Using Others’ Art for Comic/Novel Cover

[drcharlotterodricks]

I think if you have commissioned someone to do it,knowing youre lacking in abilities its fine.However stealing is something that is disapproved of and is even against the forum guidelines if I'm not wrong.

[HGohwell]

I get why people are doing it for novels, but I think it's the books covers without any actual "artwork" on a cover that are the best. Just take some nice background that one can take from a free source, a good looking font and a few other covers without artworks for reference to create your own. Without any characters faces and all that.

I'd like to second this. I used to do this all the time on other sites and the only reason I didn't on Tapas was because it didn't seem the done thing. For one series I did it was just a nice leather effect in a different colour for each novel with an embossed effect title and one little symbol like a heart or wings or a snake that meant something to the story. And I really loved those.

[RosesnWater]

I had the money so that’s why I splurged this one time ^^’ I totally get why people don’t do it more often

[domisotto]

Abs on the cover = more reads according to the common wisdom. And who doesn’t want reads?

Here is people free, free images from Canva cover, made it myself and everything. It’s okay, I guess, but can’t say it pulls in the crowd.

[RosesnWater]

For covers because I am super guilty of wanting people to look at it and read, I put my main characters on the front in some kind of flirtatious image because I find the premium ones that Tapas looks at have this kind of image and it often works?? Like I’ve been featured a ton of times and I feel like it’s a lot due to the cover.

[Llyrel]

Honestly, I'd refrain from using original artwork from someone else or copyrighted images from Google, unless you have permission from the original author or give at very least some credit (i.e. "illustration on cover by X"). There are plenty of websites where you can find free stock photos (like Pixabay, as mentioned above) and there are free softwares (Gimp, Medibang, Krita + countless free websites) that allow you to edit pictures and add text, so there's really no reason to steal. If you own Photoshop and have a few coins to spare, you could also search GraphicRiver to look for book cover templates or illustrations: you can get one for prices as low as 4$. Or you could commission an artist as you did!

Anyway, I don't see the issue with using other people's artwork as a cover for novels (provided that credit is given and that the art is not stolen, as mentioned above XD).

For comics... eh, not really sure about that. I mean, if I had an already established series and people were already familiar with my style, I could maybe have a "guest artist" doing a "bonus cover/illustration" or something like that to feature in one of my episodes. But as for using it as my official cover art on Tapas? I doubt I'd do it, as I think it'd be confusing for new readers and probably drive them away once they realize that the style doesn't match.

[Kelheor]

Well sure it's nothing bad per se! People on cover do tend to attract an eye. But when you take an artwork done by someone else (not made specifically for you), it's not your characters, aren't they.

I do believe that characters on the cover are interfering with my own imagination though It sure is better when the author is drawing them though, since frequently the covers are done by the artists who have a very slight idea of how author was actually imagining characters, so it's a miss on all fronts for me

[RosesnWater]

I think the discussion, although admittedly it is generally the same for everyone in the thread and people will generally agree, this thought came to my mind because of the number of people moving from Wattpad to Tapas, it might change the site slightly. If you don’t use Wattpad I cannot stress how rampant art theft is and everyone pretty much accepts it and books that are really popular too, just have covers that they’ve taken and cropped and stuff. It’s not something that I’m trying to fear monger about or anything, there are so many Wattpad users out there that are amazing creators, but the culture there could change the cultural tolerance for art theft here.

[RosesnWater]

Also speaking of which, I do really like your covers ^^

[RosesnWater]

I’d have to check out the guidelines! I had no idea, mostly because I feel it would be so difficult to enforce??

[domisotto]

Honestly, I wish novels just came without covers. Just a headache for the writers no matter what we do. Ideally, a writer should just be able to write, instead of agonizing over graphics that would not leave them in the dust.

[drcharlotterodricks]

The MODs here are on a whole different level...Also this community is amazing so its just etiquette I guess???

[joannekwan]

Well here's the clause in the Terms of Service on the main site, while the general idea is that it applies to the content of a series, a cover technically falls under 'Content' as well and you 'submit' it to the site by uploading it in your edit series page to be displayed to the public on Tapas' platform.

[VibrantFox]

I'll only speak briefly but I'm pretty sure the consensus among most comic artist as well as writers who've been on the site for a while is that art theft on Tapas is simply a no go (plus I'm pretty sure it's mentioned within Tapas' own Creator Guidelines)

This bit

but the culture there could change the cultural tolerance for art theft here.

Is pretty interesting because sure a mindset of an indivudual will follow them no matter where the go but a person with sense will realize that if it's not approved or allowed you just won't do it. And sure there are the stubborn type who refuse and continue doing what they're doing (this case being art theft). To be honest I've browsed Novels/Comics that are fanfiction of popular franchises and it's pretty common to find stolen art there but I imagine after communication with one person or another they may or may not change it.

Honestly, I wish novels just came without covers. Just a headache for the writers no matter what we do. Ideally, a writer should just be able to write, instead of agonizing over graphics that would not leave them in the dust.

Even as a comic artist I can empathize with this but it's one of the reasons we try to share resources to help each other out (which is kind of the point of a community). There are folks who in some cases will offer to do covers for discounted prices or offer tips and tutorials to better polish ones folks already have.

Plus as was mentioned there's no harm in just asking an artist if you can use their art and if they say no you can try to find another. It's one of the reason's I've stuck with the Tapas community for so long is because for the most part people respect one anothers work. It's just common courtesy.

Edit: and Joanne has shared Tapas' clause in the TOS related to the matter

[domisotto]

Well, it's always assumed that an artist is paid (which is a correct sentiment and it's great!), but as a writer, I have never made a single cent. So, as a writer, to have a custom cover, I have to start with paying, while I feel that I will never be paid for hours and hours of writing.

[HGohwell]

Oh just to add to all this something else I've just thought of that I guess a lot of people don't realise, in my experience most of Wattpad is younger so I guess wouldn't realise, but if you've worked hard on a novel, as most serious writers on Tapas has, you want the best cover possible. Stolen art, and very often it is clear, no matter what the person thinks, screams not a very good novel. It sets a precedent for you as an author, that you're going to cop out and take short cuts, and that in turn makes me think the writing will be lazy. To be honest, I'd rather see a bad or simple cover that's had time put into it, because it tells me the author cares and thought about it. A stolen cover tells me the author wanted to just throw it up. And as an author, I wanted to control every part of my novel I'd worked so hard on, even the cover. Something someone else did for something entirely different just wouldn't cut it.

[joannekwan]

Since on Tapas covers with people get more attention from readers, you could see it as getting a commission of your characters (so long as the artist know you're going to use it as a cover), and then you can add text in yourself through Canva to make it a proper cover. (if the artist isn't comfortable with doing text, or you want a plain picture)

[Mallory]

Yeah, that's a "lol no" from me, dog. I would never, ever respect a writer who went and stole someone else's art. If you're not an artistically-inclined writer, imagine this... someone just goes and peruses through your words, pulling out whole sentences and paragraphs and maybe even chapters, and then says that "well it describes my character/world/plot the exact way I would, so I'm just gon' go ahead and use it."

The thing too is you can often contact an artist and ASK them if you can use it for a free webnovel. I imagine at least sometimes they might even say yes if you give them credit, or offer you a chance to commission them for your very own cover for your precious baby of a novel. And for photographs it even more common, and they would probably say yes more often or charge you a very modest fee for use of their work. Like... there's no excuse.

[VibrantFox]

This is one of the reasons why I'd like to see more avenues explored for novel and comic cross promotion but that's another topic altogether

[HGohwell]

And for photographs it even more common, and they would probably say yes more often

Just gonna take a second here to once again sing Unsplash's praises. Unsplash is stock photography that doesn't look stocky and posed like a lot does. It's all free to use and edit (the love of god guys, please check whether photos you edit into your covers are allowed to be edited or you can get in trouble) without a fee, even in commercial use (again check this because if you get ad rev and it's not ok for commercial use you can get in trouble), with no credit required (although greatly appreciated).