I can't hold back from venting about this. I am truly sick and tired of seeing people whine and bitch and complain and rage over people who use reference images or post pictures that do not belong to them on any site.

Let's have a lesson here. Papers. Essays. Reports. When I was in High School and starting out in College, I was told I had to use quotes and paraphrases in my papers. I was not allowed to copy/paste large sections of information and use it my own, nor was I allowed to claim any information as my own. So, folks, let me ask you this. How, then, do you make it so that the world knows you aren't plagiarizing? It's simple. You use a citations, preferably at the end of your document. You list the name, what they wrote, when you accessed it, and all that good stuff.

So, what's the difference between citing sources in papers, reports, essays, and using copyrights for referring images/displaying them? The answer? THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. Just because you use the copyright symbol instead of citing sources, doesn't mean you're plagiarizing.

If you don't know what the copyright symbol is, it's closed parentheses surrounding a lowercase c. It looks like this: (c). And yes, I am being an ass, because people seriously need to get their heads of their asses and, you know, read? If they take enough time to look at a piece of work and bitch about someone stealing it, they can take the time to read the citations and copyrights. If there are none...have at it. I'd flame em too!

When someone says that I do not take credit for this, and they do not list a link or name, that's not their fault! It's almost 100% guaranteed that your artwork is posted somewhere on the web, illegally, and they found it, and are just referring to it! I DO NOT CONDONE ART THEFT. You HAVE to say that it does not belong to you, and list the author as best you can, or even go so far as to say where you found it so the true artist of the work can go bitch them out for truly stealing it.

But why are people getting sticks up their asses about others using photos/artwork/literature/music for references? REFERENCES, as in REFERRING TO A SIMILAR ASPECT BUT NOT CLAIMING THE ART AS THEIR OWN!!!

You put your artwork on the web, your literature, your music, and it is made public. It is free to be used PROVIDED THAT YOU USE PROPER COPYRIGHT. That's how research is condoned, that is how essays are written. That is how reports are done. People reference another person's work in their own to backup their opinions, facts, to use artwork to give people an idea of what their character looks like, or what they're trying to say, or show, to use music to convey emotion.

Art is art. Literature, music, photos, artwork. They're one in the same, and should be treated the same. If you're going to use quotes and paraphrases from literature, a photo or artwork for a reference or expression, music for emotion, or what have you, GIVE THE PROPER CITATION/COPYRIGHT. You're golden then. People can't bitch at you for stealing something, because you're not. You said that the artwork does not belong to you. So, it's not your fault people can't read. If they still bitch, just refer to the fact that you are then stealing when you use quotes and paraphrases in papers and cite them and that citations and copyrights mean nothing in the world. As in, be a dick and remind them of the similarities between it all.

One more thing. If you don't want the risk of people using your work for one of the above listed things, DON'T PUT IT ON THE WEB!!!!!!!!

And...to those out there that do steal...you're all a bunch of assholes -.-;;

End rant.