[David C. Matthews]

I created an account at deviantART mainly to get around that "Mature Content" filter that I encounter too often when trying to view pics posted there. But I was browsing around there earlier today (and found out that Bass has taken my "'comments' virginity" …you naughty girl!  :-D) and also found a clarification of their Submissions Policy in their FAQ.

Rats, I can't get the direct link to the FAQ to work, so here's the relevant section:

"The portion of the Submission Agreement which most people find confusing is part 3 License to Use Artist Materials which we will briefly attempt to make a bit clearer;

"Essentially part 3 states that you are granting us permission to generate thumbnails and previews from your artwork, and that we may otherwise take the necessary steps required to make your art viewable on someone's personal computer. Since some of these steps require that we change your work (such as making it smaller for previews), and because of the fact that viewers will be able to obtain a copy of your work from our server you need to provide permission for these things to occur. We need both your involvement as well as additional privileges not granted to deviantART by the Submission Agreement in order to be able to include your work in our printing services.

"The permissions we ask you grant us must be considered worldwide privileges due to the fact that deviantART may be accessed from any part of the world and are non-exclusive which means that you can grant this permission to other persons and companies as well- you are not limited solely to deviantART. Our use of your materials must also be considered royalty-free, which means that you cannot charge us a fee for the privilege of handling and displaying your works.

"The bottomline is that the Submission Agreement is designed only to obtain the necessary permissions we require to legally handle your materials, as the artist you retain the full and exclusive copyrights associated with your original artwork; deviantART cannot be considered a 'co-owner' and the privileges which you grant to us may be revoked by you at any time." [Emphasis in original]

I think this will go a long way to alleviate the fears many Amaz0ns members who are also deviantART members have about what exactly DA will do with their art.

(I still don't know if I'll ever start a gallery there; I already have my own website, and everything I've done that I want to show is already there.)

[elee0228]

Thanks for posting this clarification.  I hope it makes DeviantArt more palatable to some of the artists here.  Some of the features they have there really are worth using. 

[Matthew Lim]

Well thanks a bunch DMC for reading the fine print and clarifying all that stuff for us.  🙂 It's definitly a sigh of relief for me.

[higalack]

Thanx for clarifying the lawyer speak, DCM

Ye there were definitely some talk here and over on dA about the controversy of what happens to your art.

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