If I was the character's owner I for one would very much appreciate it if people would let me know when someone is trying to abuse my characters.
That way I could:
- Approach the person trying to abuse the character.
- Make a public note, sans names, letting people know I wasn't okay with it and asking people to keep an eye out for me.

[ibagface.livejournal.com]

Ive had a situation like this before. The person wanting the commission stated they 'had permisson'. I told them that I would contact the character owner myself and if they agreed to the commission then it could go ahead. The owner of the characters replied and said it was fine so it went ahead.
I find if your in doubt then ask the owner of the characters if the individual in question has permission. If they do, great. If they dont, then simply let the commissioner know they dont have permission and the commission is cancelled.

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

since i had someone commission "fan art" (it was actually grudge art) of my characters getting raped, i'm a little biased of this. but i say you should contact the owner.

just be like hey person X wants me to draw character Y. is that okay with you? the scenario they are in would be ____.

a lot of people think this "ruins the surprise" but since the surprise is really seeing how the artist manages to pull off the character in a situation, i disagree. i feel like it's the safe and curtious thing to do for the original owner.

if they're buddies, no biggie. if they're not and this is grudge art or generally inappropriate, at least the owner KNOWS and can make a post like "hey, do not take commissions from so-and-so of my characters."