Change log - 7/21

• There is now a consolidated list of all the banned artists: http://danbooru.donmai.us/artist/banned
• Banning an artist now creates a tag implication to banned_artist

Thanks a lot albert.

Just noticed you also removed the 3 days deletions from the mod actions listing. Thanks!

Am I missing something here? These look like pixiv artists, as such in most cases they can't even own their artwork as it contains copyrighted characters. Also if they uploaded their stuff on the internet they should have known that they're essentially putting it up in the public domain or worse.

Yeah, nix, but the thing is that dealing with copyright issues is usually a pretty nasty affair.

It's better to just delete the artist's works at their request, rather than risk getting into any possible legal problems.

Not to mention that an author's work is technically theirs under copyright regardless of any infringement they themselves might have made (see also parody and fair use, under which they may not even be in violation).

It's best not to rock the boat in this case. If we respect artists' take-down notices, people are less likely to make more of an issue of us cataloging their works.

If nothing else, at least we don't let the metadata die (including the source URI and md5). That's a Good Thing.

Nix, you still own the copyright to your own artwork even if it contains copyrighted characters. You just get into murky waters if you ever want to sell that work.

You don't get to just run around and use another person's work however you please because it's on the internet or is fanart. It's best to respect the artists who even make this webpage possible!

I know I don't mind having my own work uploaded to other image sites so long as the proper credit is given, it's free advertising.

Any chance you could add the link to the banned artists page in the artists link (up there with "List Add Recent Changes Help")? Being able to access the page without having to memorize/bookmark the URL or look for this forum post would be useful. I know you have the link in the header, but that doesn't come back for a while after you close it.

If you create your own images, there's nothing to worry about. just be careful if upload any copyrighted material.

IndraEMC said:
If you create your own images, there's nothing to worry about. just be careful if upload any copyrighted material.

As people aren't really supposed to upload their own artworks to Danbooru that is kind of a moot point.

Their loss. I usually find the artists with art style I like from places like this.

I don't think you understand, the rule not to post your own work is ours.

If artists cannot upload there own works and it is assumed that an artists has copyright to their work until determined otherwise then every work uploaded to Danbooru without permission of the artist is a violation of copyright. Would I be out of line to say that is the vast majority of uploads? This op-out policy should only be seen as a way of being slightly more honorable but it certainly does not put Danbooru on any better legal ground.

I think the rule of artists not being allowed to upload their own works is just to keep out the trash. A lot of people think that their art is good when it's actually shitty, and for some reason, post it online. Most of those english-speaking people frequent english sites like DeviantArt, FurAffinity, and here. Danbooru hosts mostly eastern styled works, and of course a lot of those artists are japanese and would frequent a japanese art site such as Pixiv, and not an english site like danbooru. That's my opinion. I'm not paying attention typing this so correct me if i'm wrong.

It's certainly a grey area (as with most things on the internet) as are fansubs, scanlations and imageboards (including the likes of Japanese sites like Futaba Channel). Like the first two, we do work of our own to improve the value of the material (chiefly by means of cataloging, classifying, tagging, annotating it, and making it easily searchable).

All works are clearly attributed to their original artists and owners where possible, and no ownership on the site or the uploader's part is ever asserted.

We don't edit or alter the artist's work, potentially corrupting their artistic vision or intent. In fact we ban images that do so (such as nude filters). Unlike sites that clearly infringe on copyright, we don't watermark or claim ownership. Even with translations, we leave the original source material intact.

Moreover the majority of Danbooru's content is currently published freely to the public (which is how the almost ubiqutous "source" feature works). This isn't to say republishing freely distributed copyrighted work is 100% kosher either, but it's no different than fan-subs or the like as mentioned above.

In the case of an author that does have a problem with anything we do, we cede to their rights as the copyright owner, and remove the material as requested.

We definitely operate in a grey area, but because we add value, attribute the artists, and respect author's take-down requests and their works' integrity, we are better than many other well established and tolerated groups out there.