I've been thinking today about an odd experience I had about a year ago. Someone on IG made an exact handmade copy of one of my designs & tagged me in the post. I didn't know what to say or feel at the time, but I knew that whatever feeling I was having, it wasn't a good one. 1/

I realize this might sound strange coming from a fanartist, so I want to be entirely clear about what distinguishes a direct copy from fanart, even if you don't sell or make any money off that direct copy. Fanart is inspired by someone else's work or ideas. 2/

A fanartist lovingly reinterprets the material in a way that ads their own unique spin and uses their own artistic style; they do not literally copy the work. When I draw, I draw designs inspired by Trek, not 1:1 copies of what you see on screen or what CBS is selling. 3/

When I make Tribble throw pillows, I know they're not going to be confused for replicas or original props because they're freaking massive, and they come in all sorts of wild colors. (And for the record, my Tribble Christmas ornaments came out before the Hallmark ones, so...) 4/

I pay attention to what CBS and other fanartists are producing to ensure that I'm not replicating their work. I would do that even if I weren't making money off of it. When someone directly copies your work, even if they're not making any money off of it, what they're doing is 5/

...refusing to pay you for your time and talent. They're saying, "I like your work enough that I want to own it, but I don't think that you deserve to be paid for the time and effort you put into it."

Now, I'm a die-hard socialist, and I think all art should be free, but 6/

...I have bills to pay because it's the 21st Century, not the 24th. Making art is my job both because I love it and because it's the only full-time gig that I can realistically do with my disability in combination with the talents and skills I have. Still, I don't want to 7/

...deprive someone of art just because they can't afford it. If that person had told me that they wanted my work badly enough to put in the time and effort to make it, but they just can't afford the $, I probably would have sent them *at least* a free sticker with the design 8/

...because I've been there. It's one thing to say, "I wish I could have that, but I can't afford it. Would you be willing to give me a discount/a free item?" and another thing to say, "I can't or don't want to pay you, so I'm going to steal the idea from you instead." 9/

The former tells me that you respect me and my work. The latter tells me that you think the only part of my work that has value is the material it's printed on. That's not a kind sentiment, no matter how it was intended. So what's the takeaway here? 10/

It's that directly ripping off an artist's work is never cool, no matter how you do it. If you're going to literally copy someone else's work so that you can possess it without paying them for it, nobody can stop you, but ffs, don't tag them & rub it in their face. </rant> 11/11