In a community where a central point is graphics and where graphics are a very important method of communication and even currency, art theft is taken very seriously. The online Pokemon fanbase is spread way thin, generally. However, there are several incredibly well-known artists whose art is easily recognisable, and even if the artist is less famous, chances are that there will be someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows the artist, and the piece will be recognized.

So what do you do? How do you make sure you're not stealing somebody else's artwork? Well, first of all, here's a simple guide to the different types of Pokemon art that you might see.

Free-range

Know what art is free to use and what isn't? Chances are, even if you think you don't, you do. Free art is seen all over the place. There are fewer sources for free art than you might think, and likely you've heard of or seen them all:

Official Pokemon sprites- Yep, those are free-range. What makes them so? Well, who credits Pokemonelite2000 or The Spriters' Resource or Gamefreak or whoever when you use these sprites? You don't need to, because on sight people will recognise them and associate them with whoever made them. An exception was made with official sprites when the D/P sprites were just recently ripped-- people were asked not to use them until a certain date, and until then they were personal.
Suta-raito- and similar websites such as VN. Basically, any art site that provides plenty of images of Pokemon generally makes them free-use. And for really famous sites, credit is often not needed, simply because people recognise them on sight. People might nag you to put up credit if you use them, but they shouldn't. If they do warn you, link them to this page and explain why they shouldn't have. ^_~
Pokesho- also has a set of custom Pokemon sprites that spring up all over the place. Some of their art is free to use, and some isn't. Generally, all art that is mass-produced in some form (like the headshots of the trainers and the little counting numbers or whatever) is free to use, but the larger artwork (like the Manga or the big pictures) is not. Just because they're Japanese doesn't mean you can go ripping them off.

You are generally free to edit any free-range images, although some might not look very good if edited with the wrong tools. (like, say, Microsoft Paint for Suta-Raito pics.)

Semi-free range

This section is pretty brief. Basically, any semi-free art is art (usually of official Pokemon) that the artists say you can use as long as you provide visible credit. This applies to custom sprite sheets off TSR, sprite edits and revamps (that the creator says you can use), and most art of official Pokemon that isn't absolutely free-range. There's a lot of this on DeviantArt, which you should be okay with using as long as you credit the person in your signature. If people ask you to remove them, though, you should.

Private

Means you need to get permission from the creator before using. This applies to Fakemon sprites, mixes, and general edited fanart. Any art that the creator seems to have poured their heart and soul into (like, say, a large-scale Oekaki pic) is generally private. Do NOT use these in avatars/sigs/your own art. Also, do not edit them. If you're absolutely dying to edit it, get the creator's permission. Creators also have as much of a right to say no as you have to ask.

Touch-this-art-and-you-die

Applies to personal characters, and characters of others. Don't use this art, period. Don't even ask about it, unless you want to get slapped in the face with a big fat no. If you want, draw your own fanart, but do not use it in your own avatar. And don't base your character off of someone else's-- if they have a blue Vulpix with yellow markings, don't make a character that's a red Vulpix with yellow markings. Design theft is art theft too.

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How not to be an art thief

There are often certain hotspots where unintentional thefts happen. Photobucket is one. Never, EVER use art you searched off Photobucket. (unless, of course, it is free-range. But seriously.) Even when crediting the owner of the album, often times they didn't make the art. If you must, do some serious googling and find the original creator of the art and ask him/her if you can use it. Either that, or just leave it. You can always make your own. This applies to all image searches-- Google, too, and DeviantArt to a lesser extent. (With DA, though, chances are you've got the image's creator that's posting it.)

YouTube poops are a huge source of art theft. Search the name of x favourite Pokemon on DeviantArt, take the first 30 images that come up, pile them on top of one another in a slideshow, and hey presto I made it myself! :D No. Don't. Save the poor YouTube viewers and stop putting up crap. This could possibly be legal if you got permission from every single one of the artists of every single one of the pictures and put it up in the picture description. But hey, who wants that? :/ Just don't.

Forum topics is another. Does someone have some excellent tiles that you'd like to use in your hack? Are those some way cool mixes she has? Would you like to color that sketch she made in Photoshop? Make sure to read the first post, and just to be sure read successive posts to see if anybody asks if they can use it. If possible, reply and ask the creator yourself. If not, and there's no mention of any sort of free use... pass it by.

Also: the worst sort of art theft is when a little attention seeker posts somebody else's sprites and claims them as their own. I don't care how lousy of a spriter you think you are, posting someone else's sprites isn't going to make you any better, and when you are inevitably found out, you're not going to look good in the community's eyes. So don't. Spriting is not that hard, and for that matter, neither is learning to draw. Practice, practice, practice-- everywhere, anywhere, anytime. You don't just get learn how to do it overnight.

What to do if your art gets stolen

People are blind, it is true. Even if you post THIS IS MY ART DO NOT STEAL DANGIT, if your art is good enough, thieves will come with their little sticky paws (or whatever metaphor it is artists use these days) and nab that art right up off your page. Then they'll go to their little dorky friends and be all like, ha ha i drew this lol. Which of course they didn't. And unfortunately, the chances of this happening are very high.

So what do you do if/when your art gets stolen? Simple: nothing. If they run away and go post it on another forum, hopefully the law enforcement there will see through their little scam and apprehend them. If it's too small a forum and/or there's just their best friends IRL there, then don't bother. Or, if you like, go and crash their party. It'll probably be emotionally satisfying for you to rat on the little sneak, but in the long run, it's probably not worth it.

If the forum's in another language, then forget it. No need to get into an international crisis about it. If you have a friend that speaks Swahili and can go and tell them to take it down, then that's great. But honestly, who cares? Just don't fly into a coma or something about it. They're probably just noobs.

Tips to tell if art is stolen

-If the person shows pictures that show a massive range of styles and talents, you can be practically assured that it is fake. I shall use the example of the spriters' test at PMF: once, I was sent a test by a new member. In it, there were a couple of excellent scratch sprites, a few pillowshades with blindingly-bright colors, and a few sprites that were obviously complete junk. Never mind that I knew who had really made the scratches-- it was blatantly obvious that the art was stolen.
-If it's an excellent image on a crappy 5-second default color MSPaint background. Also, if it's excellent but saved as .jpeg. (Sometimes artists might do that themselves to watermark their images, which is perfectly acceptable. However, if there is another copy of the image available that is NOT .jpeg, then you've probably got a thief on your hands.)
-If the creator acts incredibly immature or is of ten years of age or less. Let's face it-- learning how to draw takes time. There are some very skilled kids out there, sure, but for the most part, we all were pretty awful artists when we were ten. (That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to get better! ^_~) This applies to all ages: if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

False accusations

Wait, wait-- that's MY sprite! But this guy's a moderator on his forum, and when I posted saying they were stolen, I was flamed and warned! What's up with that? Sometimes people can be really unfair, especially when they're in a position of power that is in jeopardy by your actions. But they're recieving unwanted fame for it! So what do you do? Well, if there is any staff that's in a higher position of power than them, try to contact them immediately. (Make sure they're active, though. No use waiting for a reply from someone that hasn't logged on in a year.) Present your side of the story in a very sensible and gramatically correct way-- don't whine or flame the thief. Try to provide links to where you have posted the sprites elsewhere (it helps if your username is the same there) and back it up with evidence proving that they are a theif. (See above section.) Hopefully the Admin is intelligent, and he will hear you out and reprimand said moderator.

If the thief is the Admin of the forum and holds monopoly over the entire place, don't bother. Immature Admins never lead big forums. Just leave him in peace and wait for his forum to die.

Oh, wait, this is an odd case-- what if you use multiple usernames, and you're accused of stealing your own art? An awkward situation, but in order to prevent that, make sure each account lists in some way the other usernames it has. Direct the accusers to said page and you're free.
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So, how has my little guide been? Helpful? ^^ I hope you've learned at least something here, and next time will think twice before using that picture.

--Zephyr

Actully,Photobucket pics are all for grabs.People get their pictures for vids from it,and that doesen't mean its stealing.Like the avatar I had,just because it was made by someone else doesen't neaccasarly mean it's stealing.Otherwise,people would always have to make their own avvis.=(

@Lucario: Lol no. It's stealing.

Some are pretty much free for you to use if they're official Pokemon art or stuff that is already copyrighted under law and it's unnecessary to credit them since people already know you didn't make it.

But that doesn't mean EVERYTHING on Photobucket can just be ripped off by some random person who wants to use art someone else spent hours working on for their own selfish use. For example, I have a drawing I made in Photoshop that I spent at least 3-4 hours on, and how do you think I'd feel if someone just Googled it and took it without my permission?

Do you think I'd like that? No.

Definition of stealing: Taking someone else's work without their permission.

You always need permission directly from the one who created it. As for everyone having to make their own, that's not true. If you read Zephyr's guide carefully, you'd have seen that there are websites where images and graphics are free to use as long as you give credit to the site.

What i'm saying:it's not stealing unless someone knows.

So if someone breaks into my house and takes something, and I never notice, it's not stealing? But as soon as I find out that someone took it, it's stealing.

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense.

First off, Lucario, can you please stop quoting people? It's unnecessary.

And secondly, stealing is stealing. If the other person didn't know you took their work without permission, it's stealing. If you took their work and the person did know and hadn't given you permission yet, it's stealing. Either way, stealing doesn't change.

But wait, before you post -- think hard about it. Read over Zephyr's guide again since you obviously didn't pay attention last time and think hard about what Cynda said in the post above me. Think it through.

Question.
On Kupika.com, I see a lot of little girls adding nicely CG'ed artwork into their profiles and tiny captions at the bottom saying stuff like, "me," "me kissing my boyfren," and "me n mah twin sistah."

Does it even count as art theft if the convicts are actually kids who don't even know that they'd 'stolen' art?

What should I do with them when I see this happen, anyway? Kupika.com <i>did</i> say something about 'anonimousity' and 'users have the freedom to do what they like to do without being criticised'. Well, that's the way I see it.


I wonder how do artists feel when their art thieves are children who don't know what they're doing. -__-''



Sorry for bumping.

Very well said.
Unfortionetly, i know of a forum where there was a major art theift :(