hey!! (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ

it's your friendly neighbourhood Youtaite with a quick PSA! I've been seeing some more fanart on here that hasn't been drawn by the posters themselves, which is all fine and good, BUT! please remember to always source that art!

artists work hard on those pieces and if they get posted around the internet without linking back, they won't get any recognition for it, which sucks. it could even get them in legal trouble (I've heard especially Japan can get really strict on it).

in general, it's preferable to ask the artist before you post it if they allow you to - and not do it at all if you know they don't allow reposts - but if you for some reason can't do that and still want to share it, maybe consider just linking the art without outright showing the image, or at the very least link back to the original. that also means that places like zerochan, which just take people's work and repost it usually without even so much as asking, aren't an actual source. if you have problems finding the original, try reverse Google Image search or asking someone who might know their way around more (someone who's active on Pixiv and Twitter etc). and if you really can't find it or are in doubt whether it's the correct source, please don't post it!

it sounds like an inconsequential thing but it can really end up hurting artists. and unfortunately it's something that people who are new to fandom or sharing art don't really know since a lot of other people do it as well (and are usually assholes about it) and pose a really bad example.

similarly, if your icon or images on your profile aren't official art, please source those as well! (unless you know the original artist said it's fine to use them without credit.) but if it's official art ... just do whatever the heck you want with it lol.

I haven't seen much of this here (most if not all of it has been sourced), but I thought it's probably best to mention it now that the site/activity function is still relatively new. this isn't supposed to go against anyone, so don't worry about it! it's just a general PSA because reposting art is something a lot of people don't see as a serious problem when it really is.

stay floofy, Nija out! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ