There are two directions we can go. We can keep the current system:
- We remove content on request.
- We don't remove content that the artist never asked us to remove.
- "Remove" means we remove public access to the work. We keep some level of non-public access to enforce bans and for record keeping, among other reasons.
- We fully delete content when the artist specifically asks us to. We've done this on a few occasions.
- We don't punish uploaders for uploading banned content, unless they're deliberately not tagging the artist.
Or we can take a hardline stance:
- All existing posts by banned artists are removed.
- All existing paid rewards are removed.
- Uploading paid rewards or banned artists is against the rules. Uploading them gets you banned. Uploading unmarked paid rewards gets you banned. This includes Builders and Mods.
- Artist profiles, artist tags, pools, and wiki pages for banned artists are also removed.
- "Removed" means fully removed for everyone but Admins. The post and everything associated with it is completely gone. If you find a link to a banned post, for example in the ban log, you can't view the post without the image, instead you just get an error message.
If you think this would suck, you're right. That's why we haven't done it. But if we're saying that bans should be full bans, then this is what a full ban would look like. If you think this is too harsh, this is what artists usually want. Normally when an artist asks for a takedown, they ask for everything about them to be removed, including not just their pictures, but also their artist profile, their artist tag, and any other sources or links to their works. If we're serious about doing what artists want, this is what they want.
We don't do this now because it makes artist bans impossible to enforce. This is the dilemma. Artists usually ask us to remove everything about them. Posts, tags, artist profiles, everything. They also want us to somehow prevent their works from being uploaded in the future, including works they haven't created yet. This is an impossible request. We can't magically prevent an artist's works from being uploaded if nobody knows who they are, what their works look like, and which of their works have already been uploaded.
It's very difficult to explain to artists, especially Japanese artists, that if we really did totally remove everything like they asked, then we can't prevent their works from being uploaded in the future. So we don't. We ban their existing posts (meaning we disable public access), we mark them as a banned artist, and we ensure any future uploads are banned too. This is enough to make most artists happy. And frankly, when we're talking about non-paid works that are freely available on Pixiv or Twitter anyway, I don't have a moral problem with it.
It's important to understand that the banned artist system is voluntary. We don't have to do it, and artists don't have to accept it. We have no obligation to proactively remove content for the artist. Our only obligation is to remove content in response to a valid DMCA takedown request (which most requests aren't, technically speaking). The banned artist system is us going beyond what the DMCA requires to satisfy the spirit of their request, if not the letter.
The alternative is to strictly abide by the DMCA. If we just followed the DMCA, then we wouldn't have blanket artist bans. Artists would have to send us a takedown request each and every time a new post was uploaded. We would only remove the image, not anything else. We could even replace the image with a hotlink to the image at the source. Meaning the image would still be visible to users, but we wouldn't technically be hosting it. It would be like nothing was removed. This is exactly how Google Images works. Most artists wouldn't like that, which is why we have the banned artist system instead.
As for paid rewards:
1) My personal stance is that I really wish uploaders didn't flood the site with paid rewards. It's selfish, karma-whoring behavior. It forces us into a bad position. I wish uploaders had enough common sense to treat them like doujins or scans, which is to say that as long as they're not flooding them, we can turn a blind eye to them.
2) That said, I feel even more strongly against mass removing existing content. Mass removing content for copyright infringement kills trust in the site. It hurts our reputation among users more than it helps our reputation among artists. To many artists, especially Japanese artists, we're just another shitty hentai reposting site. There are always going to be artists who don't understand us and who hate what we do.
3) Banning paid rewards sets a dangerous precedent for us. First it's paid rewards. Then it's doujinshi. Then artbooks, scans, magazines, calendars, game CGs, and non-web sourced content in general. Then it's screencaps, gifs or videos from licensed shows, and official art in general. Then it's bad id posts, then anything with a "do not repost" notice.
It's easy to scoff at this now, but don't think paid rewards are the end of it. We've already had complaints over doujins. Look at topic #16327 or the comments on post #3622871. Most of the DMCA complaints I get from Google are over doujins or scans (see the list here). Last year we got delisted from Google over false DMCA claims by a company trying to take down doujins and hentai CGs (article). If you're wanting to remove things to reduce liability, then don't expect it to end at paid rewards.
4) We have no legal obligation to police uploads for copyright infringement. Proactively removing content for copyright infringement exposes us to more legal liability than simply removing content on request.
5) Banning one type of copyright infringement is implicitly saying that other types are allowed. This exposes us to more liability than if we treated all content the same.
6) Letting builders have access to paid rewards is not really an improvement. Artists don't care about how our site works, they don't care about the difference between user levels, they just want their stuff gone.
7) Most paid rewards are uploaded by builders, approvers, and even mods. Letting these users continue to view and upload these works means they're not truly banned, it just means we're a private paid reward sharing club. This puts us in an even worse position.
8) It's hard for us to tell what is a paid reward if the uploader doesn't tag it. Which won't happen if they know they'll get banned for it. So either we have a bunch of untagged paid rewards getting through, or we take a hardline stance and ban any unsourced post that looks like a paid reward. Then the uploader has to provide a source to prove it's not a paid reward for it to be unbanned. Otherwise users will just keep uploading paid rewards and feigning ignorance when called on it. There's no way to enforce this without being harsh on uploaders.
