DeviantArt Protect: Helping Safeguard Your Art

DeviantArt is proud to introduce innovative new technology in our continued effort to help protect our registered artists. DeviantArt Protect, our new state-of-the-art image recognition software, was developed to help safeguard your art in ways that were not possible without recent advances in machine learning. As many artists are aware, copyright infringement is a serious problem. This technology is trained to identify new images that appear nearly visually identical to other images on DeviantArt and allows us to notify you when someone uploads potentially infringing art.

The effort that goes into your piece of art is more than simply the time spent creating. The practice, gaining of knowledge, and skill are all evident in the finished product. When DeviantArt sought to utilize machine learning with added human oversight, the goal was to help protect more than just one’s finished work. It's about helping to provide protection around the totality of effort put forth.

Helping Protect You From Unauthorized Art Uploads

DeviantArt Protect can easily detect exact matches.

Machine learning allows us to detect a level of manipulation and variation.

DeviantArt Protect is trained to ignore passing similarities, and human oversight adds an extra layer of quality.

Steps Towards Proactive Protection for Artists

Every deviation, submitted from any deviant, is covered for three months after its submission. Core Members’ deviations are covered forever, as long as the deviant’s Core Membership remains active.

Remember that all deviations are covered by our copyright policy and you can always submit a DMCA notice about any deviation that infringes your art at any time.

How DeviantArt Protect Catches Potential Infringement

All new submissions are scanned with DeviantArt Protect. If an image resembling a deviation you've uploaded to your DeviantArt gallery is identified, you'll receive a notice in your notification center informing you that a possible match was discovered. You then have the option to file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) compliant notice of infringement.

Content is Never Removed Automatically

DeviantArt Protect will not automatically remove any content. We recognize that there are cases where deviants don't mind if their content is reposted — or they've encouraged it — especially in cases like memes or editing challenges. It’s the user’s decision to file a DMCA complaint.

For more information, visit the Help Center.

Helping Safeguard Your Art

DeviantArt Protect was developed with a goal of providing peace of mind. The hours, months, and years spent creating belong to you, and you should feel more at ease knowing that similar image detection exists to help protect your hard work. Rather than spending your free time staying vigilant to catch your art posted by someone else, DeviantArt Protect aims to take care of it for you.

Tip: Artists who want to be extra vigilant should ensure content they publish online is also submitted to their DeviantArt gallery, allowing coverage under the DeviantArt Protect umbrella. Submit now!

FAQs

How does DeviantArt Protect work?

DeviantArt Protect is trained to find near-identical matches. We use proprietary automated image detection software with human oversight to provide additional quality assurance. Each similar image match is reviewed to ensure accuracy by a member of our Customer Support team.

How will I know if an image is found that's similar to my deviation?

On the top of DeviantArt, you'll see the notification bell icon in the navigation bar. Click the bell to see your recent notices, and if an image is found that's similar to your deviation, it will be contained in the drop-down menu.

What if I’m okay with the detected similar image? (For example, an adoptable or a commission that the purchaser uploaded with permission.)

It's your choice to ignore the notification or take action by filing a takedown notice. The other deviant won’t be notified unless you choose to take action.

If I submitted an image a long time ago and an infringement was submitted earlier this year, will I be notified now?

Notifications are sent based on the infringing image’s submission date. When you get a notification, it’s because the infringement was posted recently. Put another way, if an infringing deviation was posted before the launch of DeviantArt Protect, you will not be notified and must file a DMCA takedown notice once manually discovered.

Who can file an infringement notice, and how can I file one?

Anyone who owns or shares the copyright in a work can file an infringement notice. DeviantArt members can file a notice by filling out this form. Non-members will need to follow the instructions at the bottom of our Copyright Policy.

Can I whitelist deviations that I don’t want to be notified about?

At this time, deviants cannot whitelist deviations that are allowed to be submitted by other users. Feel free to simply ignore the notification or click the “X” to dismiss it. However, you can opt out and will no longer receive these notifications by visiting your settings.

How long does it take for a take down to happen after a DMCA has been filed?

On average, notices which are compliant with the DMCA will be processed and the targeted content removed within 72 hours of the receipt of the compliant notice. The legal process for the removal of content is standardized.

Will I get suspended or banned if my work is flagged in this system?

Simply appearing as a similar image is not a suspendable offense. Our copyright policies have not changed with the introduction of DeviantArt Protect. The copyright owner still retains their right to decide how their work is used and to file a notice of infringement when they object.

Why do non-Core Members get three months of DeviantArt Protect, while Core Members are protected infinitely?

It would be prohibitively expensive to compare every new image submission. Providing the service in an unlimited manner to Core Members and the last three months' worth of deviations from our non-Core community is a much smaller subset, and makes such a resource-intensive feature viable. It's a significant batch of deviations, and we are thrilled to have the capability to help provide protection — if limited in some cases — to all deviants.

Is there a limit to how many notifications I could receive per day?

Only one notification per similar-image submitter per day will appear in the Notification Center. Because of this, we recommend notified deviants check the galleries of the similar image's submitter, just to see if there are other similarities contained within. However, users will get multiple notifications if similar images are detected from multiple submitters in the same day.

Put more simply, if SuperLlama submits 10 deviations similar to Fella’s, Fella will only get one notification, with a recommendation to check out SuperLlama's gallery for more. However, if SuperLlama and their friend NinjaLlama submit five deviations each that are similar to different deviations by Fella, Fella will only get two notifications — one per similar-deviation owner.

Will I receive notifications about similar literature or journals?

DeviantArt Protect is image recognition software, so it does not currently apply to written work. If you’d like to see DeviantArt Protect expanded to include literature or journals, please let us know!

What if I do not want to receive any DeviantArt Protect notifications?

You can opt out of receiving DeviantArt Protect notifications at any time by visiting your settings.

We look forward to making even more improvements to DeviantArt Protect to keep helping protect deviations on DeviantArt and beyond.

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