As this community has grown so much over the years, so has the amount of invalid stock and resources that have been provided by some deviants. The Stock and Resources community feels like this reflects negatively on them, the volunteers have a hard time trying to teach people about valid stock and how to use it correctly, and it gives an appearance that deviantART Staff tolerate so-called “art theft” or copyright infringement.
In this article our aim is to reinforce our policies regarding stock and stock use and clear up some misconceptions.
Stock and Resource submissions to deviantART:
What are Invalid Stock and Resources?
In short, invalid stock or resources are anything which you do not have full permission to upload. This includes images of celebrities, images taken from films, games and books or images found via search engines.
If you didn't take the picture, or have clear and explicit permission from the artist prior to submission your stock or resource will be considered invalid. All submissions to deviantART must comply with our submissions and copyright policy
FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?
deviantART Submission Policy
deviantART Copyright Policy
What happens to Invalid Stock and Resources?
First we will look to see if the deviation would be better suited to a different gallery or a deviants scraps, if that is the case than it will be moved. If we need take further action then we will request that the deviant provides proof of permission to submit. Once we have requested proof of permission, the artwork will be suspended from public view for 30 days, during this period the deviant can lift the suspension by providing the necessary proof. For repeat offenses or large scale infringement other administrative actions may be applied, this may include immediate deviation deletion or account suspensions. The falsification of submission proof is met with zero tolerance and will result in immediate removal of the image as well as a suspension or indefinite ban on the account.
FAQ #193: How do I prove that I had permission to use someone's work?
Stock and Resource use on deviantART:
What can I use in my submissions?
You can only use images in your submissions which you have permission to use. This is either works created entirely through your own means, valid stock and resources or images for which you have obtained specific, verifiable written permission to use.
You may also use images that are considered Public Domain in your submissions. Please note however that public domain does not mean anything you can find on the internet. Public Domain images are images which are free from copyright either because the term of copyright has elapsed or copyright was never applied to the artwork. The current term of copyright that deviantART adheres by is the life of the artist and 70 years after their death.
What must I do to make sure that my images are valid for submission?
deviantART requires that you document your source material and encourage you to provide links where possible. We also require that you follow the terms and conditions set by the provider or host website. Most providers and host websites do not allow the redistribution of their stock or the modification of their stock in to other resources, such as application brushes, premade backgrounds or "renders". We will remove any works that violate a stock or resource providers terms and conditions once notified by the provider or their legal agent.
FAQ #217: What are "Stock and Resources" and can I use them in my submissions?
My image was deleted but it came from a stock website, why is this?
There are a lot of sites claiming to be valid stock and resource sites, but they are offering materials which they do not have permission to offer. If we receive notice from the copyright holder or their legal agent acting on their behalf then we will honour their copyright and remove any infringing work, even if you thought it was taken from a valid stock and resource site. You should use extra caution when using materials from sites offering famous images or photos of well known people, as these are rarely valid stock. We recommend that you only use recognised stock and resource sites such as fotolia.com, sxc.hu, istockphoto.com, gettyimages.co.uk or our own stock and resource providers.
What this means for the Stock and Resources Community:
We're going to put some extra energies into clearing up these galleries over the next few weeks. This may involve a simple admin action such as moving your deviation to scraps or a more relevant gallery, or for persistent policy violators, it may involve further administrative action. You may find that you are requested to submit permissions documents, or worst case scenario -- we may have to suspend your account.
