Page 2 has been added! Plus, there's been an important addition to page one, at the bottom. Go check it out.
Besides that, I hope you find this guide highly informative and have a plagiarism free future on TheOtaku.
----> Despite the massive cluster!f^*&( that Pixiv & Zerochan, etc, created on TheOtaku a few months back, I still see a lot of artwork being posted in submissions here. There, I've decided to share with everyone how I determine whether or not if an artwork is official, unofficial/fanart/Pixiv artwork.
I use multiple methods, so this will be broken up into multiple pages + screenshots/examples in order to help ensure your understanding.
But first, let's answer some self-asked questions, shall we?
The basics:
To put it as simple as possible, Pixiv is a Japanese art site- with lots of experienced artists, which causes a lot of awesome artwork from there to float around the internet. If you have to bracket Pixiv, bracket it with DeviantART. Both of highly similar, but one is is primarily English speaking, while the other is Japanese, and primarily featuring anime-related artwork. You are not allowed to use artwork from Pixiv, DeviantART, or other unofficial, digital art sources.
Zerochan is an image board site. People find great anime artwork from anyplace, and they post it on there, so that it's shared with more people. Also, Zerochan is the sister site of Minitokyo; that's why they have similar features (tagging, 'tag me', ecchi filter, etc)- however, they are two different sites, bound by different rules. Minitokyo does not allow Pixiv artwork on it's site. Zerochan does.
- What is e-shuushuu?
e-shuushuu is another image board site, like Zerochan, but it gets mistaken for something else because unlike Zerochan, it has a much better site design, and lists each picture's artist/mangaka in a cleaner manner. I admit, I thought it was an official site for scans too, however if you click the artist's name (a link), many times it'll only list a Pixiv page- nothing official. Treat this site exactly like Zerochan.
Other important questions:
Wrong. Minitokyo and Zerochan, being sister sites, have a similar tagging system- users tag anything they see, however not everything is completely tagged, or tagged appropriately. In the end, if you fail to make a good distinction, the only one to blame will be yourself. Zerochan is not a reliable place to obtain scans; because it has a significant amount of fan-art, DeviantART, and Pixiv artwork posted there.
Here are some tags to keep an eye out for:
- Pixiv ID (account number)
- Fanart
- Source: DeviantART
- Source: Pixiv
- Source: Any Other Artsite
If there's one thing Zerochan should be given a high-five for, it's their improvement with correctly listing sources and artists on the items posted there. Over time, using this site as a way to locate artwork and determine their source has become ideal. Never miss an opportunity to take full advantage of the tools you're provided with- as Slytherin as that sounds, take it to heart.
No. This is a confusing aspect about both sites- they'll list the artists, but more often than not, the artist listed is not official. It is up to you to make the correct distinction. Further on, I'll give full examples on how to use various sites to verify an artwork's source + how to determine if an artist is official or not.
Wrong again. Tineye is a great image-reverse search engine, but it is not the best tool to search for Pixiv artwork; the result you're looking for might exist, but not show up there.
Absolutely. These are official and can be used.
Pixiv is an art site, similar to DeviantART, but with more (in my opinion) experienced anime artists. Each year, an assortment of technically impressive/creative artwork featuring girls (as the primary subject), is released and published as an artbook- and because this work is published, using artwork from the Pixiv Girls Collection is permitted. This also includes other published Pixiv artworks, such as Pixiv Nenkan, Pixiv Boys Collection, and etc.
I highly advise against this; if you cannot find the source, then using it is a risk that might negatively affect you if someone does manage to find the source, and it's not official artwork.
That's what the next pages will be used for; I plan to update this very soon. Be patient.
- I found a 'scan' that looks digital, but doesn't appear to be tied to a Visual Novel/Video Game/Etc, on Minitokyo, how is this possible?
Pixiv artwork used to be permitted on Minitokyo, however after finalizing an agreement with Pixiv, followed by this post, 'Work from Pixiv no longer allowed', unpublished art from Pixiv (or anywhere else) became prohibited. Therefore, the moderators spent a significant time combing through the site and deleting Pixiv artwork + going through hundreds of reports as well. However, though not often- older, un-deleted Pixiv artwork still exist + needs to be reported & deleted.
Here's a suggested route: Search for the artwork's source (something you will get advice about doing on the third page) & do Minitokyo a service by reporting it, if your results are conclusive.
- near the artist comment area + the bottom of the page, above the user comment area. You'll need an account to do this, but it's worth the work.
Make sure to provide the Pixiv/DeviantART/other unofficial artwork link as proof that it's an unofficial artwork. A moderator will look at the evidence and act accordingly if the data you've given is useful.
That's the end of page 1, if you have other questions you'd like to see answered here, feel free to ask and I'll explain it.
