A stranger is talking about using my art for a tattoo- Advice?

[60Six]

So I'm gonna start this off by admitting this whole thing could be a huge overreaction and PROBABLY is. But the possibility it could be for real is enough to make me uncomfortable.

So first off, some context:
I have a little shark character I use to represent myself online. It's VERY simple and the only thing really unique about it that makes it "me" vs just a random drawing of a shark is a small fish hook in it's fin.
Anyway, last week I did this little doodle and posted it on Tumblr, calling it the "Fall Shark." It got semi-popular, nearing around 2k notes.

I like to look at the tags and comments on my art, because, ya know, it makes me happy! But I was looking through the tags tonight and I saw someone mention that...they might get a tattoo of it? Which, to be clear, I didn't take very seriously at all, until they reblogged it again actually even mentioning the name of a person they might ask to do it.

Now, to be clear, I don't care if they get a tattoo artist to come up with a random shark and slap a scarf on it and called it their own "Fall Shark." But this particular little shark is essentially me. It's what always talks to my readers in FAQs and thank yous, it's a mascot of me. And I'm not comfortable with someone tattooing something I identify with myself permanently onto their skin.

With all of this said...am I over reacting? I actually typed up a whole message to send to the person over Tumblr before closing out and coming here to look for advice. I have no idea how serious this person actually is and I don't want to bombard this random stranger on Tumblr with a wall of "THIS IS MY ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT TATTOO" (Granted my message was way friendlier than that). But it comes down to just the fact this person could even be considering tattooing this little character I identify myself as makes me extremely uncomfortable. Am I out of place in messaging them and kindly requesting they don't? Should I maybe hold off and just keep an eye on their blog to see if they talk about it more? Or is this a whole giant over reaction and I should just leave it alone?

This is definitely a situation I've never been in before, so any advice is greatly appreciated. ;v;

[scullpanda]

ok first I had a piece done years ago that was another persons art and common politeness is to directly ask the person who's art you are considering , if she had said no I wouldn't have gotten that piece done but the thing is the person didnt seem to ask you is troubling

Even more so that they went forward to the point of thinking about getting someone to do it , I don't think you are over reacting its your self in art form and your art people need to be more polite

[mintycanoodles]

no, i don't think you're over-reacting at all. It's your art, and someone else using it as a design (for anything, tattoo or otherwise) without your permission isn't cool. if you're uncomfortable with it, let them know.

[El_Psy_Congroo]

I would just straight up tell them what you wrote here. You don't mind if they make "their own" fall shark as long as they make it different because its your artwork and also its used as an avatar.

Granted, you might have to "ask" them because I'm not sure what laws exist for tattoos. People get tattoos of famous people, triforces, characters, etc

[UrMom]

Jesus, I don't even get one note on my Tumblr stuff.

It's your art, if you don't want someone to get a tattoo of your stuff, tell them. Although that doesn't mean they'll respect your wishes since you wouldn't really be able to do anything about it.
Personally I wouldn't care. I've done tattoos for people in the past so while I would think it was weird, I wouldn't consider it anything note worthy.
But again, if it makes you uncomfortable, tell them it makes you uncomfortable.

[LoboSong_Hitaka5Ever]

I agree with everyone else, tell them you're not comfortable having "yourself" on their body. I also agree with @scullpanda in that they didn't ask for your permission first, they just decided to get it as a tattoo. That is far from cool and if a tattoo artist has respect for other artists, they would tell that person "not your art/character, therefore I refuse to provide you service"

So yeah, I would just politely say "I don't want my character on your body, and since you didn't even ask me for permission first, I am not comfortable saying yes"

[shazzbaa]

I'm guessin' they just weren't thinkin, but it's definitely not an overreaction to feel like "ahhh please don't" when someone wants to use your art in that way. It's way more polite to ask "hey do you mind if I get a tattoo of this," and they put you in a weird spot by not thinking to be polite.

and I think a "shoot, I'm flattered but this is actually a really personal character, I definitely support getting a shark in a scarf tattoo but I'd prefer you didn't use this piece of art" message doesn't feel confrontational or overprotective. I don't think you have to explain that this little fishhook makes it uniquely you and how this Original Character is your identity, or anything -- just tell them it's a personal piece. Hopefully they are cool and can respect that. ;u;

[cedric]

I'm not a tattoo person and not a fan of them in general, but I also think it's a real honor that someone loves your art so much that they would be willing to inscribe it into their flesh for the rest of their life. That's the way I'd look at it. If they love your work that much, then unless you have some sort of moral or religious objection to tattoos, then I would be gracious and flattered.

Now, if a tattoo parlor was selling your art as one of their designs and charging people to have it done, that's different. In that case a business is clearly violating your copyright for profit. But it doesn't sound like that's what's going on here.

[60Six]

@cedric and @Bloomer To be clear, if this had just been a drawing of a completely random shark, I wouldn't care much. Kind of like Cedric said, I might actually be flattered and totally okay with it. The discomfort comes from the fact its a character I use to represent myself. It's not even a character, it's literally me (or what I use to represent me online).

@scullpanda See that's sorta the other thing though. I don't even know if they're planning on going to this tattoo artist and just say "i want a shark with a scarf and fall leaves" OR if they're gonna take my actual drawing. If it's the first one, that's totally okay! If it's my actual drawing, it's not (And honestly hope it's not the latter because I spent literally 15 minutes on that thing. If you're gonna get something tattooed, make it something better than a 15 minute doodle).

@shazzbaa You yet again manage to word things perfectly. @__@ I typed up this whole wall of text to send them but you summed up the whole thing in one sentence. I think you're definitely right. One thing about this person is they're clearly not like part of any artist community or anything. They're very obviously just your average Tumblr user that saw a cute thing on their dash and reblogged it, not really thinking about the fact that there was an artist behind it. Absolutely nothing seems malicious about their intent, just ignorant. I think tomorrow I'm gonna shoot them a message along the lines of what you suggested and hope they remain as friendly as I'm hoping they are.

[joannekwan]

I don't think you're overreacting at all, tattoos are pretty significant. Like a lot of artists I see on tumblr ask others not to tag their personal art as "kin" so this is pretty much the same thing I think but more hardcore. Hm, if I were in your shoes I would probably say something like this:

"Hey there, I saw in the tags for my fall shark piece that you were considering getting it as a tattoo. I would have appreciated it if you asked me for permission, but in any case, I don't think I would be comfortable with it. The shark is essentially an avatar of myself, thus very personal. Perhaps you could ask your tattoo artist to come up with their own personal rendition of fall shark. That way you'll have a stronger connection with a piece designed specifically for yourself than a copy of a stranger's art. Who knows, maybe the tattoo artist can come up with something fantastic!"

[60Six]

YEAHHH. I've yet to experience someone tagging anything of mine as "kin" but this experience sort of finally gave me a taste of what that's like (I have 0 problem with it being fan art but personal or OCs are different). At least though I hold nothing against this person because they have no way of knowing it's not just a completely random little shark.
With that said, your suggestion combined with Shazzba's should give me a reasonable and friendly message to send them. I just really don't want to come off as aggressive because (unless they react badly), I have 0 aggression about this. I mean while I do agree with everyone here that they should have asked me before anything (and who knows, maybe they would later), I do think they're just an oblivious random Tumblr user.

[60Six]

Update on this situation!

Thanks everyone for the advice! Everything turned out as well as it could have and I'm super relieved the person was very friendly and understanding.

Feel free to close this topic since the issue has been resolved. Thanks again!

[SpavVy]

No, I don't think you're overreacting in the slightest. This is your art and your mascot so it's understandable. I'm glad everything worked out in the end, though.

[shazzbaa]

Ahhh fantastic!! I'm so glad they were cool about it! ;u;