DeviantArt Update (Patreon)

Repeated pleas on my part have fallen on deaf ears. DA is simply not interested in having a conversation about this topic. Here are the replies that I have received so far:

Hello,

Based on our review of your profile it appears that your account was terminated due to repeated instances of copyright infringement.

Because DeviantArt complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) one of the policies which we must have in place is one to address "repeat offenders". Under this policy if your DeviantArt account has multiple copyright infringement takedowns at any point in time our moderation staff may be required to classify you as a repeat infringer.

This classification not only results in the termination of your DeviantArt profile but also renders your account ineligible for reactivation due to the risk that you represent in regards to additional future copyright infringement.

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To me this smacks of a canned response. It doesn't sound to me like they really took a look at my account at all. This seems like they just looked my account up, noticed that there were multiple notifications, and were just like, "Yep. Perma-banned".

So I politely pleaded my case further. Pointing out that it is debatable if the content even infringes on DMCA, that the morphs were from years ago, and that all of the notifications happened within minutes of one another, which hardly constitutes a "repeat offender" or a "risk". I also reiterated that I would happily remove the content, something I was never given a chance to do, if they would only provide me with access to my account.

Here is their response:

Hello, and thanks for getting back to us.

While we certainly understand your concern, this decision is considered final.

While we understand that this is upsetting to hear, we do appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

I will be blunt. DA's "appeal process" is an utter sham! I was warned by other artists who have been banned from there that this was the case. I was hoping I could talk some sense into them by being polite and reasonable, but DA isn't interested in an actual conversation at all. That much is clear.

Now I could create a new account, but I am not going to do that. Despite the fact that there is some wonderful art on DA, I will NOT support a company that behaves in this manner. And frankly, you shouldn't either.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just saying that DA will continue to behave this way so long as we use their services.

To my fellow artists, I would appreciate it if you would spread the word of this on all of your socials. Let people know that I have been perma-banned, and that I will not be returning because of DA's horrible attitude.