Should I Stay or Should I Go?

[joannekwan]

I never saw the clause as screwing me over anyway. I mean, you still have all your rights to your stuff.
People were leaving on principle I guess because that kind of clause has no real reason being in the ToS of a free hosting service.

I'm not threatened. It takes more than a clause like that to rattle me.

[UzukiCheverie]

As Joanne has already put, no one's rights have been taken away, so it's not like if you start posting here, you're not gonna lose them just like that. To add to that, a lot of the crap that went down honestly all boiled down to misinformed creators/readers overreacting and jumping the gun. I mean, it's one thing to leave on your own principles, leave for whatever reason you want lol But now there are people actively going around painting Tapas to be some kind of twisted, content-stealing, money-grabbing scheme - without even making attempts to find the whole story.

Whatever you want to do is up to you, you don't need to find an excuse to leave from us (though i'm sure getting a second opinion helps). You have the upside of not actually having a following here yet (I'm assuming considering that you said you haven't posted any comics yet) so that's one less thing to worry over if you do leave. But honestly, it's a real bummer to see so many creators leave over a non-threat, no matter how against their morals it may be. It really just boils down to how essential you consider Tapas to be as a webcomic host.

[ToxicRamen]

Ok, I just wanted to make sure that I would still own the rights to my comics and still be able to post them on different sites. I try my best to get all of the facts before stating my opinions about things.

[shazzbaa]

As one of the people who might be leaving: "screwing creators over" isn't accurate. It's more that some folks are questioning whether Tapas is looking out for its creators' best interests.

The only thing that happened was that Tapas added (and later removed) a rule that said that if you wanted to sell your comic to a publisher, then Tapas would get a chance to make an offer first. It wouldn't mean that you don't own your work, or that you wouldn't be able to post on other sites. That was never in question.

[azureXtwilight]

It might be fair to say that people plugged off their comics in a panic rampage due to the twitter storm, I would personally recommend to wait and confirm things first.

[SpavVy]

That's completely up to you. Do what you feel is the right choice for you. If you really want to stay then I think you should stay.

I personally have been thinking about leaving before this shitstorm even started.

[J.Lovelace]

A lot of people will be polite and say that you either should stay, or decide for yourself what's best for you.
But if you think about it, the more creators will leave = the less competition there will be to those who stay, which means it would be actually easier to get to the front page. Especially if some of the popular series will leave as well.

I would advise to just sit back and observe for a while longer, and take notes on how the things will go.

[Chronitis]

So, just double checking to be accurate, this rule has been removed?

[Chronitis]

That's a really clever idea!

[azureXtwilight]

Yes, it has. Tapas has announced about it in their twitter.

[davidlhickmon]

I, for one, am glad the RoFR is gone. I just got done re-uploading my comics, as the wording of the clause implied that I was in violation by offering merch on Redbubble.

My IP is everything to me, and top have potentially lost it to a clause put into the ToS long after I joined and had been posting would have devastated me.

As of this moment, with the potentially offending clause gone, I see no reason to leave.

(I will, however, keep my eyes on the ToS...)

[ghostmaya]

what's ToS? and RoFR?

[Tes]

ToS = Terms of Service
RoFR = Right of First Refusal

[efdvorsky]

I haven't posted on the forums in a while but here's my two cents:

Had the company worded things better, I think a lot of problems could've been avoided, but what's done is done. I'm glad the RoFR is out and if they wanted to implement a way to promote more publishing and out-bid potential publishers, maybe opening up a submission season would be pretty beneficial for both parties.

But as is, your IP IS important, they can say they're just running a business but so are you, NEVER forget that. Never sell yourself short. (Word of advice for anything in the future)

What I ended up doing is: I'm keeping my comic on tapas but will be updating less frequently: I used to upload every Tuesday and Thursday (just a day after my main site) but with this, I rather encourage traffic there instead. So now I'm just going to upload once a week and let the buffer expand naturally. That way, my readers (my only priority in this site at this point) will still get a comic and notifications, but if they'd like to read more, the website is available. It doesn't turn tapas into my priority anymore and that's fine with me \:I/

That being said, I'll be going over their ToS every time they change them and if anything poorly thought out happens again, I'm out.

I hope my own solution helps you out in some way or at least find a happy medium. Tapas doesn't have to be your priority and you can mirror elsewhere too.

[donathinfrye]

I'm glad that Tapas fixed the Terms of Service issue by removing the clause. I'm also glad to hear them suggest that they'll be hiring extra support to help promote new and lesser known comics -- and will be even happier when they follow through. The community here has been needing and asking for that for a while now.

As I've said over on the ComicBookHour forums, where we've had a (mostly) neutral and calm discussion between creators who are choosing to go and creators who are choosing to stay ... there's no blanket right answer for all creators. It shouldn't be some sort of us vs them situation that we find ourselves in; creators have to stick together, because we are independent, vulnerable, and without a means of unionization (compared to most other entertainment industries). I have friends who will continue to post their comics on Tapas, and I will continue to read them.

I'll be moving on, for my own reasons and based on my own priorities and values. And that's okay -- we're all on the same team here. We are people, creative people. Tapas is a platform, a business. However you feel about the business, we're all still people, and we're all still a community, and we should be unified in that even if some of us use this website and some of us don't. Right?

The only person who will know what's right for you and your comic is you.

[LordVincent]

If I had felt threatened by the tapas ToS drama I would have directed my readers to my webtoon mirror 2 weeks ago. I can understand that many felt worried, though. I was at first, too.

You do what you wish with your comic. Your comic, your rules. There are many more mirrors out there.

I personally still like Tapas and I will stay. Partly out of my own preference and partly for my readers' comfort.

[indagold]

I didn't leave deviantart when everyone threw a fit that they were "selling their work to hot topic".
No point of doing the same for taptastic. It's people being babies and overreacting to everything.

[JessJackdaw]

As one of the people who might be leaving,

Aww, Shazz. You're like the life-blood of the forums too, but I understand, it's made many creators uneasy for good reason.

---

On topic, personally @msierra185 , I would just wait for the smoke to settle, before making a decision. Research other publishers like Scholastic, Hiveworks, and SpiderForest. Look into crafting your own site. Always consider what options might be best for your comic.

[tayo_rafferty]

The clause did not "screw" anyone. It was put in place in order to compel creators to negotiate with Tapas first during times of transition from a web comic to a full product. Like making a comic into a fully published book or selling the rights to a distributor. This was advantageous to both the creator and Tapas: the creator had more options then just settling for whatever offer a third-party presented and Tapas would have gotten what all these platforms want "dibs." Unfortunately this put some creators in an awkward position where they felt they would have to "ask permission" from Tapas before they could sell their work or convert it into merchandise, a movie deal etc. The truth is they would have only had to wait about 30 days which is a drop in the pond compared to how long licensing deals can take. But far be it from me to expect anyone on the internet to be cautious rather than impulsive, so people cried foul and nearly engaged in a mass exodus from a site with arguably the most accessible and supportive platform for web comics ever created. And now some of them are back. The funny thing is I deleted my comics on the same day I found out about the clause -- by coincidence -- because life is weird.

[DMBrigman]

As others have said the choice is yours. If you don't post here where else would you be able to build your following? You mentioned Tumblr, and I agree it is hard to gain a following there.

By posting on Tapas, it is free and there is a built in base of readers who can easily follow and read your work, but you don't have much control over the presentation of your comic, there is no ability to police comments, it can be hard to build a readership, you can earn money right away, it has a mobile app.

For Tumblr, you can have a custom URL and can install different themes that fit your content better, sharing your work is easy, setting up commenting can be awkward, as well as interacting with readers.

Webtoons has the advantages of Tapas, but there is very little you can do to interact with others, you can't even see who is following you, the series page is bare bones, and there are no forums, there is also a higher level you have to achieve to earn revenue. It seems pretty easy to gain subscribers there.

Self-hosting is an option with a custom domain, but it costs money and you have to set it all up yourself, but you have the most control and freedom, you don't have to worry about weird Terms of Service, or the site going under, but it is harder to build an audience, and it can be hard for readers to follow since they have to use bookmarks or an RSS app to keep informed about updates.

I would say, think about your options, what your goals are, your technical skills, what you like as a reader, learn more about the various sites available to you, and ask the community questions. If that means you don't ever post here, post here exclusively, or use the site as a mirror, then you can do so confidently.