The thing is, these signatures can be easily edited out and used in somebody else’s game.
You can easily provide proof that you created the artwork and get it removed. Otherwise there is no way you can combine non intrusive and being degraded by watermarks.
2 Likes
So I could just email Roblox with proof that I originally created the art and have not given permission and the artwork would be removed from their asset?
1 Like
Yes, I’ve done this with scripts & builds that have been stolen in the past. Roblox will take down any game that uses your assets without your permission as it is your Intellectual Property, so long as you can prove you made the asset.
1 Like
Yes, but that won’t work if your artwork is being used in a different site. You can file for a DMCA Takedown Notice along with proof you made the asset, and it will get taken down.
Wouldn’t this cause an issue for people that pay for commissions?
An artist could just email Roblox telling them that someone who had really payed for their art had stolen it and didn’t get permission. Discord messages aren’t enough to prove that the original creator could’ve really given permission as they can be easily doctored.
When doing commissions, if I’m correct, once you complete it and have been payed, the asset becomes the IP of the person who hired you. It can become a game of cat and mouse, however I’ve personally never seen it come to that. If a contractor did do this, the client could just appeal the asset takedown. As well, Roblox does not accept discord as concrete evidence.
Alright.
One last question, how can I prove that stolen art was originally created by me?
When I want to ensure that artwork cannot be stolen, I upload it as a thumbnail of one of my games. It’s worked for me in the past. Although unconventional, it does work, and is considered evidence. (Atleast for game thumbnails I comission). I’m not an artist in anyway
2 Likes
Would uploading it as a decal also work?
Probably, however make sure the decal is set to ‘Not for sale’. (Isn’t open sourced)
i would just put a repeating semi transparent name
They’re quite intrusive though and make the art look bad.
2 Likes
Fade out the watermark so that it blends almost seamlessly to the environment, hard to get rid of watermarks like these and they don’t really take away from the artwork itself!
It doesn’t matter what the watermark is, as long as it’s transparent enough to where the client can examine it, it’s something nobody cares about.
All my artwork used this watermark in the past and none of my clients cared about it, the “uploading the thumbnail so people don’t steal it method” is smart.
But it’s more trouble and there’s a chance people can use your work without you knowing, though it’ll work against shady clients.
Still, using a watermark is better from my point of view.
I meant that if I were to show my artwork to a friend or share it on social media, it can be easily stolen and the watermark would lower it’s quality.
??? If they stolen it, they would’ve gotten a more low quality version, and it would be pretty obvious that they stole it. Isn’t that the reason why you would want to add a watermark?
4 Likes
This is a fantastic way of going about the problem, this should be marked as a solution.
Personally I add my username as a new layer in some program and set its blending options to Overlay. This makes the colors way harder to edit out if someone were to attempt it. And for extra measure you could put the name on a colorful part of the picture so it’s even harder to remove.
However, I’m not really concerned with this because all of my works are super-custom made to a specific client so it’s kinda hard to actually copy-paste it into someone else’s game.
1 Like
@Zintenka 's solution is pretty good however, there is one flaw. Since the watermark is so hidden, it’s also its downside.
(Im not gonna link the photoshop tutorial for reasons), but its possible that as long as there is enough of the background/original picture (which there is alot I mind you) then given time, the person can very much just hide the watermark or blend it in:
https://gyazo.com/787e6bac3dae4b7df70b3ac4ffd0d637
You may see a faint name (egotisms) and a line going through it. However before, the line was much more opaque/a full nearly-nontransparent line. However with just a tutorial online and a little dash of work with photoshop, it can be mostly be ridden of with enough time. Making it more transparent allows for it to be easier blended in.
@orangewarrior78’s is a pretty good solution as even though a little more intrusive, as he said before, nobody is gonna care for it as long as they can see the work.
Essentially, watermarks are made to make the work as difficult as it can get to steal. Lowering the quality, size ratio, cropping it a little, anything to make the work less of its self while still being very much easy to see is a good way to protecting your work.
1 Like