RE: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND IMAGE THEFT IS RAMPANT ON STEEMIT AND CONTENT CREATORS/ARTISTS/PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE BEING RIPPED OFF!
Newbies, I can understand, because the idea of sharing art being "theft" isn't always an obvious concept to grasp.
Heck, I remember when I was a newbie on deviantART, I took a picture I really liked, colored it, and showed it to the person who drew the original. Needless to say, they weren't happy lol.
But I took the picture down and promised not to do it again, and we actually hung out a bit.
It just goes to show that if you respect content creators, things can go just fine.
But. There aren't many things that make me madder. Then when people disregard the BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS that go into something because they think they have some abstract "right" to just throw it around wherever they please!
Whenever I see art theft, normally I just tell the original creator and let them chew them out. But I'd really hate to give Steemit a bad rap =.=;
Imagine finding out somebody not only reposted your picture, but MADE MONEY FROM IT! Well you said that happened to you, but for somebody not familiar with Steemit?
It would be like finding out somebody used your picture to sell stuff on Cafe Press!
I have seen people on Tumblr #signalboost that stuff inTO OBLIVION, people could get the idea that Steemit is some scammy art theft site!
That being said, if artists are directly contacted, and people offer to split the rewards with a post featuring the artwork with the artist as a way to learn how the site works... That could be a great way to explain the site to people who might wanna join! ^-^)
I just realized this comment is really long I am so sorry, oh my gosh--
Its just way too easy to start ranting about this sort of thing... ._.);
Don't be sorry it's a good conversation. I know it upsets me too not only with my work but seeing it happen to others almost as much.
People need to ask for permission and what they negotiate with the Creator is between the two of them. Some people don't want anything, some people do. But that's the Creators choice.
It upsets me because making a living as a artist and photographer has been the hardest way to make money I have ever experienced. I have sacrificed a lot to keep doing it. And then someone else thinks that should be able to profit from my work that I have sacrificed to keep doing and spend hours and hours and money creating... Is just ridiculous.
It's been my experience is people with that mentality create nothing, which is why they don't respect those that do most of the time. They should create their own work and then see how the feel about giving it away for free or being ripped off.