another go, more painty

Steam Knights! Yes!

I think that's a great idea - a practical explanation of the 'collaboration' model is probably needed, and a 'plain language' summary of what all the legalese actually means to people posting stuff is too - I think any distress has risen from not understanding at the start rather than from disagreeing with the model. If I look at what Subutai has given me for my subs, I've had a good read, I've been inspired to make some stuff, and I've had an audience for/feedback on that stuff, so that's been great. In return, Subutai own the rights on what I put up, even if they never actually call in that right. And from what I understand, if I take my stuff down (and Subutai haven't used it), it's as if I never posted it here - so it then becomes entirely mine again, (but subject of course to the usual copyright rules ie I can't make money out of pictures of Zug any more than I can out of pictures of Harry Potter).

I've done plenty of drawing free for small press magazines in the past, and the deal is usually fairly similar - they own the right to use the stuff I've submitted to them. They usually require me not to submit it anywhere else until the magazine is published, and after that they generally say I'm ok to do what I want with it. It tends to be commissioned stuff, which I had thought of as a bit different to this, which is more like a regular fan forum - but I guess this site falls some way between the two. Which is why a bit more clarity might be beneficial in ForeWorld Vol 2?

Great - I think I understand better now.

Now the confessions *looks down, shuffles feet* .. not being clued up about these things, I had put these pics up on my own website (which is the source of the drawings embedded in these posts and in my profile), and on DeviantArt, without checking here. They are not for sale, I hasten to add, and I have put the following accreditation: on my own site it says 'Drawings inspired by the collaborative novel by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo and others, which can be viewed at www.mongoliad.com' and on DeviantArt it says 'fan art contributed to 'The Mongoliad' online collaborative novel by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo and others online at www.mongoliad.com'. Can I ask belatedly, is this ok with you, and is the wording ok?

There's an interesting summary here of the fan art/copyright issues which puts this in a wider context .. it includes this quote, which seemed pertinent, and bears out what you're saying:

'From a copyright holder viewpoint, fan fiction and art is usually not very harmful. Fans create works that are openly recognized to be non-canon to the story and are not replacements for the original.

In fact, some feel these fan communities actually serve a valuable service to copyright holders by providing a thriving site for fans to visit, keeping them entertained and engage between official releases. In short, since fan creations don't take away sales of the original work, they are often seen as free promotion and a way to grow the brand without cost or effort.

The bigger issue, however, is the cost of going to war with fans. Being litigious with creators of fan art can be very costly, not just in terms of court costs, but in terms of backlash. No creator wants to sue their fans, especially when the fans aren't earning revenue, and as such most creators will tolerate fan fiction and art under most circumstances.

Some even go as far as to create fan site kits, for the purpose of aiding the creation of fan Web sites. This includes Blizzard with World of Warcraft.

Fan fiction and fan art communities, in turn, usually have a set of rules that they follow to preserve their symbiotic relationship.

First, they agree to not profit from or sell copies of their creations. Though some of the communities run ads to cover hosting costs, most do not turn any profit and the individual authors never sell their works. Second, they always proclaim that their work is unofficial and has no connection with the creators. Finally, they respond to requests from the copyright holder to remove content and work with the creator as needed.

In short, the community works to ensure they don't hurt the original creator's ability to profit from the work and the creator tolerates what is technically a copyright infringement in many cases. Everyone seems to be happy though, on rare occasions, the system can break down.'