So recently I've been looking into Instagram stories and suddenly an advertisement from WebNovel popped up
I don't watch much anime, but I know it is Lelouch and CC from Code Geass. That means it's a fanart by some artist out there, and is not meant for this advertisement.
I try to crosscheck it using TinEye and found the exact image in danbooru donmai, which I traced it into a Pixiv account
The artist's name is creayus/嵐月
Here's link to original art:
And it is clearly said in the artist's ToS they don't allow it for commercial use.
I tried to email the artist about this in broken Japanese (Google translate) and attach the screenshot of the ads, but it's keep getting queued that I don't know if I can't reach them. I don't have Twitter or Pixiv account.
My question is, what can us and the artist do to take down the ad even if the artist is notified? Since the ad only appears once out of the blue that the screenshot is only proof. Considering the fact Instagram is known to be very lenient about art theft, unfortunately
It makes me pissed off when they deliberately use art of foreign artist who don't speak English (the artist said themselves) to advertise their website and service, that they're less likely to notice and defend themselves. I meant WebNovel is a legit website; if they can gain revenue from their contents and pay Instagram for ads, they should have been able to commission an artist to make ad or at least use the original cover of the novel.
WebNovel website: https://webnovel.com/
Link to story: https://webnovel.com/book/8212987205006305
This post also serves as warning to all of you artists, beware of art theft! Thank you for your time!