(Update #3) You Stole My Artwork: An Open Letter to Anita Sarkeesian - RESOLVED

It’s been a rough 11 days since the C&D, but my art is no longer being used without my permission for commercial uses! We did it, internet! Hooray for following the rules of polite discourse and getting fair results! :D

Anita, thank you so very very much for doing the right thing and finally removing my artwork as I had kindly requested. This is a fantastic first step to recognizing the rights of digital content creators such as myself, and a wonderful example for content creators of different disciplines to try to communicate and work together.

I’m very very sorry we were not able to come to an agreement for you to continue using my artwork, but please remember that the door is still open: I’d be incredibly happy for you to keep using my artwork for free as soon as you can provide proof that you are a California Non Profit Public Benefit Corporation.

While I’d love to take your word for it because women + games is a topic that is true to my heart, it wouldn’t be fair to the other orgs I’ve worked with to give you permission without proof. I know it’s frustrating, but I have to at least try to play fair and not play favorites. I gotta always fact check. Dem’s the rules. :(

(Remember, the easiest way to confirm a business is really a non-profit is to search via the official IRS charity site– you don’t need any private paperwork or anything, just the official non-profit business name. :) )

I hope that you will continue this positive trend even further and resolve the issues with the other non-original work that you have been using without the content creator’s permission, including @DinobotTwit artwork and the several Let’s Play videos from Youtube. As a lover of transformative work, I do hope that you will engage in direct communication with the content creators to see what their own wishes are.

With your resources, I would love to see you give back to the creative community by commissioning artists to create original work for you, instead of using their work without permission. You might be surprised at how affordable an artist can be, and many (myself included!) even love to gift their work away for free to good causes. :)

In the future, please consider using proper academic citations in your work for any content you use that is not your own– it’s the easiest and most professional way to avoid situations like this in the future and completely avoid any allegations of plagiarism from detracting from your own message.

Thanks again for resolving this issue! :D

Tammy



PS: Just to be as clear as possible: Put down your weapons, internet. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. ;D