Respecting Artists 101

It's come to my attention that if you are not an artist, it is hard to understand the Unwritten Code artists abide by. This is my guide to basic respect for artists.

Respecting Artists 101

1. Never, never, never steal art. Do not steal it to sell. Do not steal it to show as your own. Stealing art in any way is like stealing a baby from his mother, painting him green, and selling him to the aliens on the black market. Don't do it.
   
2. Do not hotlink. Hotlinking is the act of copying a picture and pasting it somewhere else on the Internet. This can be done by right clicking the image and taking the properties. It can also be done by highlighting the image and copying it, or by right clicking the image and clicking "Copy Image." I outline how it is done because for a long time I did not realize what hotlinking actually meant. I also never realized why this is so bad until all of my image links went bad one day because my bandwidth was exceeded. Translation: I had to pay $50, or upload the hundreds of images I had and replace all the images everywhere I'd ever posted them. Respect the artist - don't make them pay for your laziness. It is not hard to save an image and upload it to your own host, like Photobucket, Flicker or TinyPic.
3. Give credit. Whenever you post or share someone else's art on your blog or with your friends, always give credit. This particularly goes for things like HMTL or CSS design, icons, headers, and other graphics created to be shared. If you do not know how to give credit, ask the artist. Different artists have different preferences. But if you ask politely, you will probably get a kind and informative reply. However, be prepared to be told no! Some artists do not want their images spread around. And if you don't hear back and cannot find the information on the artist's page, don't post the picture. (See Communicating With Artists.)
   
4. Don't copy. Imitation is supposed to be a form a flattery. It is, a bit - when I find someone copying something I have made, I think it's sort of cute. But I also feel cheated. Copying someone's style is like cheating on a test. Blatant copying is not even funny - it's borderline stealing. Be inspired by artists' work, but use your own creativity to make your own piece of work.

Have more suggestions to add, artists? Leave a comment!

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