This whole jark vs. spyed business has really gotten out of hand. My understanding of it is that jark and matteo started the site, and spyed was peripherally involved. Now spyed fired jark, and nobody's saying anything conclusive. I'm not taking sides in that issue, but the uproar this has caused has lead me to
take a close look at the
submission agreement.
The first thing is that, aside from length, it's just as hard to understand as the Windows XP EULA. More interrelated than the average web application, and there's no docs! The complexity of the agreement makes it hard to quote, but I'll give it a try.
The original agreement contains no italics or bold styling. All such additions are mine.
Definition of "Artist Materials"
Buried in section 3 (e) lies this definition:
As used in this Agreement, the term "Artist Materials" means Artist's name(s) (including professional names), trademarks, trade names, likenesses, photographs, biographical materials, artwork, liner notes, and other graphical or textual materials that Artist uploads to deviantART, and any and all "skins," computer-generated images or other artwork or images that Artist submits to deviantART.
A strict reading of this would indicate that comments, journal entries, and forum posts all count as "Artist Materials." There seem to be no other definitions or amendments to the definition.
What dA can do with the "Artist Materials"
Section 3 is all about what you allow dA to do with your stuff when you agree to the agreement. It's too long to quote here, so I'll just give you my synopsis.
Section 3 allows dA to copy, distribute, and alter the "Artist Materials" by any electronic means, with no restrictions on fees or payments. Section 5 restricts payments made by dA to you, but does not restrict payments made between dA and any other entity for your "Artist Materials". Section 3 also allows dA to transfer any or all their rights to any number of third parties.
In other words, when you sign this agreement, you grant these rights on your stuff not only to dA, but to
any other entity that dA may have a past, current, or future relationship with.
More on third parties
Involvement with third parties does not end with section 3 (d). Section 7 states:
"Artist shall be responsible for all licensing, reporting and payment obligations of any kind to third parties in connection with the Artist Materials." Does this mean that the Artist is responsible for making payments to third parties that dA enters into agreements with? That sounds very unreasonable, but since when is reasonableness a requirement for being fact?
Section 11 is hard to read (due to BEING IN ALL CAPS) but it is very important. It implies that if dA licenses a third party to use your "Artist Materials" and that third party proceeds to violate your copyrights, dA is not liable
in the least.
So how do I get out of the agreement?
After carefully reading the agreement, you may, like me, consider leaving dA and terminating the agreement. In short, you want to opt-out.
Section 1 states:
To the extent this Agreement is terminated by Artist, the rights granted hereunder shall terminate only after Artist has removed all of Artist's Materials from the deviantART Site(s), and deviantART has received notice of such removal.
So there are two requirements: remove all your stuff, and let dA know. Removing all of your "Artist Materials" from the site ought to be simple enough: just delete your deviations, right? Take another look at the definition of "Artist Materials." I believe it includes comments. Can comments be deleted? Nope.
So how do you give notice? Section 14(c) states "All notices, requests and other communications ("Communications") under this Agreement must be in writing and sent to deviantART Inc., LLC, 7095 Hollywood Blvd #788 Hollywood, CA 90028, ATTN: Legal Department." Send a certified letter so you have legally valid verification that the letter was received.
Note: This is a different address than before. The earlier address was impossible to figure out. More on this later, maybe.
Conclusion
So where does this leave us? You will have to answer that for yourself.
Where does this leave me? Most of this stuff doesn't affect me because my stuff really isn't good enough for me to worry about. But at what point do I decide that it does affect me? Where do I draw the line? I really don't know. I don't want to leave, but I don't want to stay under the iron grip of this agreement if I don't have to.
Please give me your thoughts.
Waiting
