Stolen OCs

Odds are you are here for the following reasons: You were linked her by me to understand copyright and how it effects you. You found this on the newest/top feed when i first posted it. You found this randomly some other way, either way you're here and this is about stolen OCs. This is more of a QnA/FAQ format and is subject to change. Before anyone begins to say i'm fighting an up hill battle that will never be finished, i'd like to point of the Amino Apps community, Equestria and their TPT group. https://aminoapps.com/c/equestria/page/item/theft-prevention-team/nd72_YxIKI85azzkK34e21D4VXqwWjKx0Mfe This community has done an amazing job stopping OC and art theft on their app full of much younger individuals compared to CA and continues to be effective in it. If you are going to try to tell me an app with 16k+ members with an average age range of 12-16 has a better understanding of how not to violate these rules, then that's an insult to CA as a whole. -- Stolen OCs are by definition, Original Characters that you did not personally create or were given to you. An example being, you found a cool pony character on google, deviantart, etc. You then save the image, and repost it here to pass it off that you created this character with a backstory, personality, and relationships. However, none of it is true and you are not the original owner, who may have developed a backstory, personality, etc for this character in the first place. -- What about getting OCs from Google? Can I use them? Sorry, but the answer is no. That is someone's OC, they created it and are using it themselves. You cant use it, even if you googled "Free OCs", because a quick search for the image will reveal that it is not free. Google is a search engine, it cant differentiate between stolen and free to use art. If you see an OC you really love, contact the owner and see if you can get permission to use it or adopt it. Screenshot it for evidence. If you cant get permission, then dont use it. -- Stolen OCs aren't in the rules! That's definitely wrong, I have had my OC, Nate, stolen from this very site. You can read my experience and thoughts here https://canterlotavenue.com/blog/741/dont-steal-my-art-please/ in the comments you see the head of the moderation team comment "If such circumstance happens on here too, let us know. We take OC theft seriously." This is a rule, and it also goes in hand with art theft and reposting, you can read about those in this blog. -- I don't have any characters! I will personally see to it that you have your own character, I am happy to design and give you a character if you do not have one of your own. All you would need to do is give me an idea on what you would like, a color palette, and anything else you would want detail wise. I can not do this 24/7 due to my life and my own commissions, however I will try had to get you one by the end of the week from contact. -- What if I want to roleplay as the mane 6 or a canon MLP character? That's totally fine, those are canon characters, not OCs. They already have a known and established backstory and personality. This also goes for ponified characters from other fandoms. However, any art (that's not just screenshots) must be credited, you can read about that here: https://canterlotavenue.com/blog/792/reposting-art/