How do you feel about this?

[neighbor_nancy]

Today I found some of my most recent artwork - with my full name posted - on someone else's website. My husband is in a terrorist alert profession and I have to be very careful too after testifying in a court case several years ago. I do not have my name on my own website, so she must be a member of one of the groups to which I belong and actually sign my full name.

I am trying to reach the website owner to let her know how her posting my full name endangers me and my family.

I know my preferences may be unique to my situation, but how do the rest of you feel about having your work posted on others' sites without prior contact or permission? Would you expect to be contacted first or is it just expected this will happen? I want to adjust my expectations accordingly.

Thanks in advance for any input you might have.

Near Hysterical Neighbor_Nancy

[joleenieweenie]

I would never post someone else's artwork without prior consent. Regardless of the situation I think the artist should have to give prior consent, especially have his/her full name posted.

[michelin1977]

Thats horrible! I would be very upset if I were you! I hope you can resolve it quickly.

[jbalcer]

Oh, my, Nancy. I certainly feel for you, and hope that she will remove your name and replace it with Neighbor Nancy. That is the least she can do after posting your artwork on her site without your express permission to do so.

My stuff has been posted on other sites, but in those cases, I have given my permission to the website owner. It is common courtesy for them to ask, and certainly makes me feel good that they find my art worthy of their site.

I think it is going to be much more common now that demonstrators have permission to take samples from the Stampers Showcase and put them on their [demonstrator] websites. I've seen many sites that have done this, and don't even reference the stamper who took the time to make the card.

I hope this gets resolved, and quickly.

[stampin_melissa]

Hi Nancy~

I would feel honored and delighted to find my art work on someone's site. If I was involved in a swap and they posted the swap cards on their site I wouldn't expect to be asked. I guess I wouldn't expect to be asked since in sending it out I am making it "public" if that makes sense. Yeah, since I have the original creativity of a rock I would feel honored and blessed to have anyone take pity on my work and publish it on their site. Well, unless they were saying, "don't do it this way. " ;)

I have seen some of your work and your website and you do such beautiful work, please consider it a compliment that this person published your artwork. I am sure that she did so without the intention of hurting you, but loved your art and wanted to share it with others. If she saw your generous website she may not have thought about asking first. Sometimes we act without realizing the impact that action will have on others.

Hugs,
Melissa

[WaterPixie]

I wouldn't post somebody else's work on my web site without asking first. If you like something enough you could either copy it, or definitely ask for permission!!

It's good manners (can you tell I have a 4 and 2 year old?) to ask before doing something like that. It's more flattering to receive an e-mail asking for permission because they love what you did than it is to just find it on somebody's site.

This is indeed a unique situation, and I hope that it gets resolved. I also hope that it helps to remind us that not everyone is in the same situation, so you should always ask first.

[neighbor_nancy]

I have been contacted by the owner of the website, and she is graciously taking my last name off the site immediately. She had, in fact, contacted me a while ago and asked to post some of my cards, and I said sure. I didn't realize that it was blanket okay to copy and paste more than one set of samples, and I believe I should have been more specific about the boundaries of my permission.

I do believe as Melissa mentions, that it is flattering to have someone post my card. On the other hand, how am I supposed to be flattered if I don't know what they're putting online? I hope, that if nothing else, it helps to raise the awareness of those who might not normally think to ask...

Thank you all for your kind words and views. I was seriously considering taking my site offline. I am not easily frightened, and this scared the dickens out of me.

All my best,

Neighbor_Nancy

[rehaba]

Wow, what a toughie!!! :shock:

Personally, if I share a card I figure that I've made it "public" and the person can do whatever they want with it My expectations are that people will (and do) do things without thinking about it first. And she was probably trying to be nice crediting it to you.

THAT SAID, I have to say I would NEVER post someone else's work without permission, and I'd never post their full name unless that person had agreed to it. To me, it seems like common courtesy to ask first. (Of course, I'm the one who gets mad if my neighbor kids let themselves into my back yard to get something they've lost over the fence without getting permission first. . .it's just rude!) Unfortunately, "common courtesy" doesn't seem to be very common anymore.

As you can tell, I have very strong ideas about things like this. I think it was way out of line to post your full name. I mean, if she was going to do anything without your permission, it would be nice if she credited it. . .say, with a first name or posting where it was she found/received the image.

This is such a sad situation! While I'm sure she didn't mean to put you and your family in danger, she has. If you can ever get in touch with her I would demand that a) my name be changed/taken off her site OR b) the project be removed.

Good luck. I really hope this gets resoved as quickly and painlessly as possible!!!!

[stampin_chiquie]

I know many of you feel that this other demonstrator should have asked first. But it is my feeling that if I receive a swap card from someone then it is public domain.

Occasionally I have posted other people's work on my website and have attributed the artwork to that person because I feel it is common courtesy to not take credit for someone else's work. But I would never think to contact the person - in fact many swaps don't have phone numbers or e-mail addresses to even be able to contact the person. If I've gotten a swap from someone then I feel it is my property and I can do with it as I please - show it to my customers, give it away to someone else, or post it on my website.

I guess I would suggest that if you don't want your name out there to start signing your cards with your screen name or just your first name instead.

The other thing to think about is that just putting your first and last name on something doesn't really give the person more information than they could have found elsewhere. The person looking for you probably already knows your name. All they learn by seeing your card on a website is that you make cards because I'm assuming this person didn't include contact information for you.

This is just my opinion though. Thanks for bringing it up because I really never would think twice about crediting a card to someone.

[neighbor_nancy]

Actually, it wasn't a swap card. This was a card someone copied and pasted from my website, which doesn't have my name, removed the copyright protection line which refers to me as Nancy K., and then added my full name underneath it.

I am on several SU user lists, and my name was obtained by that, not my website or a swap card, although your point is well taken.

I post swap cards myself, and am not always able to reach everyone to obtain their permission - when there is no email/address/phone. I always ask online for an artist to let me know if they'd like their work removed, so they know I tried but was unable to obtain prior permission.

Because of recent developments, that I will not go into, I have reason to be more concerned than you might be able to understand. I would hope that that my concern (combined with the disproportionate number of others who seem to prefer to be asked in advance) would be enough to increase sensitivity to this matter.

Thanks for all your input - I think we can put this thread to rest now!

All my best,

Neighbor_Nancy