Frequently Asked (and a few Anticipated) Questions
Confused by the terms of use? Need some clarification? Just curious about something?This would be the best place to look.
Click on a question below to read it's answer.
What do you use to make dolls?
Will you make me a doll?
I don't want a doll specifically for me, but you should totally make a doll of this person/character/whatever!
Can I use your bases?
Can I use a doll I made on yor base for my avatar/LJ icon/DA icon/site layout/etc?
Can I use your bases for my Gaia shop?
Can I offer paid comissions done on your bases?
Can I use one of your dolls as my avatar?
I'm using a base with no face, and I can't draw one! Argh! But I see you made a nice one for it, can I use it? Please?
You ran a contest, oh so many years ago, which you never gave out awards for. Any chance of getting them?
Can I put a doll I made on your base on a t-shirt I want to make just for me, not for sale?
Can I use a doll I made on your base for a school project?
I am pretty sure that this thing I've been told off for doing with your dolls is covered by fair use. Why am I still being bitched at?!
I have disovered someone ripping off your work. What should I do?
Any advice for when someone steals my work?
Why didn't you answer my email?!
I think I found you on Facebook! Can I add you?
Q: What do you use to make dolls?
A: I am currently using Photoshop CS3. I used to use an ancient, nay, archaic, version of Ulead PhotoImpact. 3, I think. But, and I stress this every time anyone asks me, you can make dolls in any image program. As long as it's got a pencil tool, you're set. An artist's personal proficiency is what makes good dolls (or any art for that matter), not the program itself. You can have the most whizzo amazing expensive program in existance, but it won't be worth spit if you don't take the time to learn how to use it. Back to questionsQ: Will you make me a doll?
A: No, sorry but I don't take requests. Back to questionsQ: I don't want a doll specifically for me, but you should totally make a doll of this person/character/whatever!
A: Still sounds like a request to me! You're just trying to be sneaky about it :p Back to questionsQ: Can I use your bases?
A: Of course! You don't need to ask, that's what they're here for. Back to questionsQ: Can I use a doll I made on yor base for my avatar/LJ icon/DA icon/site layout/etc?
A: Absolutely, just remember to stick the requisite credit somewhere. Back to questionsQ: Can I use your bases for my Gaia shop?
A: As long as you follow the terms of use then sure thing. Do they still need you to display written permission for this? Copy+paste this question into your shop as your permission if they do. Just don't display the bases in your shop; link to the page or show a one pose example instead. Back to questionsQ: Can I offer paid comissions done on your bases?
A: Not if real money is involved. Back to questionsQ: Can I use one of your dolls as my avatar?
A: Only if I made the doll explicitly for you. Which I probably didn't. Back to questionsQ: I'm using a base with no face, and I can't draw one! Argh! But I see you made a nice one for it, can I use it? Please?
A: No. The same goes for bases that came unshaded, you can't use my shading. Back to questionsQ: You ran a contest, oh so many years ago, which you never gave out awards for. Any chance of getting them?
A: Ahahahaa. No. I don't have the entries anymore, far less any idea who they belonged to. Back to questionsQ: Can I put a doll I made on your base on a t-shirt I want to make just for me, not for sale?
A: Yes, but you should know that pixel art really does not print well and will probably look nasty no matter how good the artwork looks on screen. You also need to make sure that if you're printing it via a service like Cafepress or Zazzle that you don't allow the design to be shared. Back to questionsQ: Can I use a doll I made on your base for a school project?
A: Yes, BUT if this is a project being marked for it's art then you need to OK this with your teacher first! It's quite likely they want your project to be all your own work. Be honest! You never know, your teacher might be a doller too on the sly! Back to questionsQ: I am pretty sure that this thing I've been told off for doing with your dolls is covered by fair use. Why am I still being bitched at?!
A: No. Look, there's this tendancy for people to think that "fair use" means "What I think I ought to be allowed to do because I'm not making any money off it and it's only pictures on the internet anyway so I'm not doing any harm. That's fair, isn't it?".That's not what it means.
In the realm of copyright, "fair use" means that a copyrighted piece may be used without the copyright holders permission for 3 purposes: Education, criticism/analysis and in a tranformative or parodical manner. "Transformative" in this context is pretty tricky to define, and there've been lengthy court cases where artists have tried to justify that their use of a ccopyrighted item is sufficiently transformative to be allowed. Mostly it means that you have used a piece in such a way that its meaning is substantially altered. Suffice to say that adding a blinkie and changing a few colours is not considered to be transformative.
And in any case, not every country even has a fair use clause in its copyright laws, or if it does, it may not allow for all of the uses listed above. Britain's fair dealing copyright laws, for instance, do not allow for transformative works. Back to questions
Q: I have disovered someone ripping off your work. What should I do?
A: Tell me. And then do nothing else. Do not launch a verbal attack on them, do not tell all your friends, do not make very public journal entries pointing at the theif, do not organise a witch hunt. Tell me and I will deal with it privately. Back to questionsQ: Any advice for when someone steals my work?
A: Be calm. Go away and do something else until the red mist before your eyes departs. Probably you should sleep on it. Now send them a message. Do not swear at them. Be reasonable, state your grievance, show them your evidence, ask them politely to stop. Do not insult them. It is quite possible that you will not recieve a reply but will find they do comply with your wishes. It's embarassing to be caught. If they do reply and are rude to you and refuse, don't be rude back. Restate your wishes. If they continue to resist, it's probably time to get in contact with their web host, or if it's on somewhere like DeviantART, submit a report (there's a link to do this under the statistics about a deviation), including all your evidence.Most of the time, people back down because they know they've been caught. If you're rude to them or gang up on them with all your mates, however, they tend to fight back and get all their mates to attack you and yours and it gets messy and no-one wins and if you're doing this on DA you'll probably both end up banned, no matter who was in the right. Back to questions
