Imagine writing an essay for class. An essay about something you're really passionate about, maybe. Politics, your personal experiences, whatever it may be. The subject isn't exactly the point, but imagine working on it for hours, maybe days. All your hard-thought words and sentences, even the ones you're not too proud of, complied into a paper that you need to get an A for the class. Once you turn it in, however, you realize that several people have your paper. It doesn't have your name on it, and some things are changed around. You try to tell people that it's yours, but they either don't believe you, or don't care. Now there are copies of your essay everywhere, and not even your teacher can verify whether it's yours or not. All your hard work feels unappreciated and worth nothing.

As an artist, especially in the digital age, this is common. Work is easily manipulated, photoshopped, or edited to disregard credit to the original owner. Some discredits are accidental and easily fixed just by asking, but some people are a little more stubborn. Digital art has taken over the internet, whether it be Photoshop work, or specific painting programs like Paint Tool Sai or Corel Paint Pro. There are mixed opinions on this new take on the arts, some say that it's a great new way for a generation to express themselves, and some believe it's plaguing the traditional ways of doing things.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but let me clarify a few myths:

Computers do not "do all the work".

Computers cannot do anything on their own. All actions are based on the user. No, the computer program isn't going to draw that line for you. The program isn't going to blend out that color for you. It doesn't happen that way.

It's not "easier" or "cheating". It's actually been proven to be a medium that's so much harder to master. You don't just pick up a brush and paint. You need to learn every inch of the program in order to use it correctly, and doing so can take months, or even years.

Now, once you do learn how to use everything, it's almost instinct. Some people use this to steal others' work. In the traditional world, it takes a lot to steal someone's work. Digital art takes seconds to steal, just because of how easy it is to edit images. Not only is it easy to steal work, but once it's stolen, it's hard to get back. Stubborn people that care about followers more than common courtesy refuse to take down or properly credit artists, and sometimes the artist doesn't even know it's been taken. All the hard work that the individual put themselves through, has all been practically given to another who has done nothing but a little editing, some even profiting off of the work of others.

This has led to the constant paranoia of successful internet artists. Watermarks and signatures are getting larger, descriptions are always including "ask before reposting", and some search the web for themselves, just in case something of theirs has been taken. Sadly, we can't stop art theft. If you do see it, however, contact the person. Provide some sort of evidence and reasoning, and if they refuse to remove the image, report them and/or call them out, please. Inform the artist of what's going on. Don't let people's hard work go to those who just want attention or money. Keep the art with the artists. They're the ones who need it most.