!!! Important Notice !!!

[Madame Royale]

As most of you would know, if you watch the LJ community, then you would know about The Olive Branch Project. Please read the link for more information.

Furthermore, this LJ page has artists say whether or not or how their fanart can be used.

As for the guild, I'm wondering if I should delete the current icon and picture post threads so we can replace them with new ones?

And would posting the link to the fanart websites be better? (I'm not sure about this.)  

[Decidere]

Hooray! We were discussing it over at the comm, and I was going to PM you, but syzunea beat me to it. heart
I fully support the Olive Branch Project.

I think that deleting the picture post threads would be a good idea; it'd also be good to enforce a rule that Japanese fanart should not be posted without the artist's express permission. (Of course, posting stuff you've drawn yourself is fine.)

Posting links to fanart websites should be acceptable, I think; but to be on the safe side, I think it's best that everyone just uses Hetalink to find what they're looking for, fanart-wise.

Posting Japanese fanart images, direct links to the images, or uploading J-fanart pictures to Photobucket/Tinypic/any other free image host should be avoided.

That's my two cents on the issue.

 

[Skizzors]

I've removed all my banners from the banner thread, then..  

[x_LoveObject_x]

Deleting the picture posts I can understand, but I say leave the icons as they are, I guess simply because they're icons, and people can make more and add from allowed fanart and the like? Or we can make a new one? Either way.

Also, I see absolutely no problem in sharing the artists official sites. Why the hell not? If you think someone will enjoy them then well, that's what they're there for. And if we all share the sites with the knowledge that we can save the pics ourselves and not re-distribute them on other sites then we're the same as Japanese people browsing sites, aren't we?

I fully support the olive branch project, but as for icons, if more American artists drew art and gave permission it wouldn't be as hard. And I know they're working on it, it just takes a while. Also, I try to use as much official art as I can. I'll try and make some new banners from fanart that's allowed though, and official.  

[Decidere]

x_LoveObject_x

Deleting the picture posts I can understand, but I say leave the icons as they are, I guess simply because they're icons

I know it sounds silly and illogical, but some Japanese artists get even more offended at the use of their art in icons, because it's not just reposting their work without their permission, it's also editing and cropping their art. It's a matter of common courtesy; if they do not wish their art to be redistributed, we should not repost it, regardless of whether it's the whole thing or just 100x100 pixels of it. In the eyes of the artist, I'm sure they're equally taboo, and we can't just make assumptions say "Oh, they probably won't mind". Most fanart websites have big notices mentioning that they do not want their art spread around the internet.

As stated before, it's a matter of courtesy, and Japanese Hetalia fans have shown evidence of seeing the Western fanbase in a negative light due to people scanlating the series (heaven knows why they're offended by it); in any case, we don't want to tarnish our reputation further by using art against the will of the artist. That rule should apply for all fandoms, not just Hetalia. Some fanart sites close because of this sort of thing.

I see no problem with posting links to Japanese sites. I was just pointing out that Hetalink's always there as a comprehensive guide to most Japanese Hetalia fanart sites and you can search by character/pairing, so you should be able to find what you want there if you're looking for something (which reduces the need for "Where can I find _____ art?" threads.)

And here's a link to a post where Western fanartists have given their permission for people to use their art in icons, headers, etc. I've made some icons out of the art by people there recently, and it makes me think that Western fanartists deserve more attention, because some of their art is absolutely beautiful and rivals that of many Japanese fanartists.

The idea of the Olive Branch Project is not to forcibly ban all fanart icons and the like, or to impose its rules on you in any way. Whether you use/make fanart icons or not, it's up to you and your conscience. The Olive Branch Project is merely a kind suggestion, so that we can work on bettering ourselves as a fanbase.



I-I'm sorry if that sounded too... angry, or anything. I don't want to be seen as a wet blanket, but I do support the Olive Branch Project for the reasons above. It's a highly debatable issue. I don't wish to come off as someone who judges people based on whether they use fanart in icons or not; I myself used to make fanart icons (but, obviously, I do no longer). It's not a personal dig at fanart iconists (the majority of who are exceptionally talented), it's just my thoughts on the issue and the Olive Branch protocol.

EDIT: Also, thought it might be mentioning if you haven't read about it at the LJ comm: I believe some people are working on writing a template for a letter (in Japanese) that we can contact fanartists with, asking for permission to use art in icons.  

[x_LoveObject_x]

Thank you so much, Decidere, for being so nice. I realize that I sounded a bit irate myself. ^^; I do agree with you, and thank you so much for the list of artists that are willing to let their art be used! heart  

[Saigo no Uta]

Dayumm, I should check the comm more often. ಠ_____________ಠ
I'll be off taking my banners [ and icons ] down too, then. - 3-  

[Decidere]

x_LoveObject_x

Thank you so much, Decidere, for being so nice. I realize that I sounded a bit irate myself. ^^; I do agree with you, and thank you so much for the list of artists that are willing to let their art be used! heart

Oh, you're welcome! heart The list of artists is very useful. The whole Hetalia fanbase seems so talented; so far I don't think I've seen any bad quality art or fics from other people. Which is pretty amazing.  

[Ai_Lover Rose]

I'm no a part of LJ but I fully support this project.