Trackdancer on DeviantArthttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/https://www.deviantart.com/trackdancer/art/MMD-Don-t-Steal-Art-338895321Trackdancer

Deviation Actions

Trackdancer's avatar

MMD Don't Steal Art

By
Published:
11.3K Views

Description

WALL-OF-TEXT WARNING



I am not very good at modeling vegetation. Honestly, I even have a hard time drawing trees even though my drawing skills are at a level competent enough for me to have made a living from my design work. Which is why I went shopping for tree models this evening as I am needing a tree model for an upcoming MMD project I am currently planning.

Now before I say anything else, let me state clearly that I am just as guilty of some of the things that I will be writing about here. In my case, I will claim negligence for my own short comings rather than a willful intent to steal - and yes that can be construed as a lame excuse. Specifically, I have 'acquired' a few textures from 'Internet Sources', (Google Images) without having paid too much attention to copyright restrictions that may or may not have existed to cover those works. Especially when considering the fact that I am actually a very competent texture artist in my own right, I really should have been paying more attention.

(How easy is it to miss this statement that Google clearly posts on every search result page: "Images may be subject to copyright"?)

That said, I've caught myself and have stopped using textures on my models if I cannot verify the legitimacy of their use for some time now.

Anyway, back to the trees.

So I found some here. They looked really familiar ... I wondered where I've seen them before. Oh, my of course, they're from the Google Sketch Up library. Ahhh ... but the person offering the trees I liked didn't mention that it came from there at all. In fact, they essentially claimed it as their own work. OMG ... as if spending two minutes perusing the work in that person's gallery wouldn't have told me that they don't even possess the skill level to create a 3D cube let alone a frigging tree ...

But we have a bigger problem; and by we, I am referring to the MMD Community here on DA. That's me for one and possibly 'you' for a second. We're all taking too many liberties here with other people's work and we all really need to stop for a moment and think this through or we're all going to be in a lot of trouble.

So here are the big issues I want to draw your attention to because what I am about to say might affect you too, whether you are a content creator or a content consumer. Take a look at the picture above. There are two models there. One of an edit of IA and one which constitutes the scenery town behind her.

Let's talk about the town first.

You can download that town from someone's gallery here on DA. Wherein that person openly acknowledges that it is a conversion, no where is it stated who created the original model. The version in the picture is not from that person's gallery, but the original creator's authorized download link; specifically Bowl Roll. Do you know who the original creator of that town is? In case, you didn't, he's the same person who made Kerorin Town, BTA Kerolin Jo. And his authorized download package comes with a lot of nice extras too.

We have got a problem here when we do things like this. Here's this guy from Japan with a lot of skills. He makes these beautiful scenery models. Bundles them together with a lot of really nice extras and GIVES THEM ALL TO THE REST OF THE MMD COMMUNITY WORLDWIDE FOR FREE ... and we don't even have the courtesy or the decency to acknowledge him for his work? Not only that, someone takes that model (an .x file), converts it to a PMD file - and a badly converted PMD conversion at that - puts it into their gallery as a 'rip' for download and don't even give BTA due credit?

WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE?

OK, lets move on to IA. Or more specifically, the edit of IA. The person who did that, did an EXCELLENT job and gave full credit for everything that she(?) used. BRAVO. That's the way to do it. But ... and this is a BIG BUT where did the parts she used come from?

Let's just look at IA's new boots. It came from someone's DA gallery. Took me less than five minutes to find the source. Not going to name the person but this is the description on her page for this item:

I don't edit their name OTL
Anyway i will try to fic my garter set so blablabla =w=
Don't forget to credit
Tell me if they are any problem :3
DL [link]


"Tell me if they are any problem" ... OK, I will. Where did those boots come from originally? Because very obviously, you don't have the modeling skills to make something like that from scratch. Credit you for what? Stealing someone else's work perhaps?

Here's the problem for all of us. Go into almost any MMD Group's Accessory libraries here on DA and essentially we have a black market in stolen works. These parts are used innocently by people, such as ~Hidaomori who did the superb 'legitimate' job with the IA conversion (and I really like it), thinking that these parts are 'legal' in the strict sense of the word 'legal'.

They are not 'legal' - they are stolen goods.

If you look at conversion work done by Japanese modelers you will hardly ever find, if ever, any part, say for example, from a 3D Custom Girl model. There are probably very good reasons for this. I've seen the argument made by some here that it's legitimate to use 3D Custom Girl parts. What I've never seen is written proof from Tech Arts; the owners of 3D Custom Girl; stating that it's ok for us to be doing what we're doing here on DA. Specifically, converting parts from 3DCG models and redistributing them. I am pretty sure they would take a dim view of this practice if they ever become aware of what's going on here.

I could be wrong about Tech Art's policy, but it's still glaringly curious why if this is the case, why Japanese modelers aren't doing the same thing we are. I'll go further than that, I challenge anyone to find a 3D Custom Girl part rip on offer as a download on Bowl Roll - may be that might prove my point.

Finally, please look at this (translated) text here from Bowl Roll (I'm sure some of you have seen this before):

It is automatically displayed when the testimonial is not described.
Notes on using the material, or the work
Nowadays, reprinted without permission, such as the author remodeling occurs and causes a big problem.
(Especially overseas has confirmed that you are experiencing a large number)
As a result, some of the contributors has become a situation to stop the provision of material.
From circumstances that have developed through sharing of material, or the work of volunteers, acts such as the above, and disadvantages to himself those who perpetrate without permission not only contributors , so do not do it absolutely.
Please use it to comply with the contents of the following when together, using the work, the material.
If you reprint the material, such as remodeling or want to work, make sure that you get permission
Abide by the terms and conditions that are described in the "ReadMe.txt" in the material or in the works
Abide by the terms and conditions that are described in the author's site


The Japanese are not stupid nor are they blind. We really need to be paying more attention to what they're saying if we want our hobby to survive.

I think ALL OF US, who really love MMD, need to think really hard about what each one of us is individually doing. We really need to stop the stealing and begin to develop the skills to create original content, or at the very least, adhere to a policy of only using LEGAL content.

There's a lot of smart, skilled and talented people here on DA, we can, as a community, do this if we put our minds to it.

CREDITS


HDO IA Ver 1.0.1 - Mqdl/~Hidaomori
Ruined City Stage - BTA
MME - Serious Shader / Rule of Thirds
Post Effects - Photoshop 7
Image size
1280x800px 1.73 MB
Comments127
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
NoArtistJustHere's avatar

Your message is well said in this pick. Many people do this unfortunately.


Personally, I don't, whether that comes to MMD or otherwise.


I strictly adhere to every legal policy and/or law regarding such things. Well done.