Blogheal

So here’s the deal with the whole issue:

Paheal works hard foster good relations with artists and respect their right to determine where their art is posted on the internet. They work hours on images and should have a say as to what happens to it.

On the other hand, bending over backwards to the slightest whims creates headaches, huge DNP lists, and generally disappoints and frustrates a community that both expects and ascribes to the open nature of the internet.

Then, on the extreme, we get people who threaten us with lawsuits and scare us into compliance. These are often referred to as SLAPPs. This occurred recently with Drawn-sex, as many of you may know. We do not have the resources to fight these in court, and hosts tend to be skittish about legal reliability. Even if we were to fight something, our host would still shut down the site. Also, I, for one, am not willing to have my name on a lawsuit of this nature and jeopardize future opportunities.

We are also aware of the “how can you copyright stolen copyrighted characters and make money off of them” argument. There is stuff about parodies and fair-use in there, as well as international agreements and local copyright laws. In short, if you are a lawyer and want to explain it to us, feel free. In the mean time, we are not concerned about it.

In sum, we walk a fine line between courting artists’ respect and users’ expectations. We wish that all artists would allow their art on our site. We wish all artists didn’t care about what was said about their art. But we understand that not all are like this, and respect that. In this respect, we made the DNP list and the Friends of Paheal list to show that attempt at balance.