Sonilink Art

it was suggested to me that i ought to make a short version of this post for convenient reblogging. please read the original post original post or check my geekycomtv tag if that link is broken.

Avoid collaborations with dubious monetized YouTube channel GeekyComTV

I’ve held my tongue about this channel for almost a month and I can’t frickin’ do it anymore. This is a call out post.

[WHY?] To make a long story short, this user has been posting videos for over a year now, using miraculous art. Although in some cases he has asked permission to repost, he began monetizing [making money off of] his videos at some point without notifying any of the artists.

None of the artists agreed to monetization.

@maristoryart is only one of many artists that reported him upon finding the monetization, but for some reason, Geeky has focused on her as the reason his channel is being reported [for a second time at least, since this isn’t the first account he has lost]…

GeekyComTV’s creator has resorted to blackmail, to defamation, to actual threats, and finally to identity theft, in an attempt to bully mari and others into complying with his wishes.

It’s gross and it is NOT okay.

[^^^ just 20 of the 200+ videos being monetized]

[WHY? part 2: the long version] And now the entire thing. Strap in and get ready to get real damn mad…

So if you’ve been following along the replies in the long post, you would have noticed that this guy was replying quite frequently. I made this little piece here titled “Guy Contradicts Himself” or “Guy Who Can’t Keep Up with His Own Story.”

So guy was accused of monetizing. He thought he could be sneaky with it. So artists reported him. He harassed Mari and begged to have the strikes removed. He even tried to bribe her by saying he’ll send her whatever money he made. She refused. He then tried to find out who ratted him out regarding the monetizing [bottom left]. He also tried to justify his monetizing to another artist by saying everyone else monetizes their art [middle].

Once he started replying to the post, he mentioned that he doesn’t make much on his hundreds of videos! He claimed that he only started monetizing recently and that he only monetizes some (all negated in the post with proof). He even started to claim that he shared a portion of his earnings with some artists.

Eventually he decided that all of his earnings go to music companies [red outlined] and that he doesn’t profit. You see all the screenshots on the right? I checked all his videos this morning. All monetized by him directly. Not by a music company.

Hell, I haven’t even gotten to him claiming that fan art is fair use and that he was nice enough to even ask for permission! My guy, not even Zag or Thomas Astruc can use my fan art commercially without my permission. Who the heck are you that you think you have the right? You received permission to repost. That’s it. Artists are not obligated to ask you to remove their content when you clearly breached their trust by monetizing without their consent.

The latest update now is that he made his own website, posted Mari’s comics there as well as one of Feri’s, edited out their names, added his own and is now claiming they’re his fan art.

“‘Check the four permissions’ to those who love drama and keep wasting my time asking for my permissions of the fan arts take a look at these permissions that i got from who i had problem with”

Permission to post, not to monetize. Just because there was no talk of monetizing does not mean that the artist has allowed it. Silence is not acceptance. Permission is required for monetization.

YouTube’s Monetization Criteria:

“permissions can’t be revoked by one side”

Artists have the right to revoke any permission they’ve given unless specifically stated otherwise in a formal contract. It is their work that’s being used. No one else has the right over it.

“The use of the fan art in my videos qualifies as fair use under US copyright law because it is non-commercial (not selling anything)”

Fair Use: The doctrine that brief excerpts of copyright material may, under certain circumstances, be quoted verbatim for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, without the need for permission from or payment to the copyright holder. (Google dictionary)

These videos fall under none of those categories.

Also, Monetizing is commercial use. Here are YouTube’s guidelines on monetization:

“Fan art which is a piece of art that contains a character that is not owned by him”