Hopping on the Bandwagon

(Mirrored from my deviantART journal, so if the worst happens, I still have a copy.)

I looked around a bit and learned about the current controversy over now "Former Staff Member" jark. After looking at the situation, I read both :devspyed:'s journal, and the journal that justthorne posted.

And I am extremely irked.

For one, I believe spyed was completely out of place in what he did. Jark was not attempting to undermine the deviantART community, he was not doing anything that would harm it. He was simply speaking his mind and reacting to harsh actions, and got, as a result, removed from the staff. He co-founded the site. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have the deviantART we've got today. And now, for expressing his opinions and attempting to protect his right to do so, he lost his contract.

Make matters worse, :devspyed: seems to be avoiding the inquiries, avoiding the conflict almost totally. He throws out bangflash, promising new features soon, to distract users from the controversy at hand. He hasn't attempted to flat-out explain his actions, he hasn't done anything but keep chugging along as if nothing happened.

justthorne's journal entry, and other things I've seen, are right. deviantART is losing the community feel. It's become more and more of a corporation, a business, a privately-owned gallery where art of all caliber hangs. And the art will hang there indefinitely, as long as deviantART decides it wants to keep it.

Everything I've submitted to dA is now their property, due to terms in the agreement that justthorne looked at. Every writing piece, every cartoon, every photograph. That makes me sick. A website offering a place for artists to showcase their work, easily the biggest artists' hub on the web, is no more than a camoflagued donation center. As demonstrated in the journal entry, my art is owned as long as it's on the site-- and deleting it doesn't exactly remove it from the site. If I want to showcase my art but keep ownership, well, tough, because I can't do it here.

I'm in indecision. This was once a great community, but giant changes have been made. I can't keep submitting art when I know that the moment I hit "submit", I sign away rights to my own creation, to a corporation that seems to be disrespecting its artists more and more.

In compliance with justthorne's suggestion, I'm hiding my entire gallery for a week. The art will be there, but nobody will be able to see it. Hopefully, with others' similar actions, it will become apparent to the staff that it's time some changes were made.

When my art returns, there may not be any uploads for a while. A long while.

I'm sorry, guys, but my freedom as an artist is more important to me than showcasing my work on a greedy site.

When it's all about money and the things that you need
Live a big lie and they all believe
Now I just find that somehow obscene
-Lyrics from "What A Scene", by the Goo Goo Dolls