Thread:Mathmagician/@comment-4509522-20130311041238

Hey Math. I'm Blankslate, from the Bleach Fan Fiction wiki. I'm having a little issue regarding image use and Deviant art policy.

So the story is this. I ask a Deviantart user for permission to use a picture that they had commisioned from another artist a while back. The user said that it was okay, so long as I credit them and the artist for the artwork. However, after I put the picture on a page and give credit where it's due, I later find the actual artist sending me a message to me telling me to take the picture down from the site, saying that since he drew the image, it belongs to him and that it's his copyright. I didn't know this, apparently, as I believed that since the one who paid for the image was the one who dictated it's use. I didn't want an issue to come of this, so I took it down.

However, after telling some fellow wikians about the issue, most of them said that I was in the right on the issue, that the commisioner's artist doesn't dictate what happens to the picture or who uses it, but the one who paid for it does. Now, rather than simply go by their word, I looked up DA's copyright laws and....well, that's like reading another language to me (not all that smart), so at this point, i'm not sure what to think. Some users have told me to take what I want from DA (as some have said that Deviant artists don't have copyright over their images), and to just give them credit, but i'm not sure I want to do that if I want to avoid an issue.

Case in point, I'd like a central admin's word on this. Is it the artist who has control over who uses the image, or the one who paid for it? Keep in mind, I don't want this brought up to the whole BFF wiki community; this is just an issue that I myself would like clarification on in order to avoid larger issues in the future.

Thank you. 