This is more of a discussion starter rather than “do you think using someone else’s art on tapas is bad form?” I think it could also be relevant for a lot of the people Discovering tapas after Wattpad forums were deleted.
Aug '20
Aug '20
| 5 | Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash unsplash.com |
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Using Wattpad first you see A LOT of people using covers they may have hypothetically made but in reality either cropped an original artwork or used copyrighted images off google. The latter of which I have done in the past. It’s a lot easier but obviously we know the downsides. It seems less common on Tapas since people are more comic oriented and if you stole someone’s art for your cover it would be pretty obvious if the inside material didn’t match.
I also feel I’m actually pretty close to the line on this because on the one hand I now make my own covers from scratch. But I’ve also commissioned an artist I like to make a cover for my novel. Just to differentiate between the novel and comic.
Pixabay and Canva free images is what I do if I make a cover myself. When I ask people to make a cover for me, I ask them to use a non copyrighted images. I can't draw to save my life. I wouldn't mind paying for covers, but the payment methods are a bit concerning, plus currency conversions are a pain.
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.
As for comics, I do believe this is actually plain absurd. If you can draw, you can draw yourself a cover. If you drawing skills are not good, people who saw the good cover will drop your comic right away upon finding out your real skill.
I'm not sure how much discussion there is to be had. I and other artists I know have had out images used on Wattpad, and the most annoying part is often if we'd been asked we would have said yes, but it's just used without permission or credit.
And really, on Tapas, if you use someone else's art for your novel and it's discovered, you're going to be reported. It's that simple. Especially when, last I looked, Tapas gives you a link to somewhere that creates novel covers using copyright free images when you create your novel. There's literally no excuse.
Also commissioning is totally different because you've paid for it. As long as the person you commissioned knows you're going to use it for potentially commercial purposes, it's fine. That'll be covered in the commission T&C (and if you they didn't have any T&Cs: worry because now you're in legal grey area)
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.
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.
I had the money so that’s why I splurged this one time ^^’ I totally get why people don’t do it more often
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.
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.
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 
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.
I’d have to check out the guidelines! I had no idea, mostly because I feel it would be so difficult to enforce??
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.
The MODs here are on a whole different level...Also this community is amazing so its just etiquette I guess???
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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) 
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.
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
Just gonna take a second here to once again sing Unsplash's praises5. 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).
But how many people would read it? In my experience, my books do not get the readership that leads to income. I am on my seventh novel in three years and by now I am disillusioned about producing anything commercially viable based on cold, hard facts. I will always be a niche writer, so Pixabay and Canva's drop on thinggies it is for me.
At least on Wattpad people made covers in exchange for critiquing.
To be honest, I actually never judge a novel through its cover. I read everything I can and I love reading the summary first. The summary is the thing which helps me to decide whether i should read a novel or not, not the cover. Just need a basic picture you can take out of daily life and put it with a nice and artistic word font. That is enough
If only everyone had this attitude, we wouldn't have this discussion, heh. Alas, covers are what gets reads.
There's nothing stopping you giving that a go here. Look at threads on here that just go "plz draw my character" and get it. And people are desperate for reviews around here. If you made a thread saying "I will review your comic/novel if you make me a cover/draw my character" well the worst that'll happen is no one will do it and really what will you have lost? Nothing. You'll be no worse off than you are now.
I haven't seen people doing it here, so I assume it is not done. Also, I don't even know how to start critiquing comics. Not being an artist or having had read many.
If you do a bit of searching there's been a good handful of "I'll draw your OC type threads" (although they've probably gotten buried by promo threads) but there's really no harm in trying to see who bites for a "reviews for covers" type of exchange thread all you've gotta do is try
Hence why a lot of people's advice when it comes to creative pursuits like comics and novels is to create for yourself first and foremost. Because making something commercially viable is a monumental task, and a gamble. Even if something looks like it can work on paper, life is unpredictable and it can turn out to be a flop.
Like all of my work comes out of my love and passion for each story. Sure, any money I can get from it is nice, but even if I never saw a cent, I love my characters! I don't mind dropping like $50 to get an awesome drawing of them. (my ipad's lockscreen and background for example are images that I commissioned from an artist 2 separate times. I just love their style and how they depicted my characters.)
It’s a good cover! Honestly for me I less a cover is either REALLY GOOD OR REALLY BAD it doesn’t matter to me.
Ahhh true, and if you don’t like how the characters look on the cover it can mess with your enjoyment, never thought of that!
Well if you are putting abs on the cover and saying you're still not getting those reads, maybe common wisdom is wrong and abs on a cover is not what you need. Is there abs on a god forsaken 50 shades of grey cover? No it's not.
No one is saying it's not something that attracts readers though, just saying there are other ways too.
I kindda just don't feel that way, I suppose? I like the lovely drawings, but I don't really need my characters drawn? I imagine them as my favorite figure-skaters for the most part or not at all and it doesn't bother me that they have no specific appearances. I am all about the text, the inner workings and the adventure. But, obviously, I want to be read, so covers is a must.
Yeah, the covers are my nightmares.
Guest artist stuff would be really cool as a promo or limited time idea! Even tho it’s not your work, it’s nice a kind of cool switch up of ideas ^^
I would think it would count as content but I supposed it depends on how you swing it, stuff like this has lots of loopholes but I would hope they would bundle everything the story involves cover title and insides, would be classified as their content.
It is nice to see. Not that I want to encourage people going after people because they used an image that wasn’t theirs. It’s really hard as a writer, and although I am in no ways encouraging people to steal art, I know what it’s like to be i that headspace where are very popular stolen content that’s loved and trying to play by the rules when others aren’t. It’s why the very few times I’ve caught people using my art I ask them nicely to take it down.
