Self-uploading artist policy discussion

Claverhouse said:

I dunno; if every site insisted the art had been first posted somewhere else I foresee a dreary paradox.

That's like saying that sites Pixiv and DeviantArt are pointless as danbooru and Sankaku exist. They're image hosting sites specifically set up for uploading user-created art -they have art management and gallery features places like Imgur and Danbooru don't have, to be blunt.

We're not really set up for hosting art a user creates - once it's uploaded they have no control over it or how it's displayed. Pixiv and DeviantArt let the Uploader control everything about the image - removing it, revision, restricting access or resolutions displayed etc.

Plus, Danbooru was originally set up as a repository of moderated (high quality) anime style art, not as an artist's upload site. We don't give the artists any control of the content other than to remove it completely - which they have to request. On an artist hosting service, they'd have all the access controls they wanted without going through anyone else.

Every site has their own rules - a warning against self uploading is specific to Danbooru.

How would this policy apply to artwork which, rather than being created by the uploader, was commissioned by them? Case in point post #2465326 uploaded by @floobadeedoo.

Personally I think this should not be permitted either. It seems to pose similar problems as a user uploading their own work though not as bad. There is still probably strong personal attachment and a lack of objectivity.

I don't think it's the same thing. Every user has their bias for one artist or a group of artists.

Going to agree with tapnek. While certainly the fact they commissioned it will mean they have more invested in it, I don't think it will be that much more different from the investment uploaders would have uploading artwork from their favorite artists. If we're to go in this direction, as tapnek said, we're just going to bring into question the objectivity of all users.

chodorov said:

How would this policy apply to artwork which, rather than being created by the uploader, was commissioned by them? Case in point post #2465326 uploaded by @floobadeedoo.

Personally I think this should not be permitted either. It seems to pose similar problems as a user uploading their own work though not as bad. There is still probably strong personal attachment and a lack of objectivity.

Paying money for the art isn't a bad thing and it's little different from uploading a scan from a book you got at Melon - as long as you source it, it's like any other art. The specific objections to self uploads is that the artist may not necessarily be producing high quality art and its using Danbooru for their gallery rather than another site designed just for that.

At least with the paid for art, SOMEONE ELSE decides the art is okay enough to post here (and likes it enough to pay for it).

chodorov said:

How would this policy apply to artwork which, rather than being created by the uploader, was commissioned by them? Case in point post #2465326 uploaded by @floobadeedoo.

Personally I think this should not be permitted either. It seems to pose similar problems as a user uploading their own work though not as bad. There is still probably strong personal attachment and a lack of objectivity.

This isn't the same thing. Trying to branch rules against self-uploading into people uploading their own commissions from artists is too much of a stretch. In that case, it should be treated like any other artwork posted here.

@albert @Type-kun
Since there is an increase in self-uploader in the last few days (one just uploaded recently), I wanted to ask when the notification, proposed in forum #119600, will be deployed?

I submitted a patch for it, will go out in the next update.

Recently user #496451 was banned. Most of their uploads were ignored, but I thought that at least one, post #2524559 was OK and decided to give it an approval. It's been flagged with self-upload as the reasoning.

I just want to make sure before this happens again in the future, are all self-uploads, regardless of whether they're on-topic, of high or reasonable quality or if status of user as banned or not or without any other rule violation, to be ignored when in the queue from here on out? I'd like a confirmation so there's an agreed policy.

buehbueh said:

Recently user #496451 was banned. Most of their uploads were ignored, but I thought that at least one, post #2524559 was OK and decided to give it an approval. It's been flagged with self-upload as the reasoning.

I just want to make sure before this happens again in the future, are all self-uploads, regardless of whether they're on-topic, of high or reasonable quality or if status of user as banned or not or without any other rule violation, to be ignored when in the queue from here on out? I'd like a confirmation so there's an agreed policy.

The most recent upload was okay, and at least they were storing everything on Pixiv first. I'm generally against self uploads as a rule of thumb, but at least they're discoverable on another service. I don't know why Provence suggested they use DeviantArt when they're already using Pixiv. I'd have just said "please refrain from self uploading. If your art's decent, someone else will do it"

Even if uploading one's own work is against the rules, the identity of the uploader is a terrible reason for non-approval. The question we have to ask is, if anyone other than the artist had uploaded it, would we still be letting it slip through the queue? If not, how does Danbooru benefit from deleting it? It's not like another user can simply re-upload it once it's deleted.

I'm inclined to wonder, what's the point of that flag, other than spite? Flagging otherwise acceptable uploads based solely on who uploaded them is utterly detrimental to this site's mission.

Also, this thread is missing something else for discussion, what about banned artists who only ban third-party uploading 'cause they want to re-post their own art under a different nickname? Will they be banned by the moderators too even if they source Pixiv, Tumblr or DeviantART?

I too agree that self-uploading is disallowed and frowned upon on Danbooru/Safebooru, but not all those banned artists see this as a rule but as a restriction despite albert and his moderator team keep tiredlessly send their open notes to those artists that they only allow third-party uploading as this site is a repository of high-quality (and moderated) art. As such, some of them can create accounts here to re-post their own art under different nicknames in utter attempts to break the rules.

And don't remind of banned artists who spite, despised or are biased against Danbooru/Safebooru, that'll be off topic here.

iridescent_slime said:

I'm inclined to wonder, what's the point of that flag, other than spite? Flagging otherwise acceptable uploads based solely on who uploaded them is utterly detrimental to this site's mission.

This this this so much this.