The copyright/theft/art-use/whatever-else-you-want-to-call-it issue:

People in general are waaaay too touchy. /That/ right there explains my whole view on the entire issue.

Mostly this journal is spawned from my discovery of the "Orphan Works" thingy >.> [link] here, this is where I found out about it. I didn't click any links on that journal, and I pretty much just browsed and skimmed -- but people being really uptight about art theft as always bothered me. This new thing has just pushed me a little, so here's my view:

If there's nothing on your art to say that it's yours, and someone takes it and uses it somewhere... >.> umm... sign your art? Even if you did sign it, and you find it being used somewhere on the internet -- to me, that says that my art is good enough to be taken and used. No one wants to take and use cruddy art that nobody likes, for the love of God -_-

If you're going to put your art here, you've probably been around the internet enough to know that people take things. If you put stuff here, it'll get taken. So put your fucking name on it.

Now, I do understand that some people are pretty handy with a computer and have figured out how to get rid of signatures... if they aren't making some kind of profit from your work (like selling prints of it) then... once again, the issue it?

It seems a little vain to demand to be recognized to the point of bitching and creating drama. It's ridiculous, and it's annoying, and I'm tired of hearing it. If you have a beef with someone because they took your art -- tell that person! Don't drag it all over the internet! If that person doesn't yield when you talk to them directly, chances are that they won't EVER yield.

THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION. I'm not saying that you can't get upset if your artwork is stolen. I'm not saying that at all. I just think that, if the person isn't making a profit that should be rightfully yours, then there isn't much of an issue. So a few people will think that something of yours is someone else's. If you pile it against all the other crap we need to worry about in a day, it really isn't that big a deal.

That's all I'm saying.

((sorry if my point shifts around, I think in circles))