When is it okay to not include credits for PA's or freebie art in your Renders
mrposer
Posts: 1,130
I use DAZ/Poser in a very disorganized fashion... clicking on runtime elements and constantly changing stuff... so that when I finally render I really don't remember whose art (esp. character morphs and skins that I open and close) that I used in the composition. I really find the process of then trying to backtrack thru my scene hierarchy and searching my runtime to find and credit to the artists rather time consuming .... and to be honest..with the so-so level of my art skills... I wonder if the PAs or freebie artists actually need or even want their name associated with the render anyway. So I was wondering what the general feeling is about crediting artists and also methods people use to make the process of keeping track of what you use reasonable. I am not talking about commercial use or even contests where I know you need to have complete credits and understanding of freebie vs commercial use.... I am talking about posting to facebook, forums etc.
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Comments
I'm with you! By the time I've finished I haven't a clue where a lot of the elements in a scene came from.
With the best will in the world, with freebie stuff, I can't remember who wants a credit and who doesn't. Having said that, most of the freebies I use are not the main element in an image, maybe just the odd prop or "set dressing".
As far as bought items go I feel that as I've paid for them, I shouldn't have to credit them as well. Promo images in the DAZ store usually contain items by other people which are not credited.
I'm not diminishing the skills of the people who make and sell the content for DS - there's no way I could create that stuff myself, but if I was painting a picture I wouldn't feel I had to give a "credit" to the people that sold the paint and brushes!
The only thing I think it may be required is when you use it in a render to sell something so people know it's not part of what you are selling.
Otherwise, I think it is pretty much fair game as long as you never try to pass it off as your own.
I am with you as far as it being hard to track who did what. I have a 2500+ item inventory now and it's getting bigger and bigger. :O
Some freebies explicitly want their freebies excluded from certain art aspects and additionally some freebie authors explicitly say that they e.g. need to be mentioned in the credits upon use. So to give a general answer is not really possible. One thing I learned over the year is to have a strict organisation of my content and explicitly know what can be used where and for what. If I cannot find the 'readme' etc. then I have to find out (via contacting or whatnot) or not use the item.
If you use freebies, it is a good idea to keep those whose creators specify either no commercial use or require credit in a separate runtime.
If you add it to a scene, make note of it. If you delete it from the scene, you can cross it off. It can be a bit of pain at times but an artist put in the time and effort and only wants credit where credit is due.
Well this is a tricky situation...there are people out there who make free stuffs and not require crediting while there are others who do want crediting...there is also another group of people creating freebies without asking for credits but they feel bad when someone doesn't...
As an artist i try to track everyone down and accordingly adjust myself...meaning that i want to see happy faces around and not the other way around...
Personally i have paid people making stuff for me, then let them published as freebies without having the need to hear something back...
Its a far better feeling having people thank me by theirselves than to persuade them thanking me because i said so...
If a creator wants credit, the creator will say so in the license. If a creator wants that credit given in a particular way, the creator will say so in the license. So read the licenses...
For freebies: I read the ReadMe / License information when I get the item. If it says "No commercial use" or has specific credit requirements, I don't install it. I've never sold an image, and don't necessarily expect to. But I have over 3000 ZIP files and installers. I'm not ever going to be able to keep track of all those restrictions.
For purchased items: Commercial use is typically not an issue.
I try to credit major elements (characters, outfits, hair), but I don't bother trying to find the creator for every item in the scene. The way I see it, credit to the content creators is a nice-to-do thing, but if I created something, I wouldn't expect everyone who used it to mention me every time.