It Makes Me Happy.

It's been pointed out to me, quite a bit lately, that cartoons I've drawn are showing up on various sites - some with credit back to the artist (that's me!), and some without. Some were shared as they were originally presented, and some have been edited in some way.

I thought I'd take a minute to establish my thoughts on sharing the content found on this site.

• I draw this stuff because it makes me happy to do so. It makes me happy when I can create something that can not only make me laugh (it's totally self-therapy), but make others smile as well. LOL's make my day! It's labor-intensive and for a full-length cartoon like this one, for example, I'm pretty much dedicating an entire day (8 to 10 hours) to creating it. 
• Because making others happy makes me happy, I share what I've done online. Anyone who uploads a Facebook profile picture, writes a blog post, tweets a photo or shares a video on YouTube is automatically agreeing to the fact that that content is no longer theirs to control. That's not to say that this is fair, but that is simply how this all works. Just about everything online is downloadable and editable in some way, and I'm fully aware of that when I share things.
• It's also true that when I see that someone has pinned my stuff or an image of mine is on Facebook, it makes me smile, big time. Warm fuzzies abound!
• That said, I share these cartoons with a deliberate credit on the image. You'll either find my site address or my name on every cartoon I share. You'll also see on my right sidebar that what I share on this site is protected under a specific kind of Creative Commons license, which in very simplified terms means that content originating from this site is available to share freely, given that it happens under certain circumstances, and with my permission can be used in other ways.

image credit

So what does this boil down to?

1. I don't want to be an jerk about things. If you like what I do enough to share it, I'm very flattered by that, and I'm honored that you think enough of it to point it out to other people. Pin it! Make it your FB profile photo! Tweet 'til you drop! Tumblr the heck out of it! 
2. That said, if you're going to share my stuff, please abide by the Creative Commons protection I have on them. If an image already has my name or website on it, then you're golden. But please don't doctor my images so that the credit is removed. I don't want you to be a jerk, either.

Cool? Cool.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.