Art Theft

[Kobuk]

From time to time, we all enjoy viewing various artwork on the Net. And sometimes, we wish we could have that artwork and display/use it somewhere and somehow, etc.
Unfortuneately, using another artists's work and claiming it as your own without getting permission from the artist is considered art theft. And in the last few days, the staff have had to take corrective action on a few cases of art theft. The staff at Furtopia take this issue very seriously. Furtopia's art theft policy can be found at the bottom of this thread post here:
http://forums.furtopia.org/index.php?topic=42767.0
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We do understand that people enjoy viewing art on the Net. But stealing it for your own personal use is not allowed. A lot of artists go to great lengths to show and protect their art. If they say "Do not use or distribute", then please don't. If you wish to use another person's pic as your avatar or a signature pic or something else, then please get permission from the artist and/or please give proper credit by putting a link in your signature where you found the art and also list who the artist was that drew the pic. Or if you wish, you may post in our Artwork Announcements forum and ask an artist to draw something for you.

Art Theft: Furtopia was created as a safe place for furry artists to share their own creative work. Art theft will not be tolerated on Furtopia in ANY form. This includes, but is not limited to: sketches, digital drawings, literature, avatars, signature pics, etc. Any of the following may qualify as art theft:
a) Tracing another artist's work without giving credit to the original artist
b) Using parts of another artist's work in your own art without permission
c) Plagiarizing all or part of a story or poem
d) Trying to claim another artist's work as your own
Suspected cases of art theft will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Any member who is shown to have violated Furtopia's art theft policy will receive a warning from the staff, and their art and/or posts will be removed if proper credit is not given. Further offenses will result in a permanent ban and/or other disciplinary measures.