I have been looking through the wiki, rules, guidelines and forums to find instructions to a specific problem, but I haven't found a direct answer:

When an artist takes down all their art, you are not allowed to re-upload it. That's easy. Everybody should respect the creator's wishes. Now to the problem that needs a solution (as far as I can tell). What about the commissioner of a certain piece of art? Is it allowed for them to re-upload the picture they have paid for if they choose to share it? Even against the artist's wishes?

neodisher said:
I have been looking through the wiki, rules, guidelines and forums to find instructions to a specific problem, but I haven't found a direct answer:

When an artist takes down all their art, you are not allowed to re-upload it. That's easy. Everybody should respect the creator's wishes. Now to the problem that needs a solution (as far as I can tell). What about the commissioner of a certain piece of art? Is it allowed for them to re-upload the picture they have paid for if they choose to share it? Even against the artist's wishes?

The commissioner/character owner has no copy right for the art. Therefore, the artist always has the last word on deletions.

dubsthefox said:
The commissioner/character owner has no copy right for the art. Therefore, the artist always has the last word on deletions.

Thank you for the fast reply. I thought I should ask before I cause any trouble.

neodisher said:
When an artist takes down all their art, you are not allowed to re-upload it. That's easy. Everybody should respect the creator's wishes. Now to the problem that needs a solution (as far as I can tell). What about the commissioner of a certain piece of art? Is it allowed for them to re-upload the picture they have paid for if they choose to share it? Even against the artist's wishes?

That depends on the artist's TOS and any prior agreement. By default, the artist retains all rights to their work, the commissioner merely gets a copy for their personal use, so it would not be allowed. However, some artists have a TOS that state commissions can reposted by the commissioner. Sometimes a commissioner gets permission (prior to or after the commission is made) to repost. As far as e621 is concerned, if an artist is DNP, CDNP, or took down someone's commission, if the commissioner can provide proof to the admins that they have a legal right to repost it here, they can be posted here (an unaffiliated third party can't post it here, though). Otherwise, without expressed permission, the artist's (C)DNP or takedown takes precedence over a commissioner posting it.

neodisher said:
Thank you for the fast reply. I thought I should ask before I cause any trouble.

There are some exceptions. If an artist draws a character without the owner’s consent, then the character owner takes priority in a takedown. Even if it’s uploaded by the artist themselves.

dubsthefox said:
Therefore, the artist always has the last word on deletions.

Huh, what about if the commissioner (and/or character owner) wants to take down the art from e621 but the artist wants it to stay up? Wouldn't it still be taken down?

Basically if any of the 3 (artist, commissioner, and character owner) want it taken down, it will be taken down?

snpthecat said:
Huh, what about if the commissioner (and/or character owner) wants to take down the art from e621 but the artist wants it to stay up? Wouldn't it still be taken down?

No, the artist takes precedence. Takedowns get denied if the artist uploaded it (e.g. takedown #19446). There may be times an artist's wishes are overruled, but that's generally due to extenuating circumstances (e.g. character use without permission, using art to harass someone).

snpthecat said:
Basically if any of the 3 (artist, commissioner, and character owner) want it taken down, it will be taken down?

If any of the three want it down, and none of the others give an opinion, yes. If some want it down and others want it up, it will depend on the specifics of who and what permissions have been given to the parties in question.

watsit said:
No, the artist takes precedence. Takedowns get denied if the artist uploaded it (e.g. takedown #19446). There may be times an artist's wishes are overruled, but that's generally due to extenuating circumstances (e.g. character use without permission, using art to harass someone).

Doesn't paddington bear (or more specifically the copyright holder paddington and company limited) have a conditional dnp? Yeah it's not a takedown, but this is just about showing that character owners sometimes override artists.

watsit said:
That depends on the artist's TOS and any prior agreement. By default, the artist retains all rights to their work, the commissioner merely gets a copy for their personal use, so it would not be allowed. However, some artists have a TOS that state commissions can reposted by the commissioner. Sometimes a commissioner gets permission (prior to or after the commission is made) to repost. As far as e621 is concerned, if an artist is DNP, CDNP, or took down someone's commission, if the commissioner can provide proof to the admins that they have a legal right to repost it here, they can be posted here (an unaffiliated third party can't post it here, though). Otherwise, without expressed permission, the artist's (C)DNP or takedown takes precedence over a commissioner posting it.

I understand that. The piece of art I‘m talking about is almost seven years old and was taken down five years ago by the artist. Unfortunately all their galleries on sites like Furaffinity etc. were deleted or closed leaving no option for communication. I‘m not sure what we have agreed about reposts if anything. Guess this is going to be one certain question for every commission I ask for in the future.

snpthecat said:
Doesn't paddington bear (or more specifically the copyright holder paddington and company limited) have a conditional dnp? Yeah it's not a takedown, but this is just about showing that character owners sometimes override artists.

Because they're the legal copyright owner of the character, and don't give permission for artists to depict the character in adult situations. Like mentioned, an artist can be overruled if they're using a character without permission. If an artist had permission to draw a character and the drawing itself was fine, though, then them posting the drawing here would generally take precedence. There's also the case that most personal characters don't actually have copyright protection (copyrighting a character has a far higher bar to pass than normal copyright, as it skirts the line of copyrighting an idea, which is disallowed), while characters like Paddington have been put through the necessary steps for the company to assert copyright ownership. e6's treatment of character owners is otherwise a courtesy; something they may not technically have to do in most cases, but they give some consideration to be nice. In the case of Paddington, the company asserted their legal ownership and e6 had to legally comply, resulting in the only character CDNP on the site.

watsit said:
Because they're the legal copyright owner of the character, and don't give permission for artists to depict the character in adult situations. Like mentioned, an artist can be overruled if they're using a character without permission. If an artist had permission to draw a character and the drawing itself was fine, though, then them posting the drawing here would take precedence. There's also the case that most personal characters don't actually have copyright protection (copyrighting a character has a far higher bar to pass than normal copyright, as it skirts the line of copyrighting an idea, which is disallowed), while characters like Paddington have been put through the necessary steps for the company to assert copyright ownership. e6's treatment of character owners is otherwise a courtesy; something they may not technically have to do in most cases, but they give some consideration to be nice. In the case of Paddington, the company asserted their copyright and e6 had to legally comply, resulting in the only character CDNP on the site.

Hmmm, I see.

It would be intriguing to see how some hypothetical cases would go where any of the 3 disagree and how they play out depending on the circumstances.

watsit said:
No, the artist takes precedence. Takedowns get denied if the artist uploaded it (e.g. takedown #19446).

Unless it's unclear that the artist posted it, or someone other than the artist posted it but the artist would still like it to stay up anyway, in which case the artist has to actually notice before they can do anything about it.
I still remember seeing a 5-slot YCH that got hit with a takedown because one of the character owners disagreed with the cuntboy tag or something.

Didn't we have this minefield topic the other day?

neodisher said:
I have been looking through the wiki, rules, guidelines and forums to find instructions to a specific problem, but I haven't found a direct answer:

When an artist takes down all their art, you are not allowed to re-upload it. That's easy. Everybody should respect the creator's wishes. Now to the problem that needs a solution (as far as I can tell). What about the commissioner of a certain piece of art? Is it allowed for them to re-upload the picture they have paid for if they choose to share it? Even against the artist's wishes?

Always respect/ask the artist before posting, imo. Check their TOS, if there's nothing explicitly stated, always ask!