Copyright, ownership, and takedowns
The short version: you own everything you make, forever. We take only the narrow permission needed to show it here, we never use it for ads, merchandise, or AI training, and there's a real process — run through your Guardian on File — if someone posts work that isn't theirs, or claims yours.
You own your work. Completely.
Posting on ArtConnect does not give us ownership of anything you make. You keep every right you had before you uploaded it, including the right to sell it, license it, print it, or post it anywhere else. Deleting a piece — or your account — takes it out of our hands too.
What you let us do
By posting, you give ArtConnect a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to:
- store and display your artwork and your writing (critiques, discussions, alt text) on this site;
- show a piece on the featured wall if you enter a competition or a moderator features it;
- make the technical copies running a website requires — thumbnails, resized versions, the moderation-queue copy a reviewer sees, and encrypted backups.
That's the whole licence. It ends when you delete a piece or your account is deleted, except for backup copies, which are isolated from use and age out within 90 days (the same schedule as our Privacy page). One deliberate exception: if your account closes because you've turned 18, your approved work stays on display — and this licence continues for it — until you ask us to take it down. See When you turn 18 on the Privacy page.
What we never do with your work
We do not use your work for advertising, resale, sublicensing, merchandise, or the training of any AI or machine-learning system — and we don't let anyone else do those things either. This commitment is permanent: it survives account deletion, and if ArtConnect ever changed hands, it would bind whoever came next, the same way our Privacy page promises for your data.
Fan art
Drawing someone else's character is a normal and valuable way to learn, and it's welcome here for feedback — just say so in your notes when you upload. Because fan art uses characters somebody else owns, it can't be entered into competitions, and if ArtConnect ever supports selling in the future, it wouldn't be eligible. A moderator may ask you to add the label if it's missing.
Don't post what isn't yours
Post only work you made. Tracing someone's piece and presenting it as your own, uploading art you found online, or passing off an AI-generated image as your drawing will get the piece removed, and we'll tell you why. Do it repeatedly and you can lose the account. This is a community rule enforced by our moderators — it applies even when no copyright owner has complained.
How our takedown process works
ArtConnect does not own any of the copyrighted material posted here — members own their work, completely (see above) — and ArtConnect complies with the DMCA's rules and regulations: we accept and act on formal DMCA notices, forward valid counter-notifications, and maintain a repeat-infringer policy, as set out below. Registering a designated agent with the U.S. Copyright Office is not a precondition for any of this; notices sent to copyright@artconnect.studio are handled the same way with or without a registration.
There are two ways to raise a copyright problem here, and they are not the same thing:
- Our community reporting process — ArtConnect's own internal process: fast, informal, no legal formalities.
- A formal DMCA notice under Section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act — the statutory route for copyright owners, with the legal requirements and legal consequences described below.
Using the community process first costs you nothing and never waives your right to send a formal DMCA notice later.
Our community reporting process
Members: press Report on the piece — that's the fastest route. Anyone, member or not, can email copyright@artconnect.studio with a link and a short explanation. A moderator reviews it against our own rules — which are stricter than copyright law alone (see "Don't post what isn't yours") — hides the piece if warranted, and talks with the student through their Guardian on File. This is ArtConnect's internal process, not a formal Section 512 filing: it requires no statements under penalty of perjury and triggers none of the statutory machinery below.
Sending a formal DMCA notice
Copyright owners, or agents authorised to act for them, may instead send a formal DMCA notice to copyright@artconnect.studio. To be valid, it must include all six of the following:
- Identification of the copyrighted work you claim is infringed;
- Identification of the material on ArtConnect — the URL, or enough information for us to find it;
- Your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;
- A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use isn't authorised by the copyright owner, their agent, or the law;
- A statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on the owner's behalf;
- Your physical or electronic signature.
Please submit a DMCA notice only if you have a good-faith basis for believing the identified material infringes your copyright. Knowingly making a material misrepresentation may result in legal liability.
What happens when we get a report or notice
Either way, we remove or disable the reported material promptly while we look — pending pieces are never published, published pieces are hidden. Because our members are minors, we tell the student through their Guardian on File what was reported and why, in plain language, including a copy of any formal notice. (For work still on display after a member turned 18, we contact the former member directly at the email on file.) If a notice is obviously defective or abusive, we may ask the sender to fix it rather than act on it.
If you think a removal was a mistake
Because our members are minors, the Guardian on File responds on the student's behalf in either track.
After a community-process removal: the guardian emails copyright@artconnect.studio explaining why the removal was wrong — it's the student's original work (process shots, sketches, or dated working files help), or the student has permission. We review it, and if the complaint doesn't hold up, we restore the piece.
After a formal DMCA notice: the guardian may send a formal counter-notification on the student's behalf. To be valid, it must include:
- Identification of the removed material and where it appeared before removal;
- A statement, under penalty of perjury, of a good-faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification;
- The guardian's name, mailing address, and telephone number;
- Consent to the jurisdiction of the U.S. federal district court for that address (or, if outside the U.S., any judicial district in which ArtConnect may be found), and agreement to accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice;
- A physical or electronic signature.
Upon receipt of a valid counter-notification, we will provide it to the original complaining party. Unless the complaining party notifies us within the statutory period that it has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the alleged infringement, we will restore or cease disabling access to the material between 10 and 14 business days after receiving the counter-notification.
Know before sending one: forwarding a counter-notification means the name and address in it go to the complaining party — one more reason the guardian, not the student, is the sender.
Repeat infringers
We maintain and reasonably implement a policy for terminating accounts that repeatedly infringe copyrights, consistent with applicable law and, where applicable, the requirements for DMCA safe-harbor protection. On a learning site for young artists, how we apply it stays proportionate: a beginner's honest mistake is handled with a conversation, through the Guardian on File; repeatedly uploading work that isn't yours is handled by closing the account. We keep a record of substantiated notices, decide in good faith on that record, and closure for repeat infringement is final.
If someone steals your art from ArtConnect
We can act on copies posted on ArtConnect; we can't enforce your rights on other websites. If your work shows up somewhere else without permission, most platforms have their own DMCA/report process, and your Guardian on File can file there — your ArtConnect page (with its upload date) can help show the work is yours. Email us if you'd like the record of when you posted it.
Contact
Copyright questions or takedown notices: copyright@artconnect.studio. Everything else: see Our promises and the Privacy page. We aim to reply within five working days.