Artist’s depiction of SCP-111 ( Wolfeusz Woofer (kasztan) 07/29/17). Image is CC BY-SA 3.0.

SCP-111, titled “Dragonsnails“, is an article written by WikiDot user Adam Henderson, and was posted to the SCP Wiki in May of 2012. It has received widespread praise and has been translated into 13 languages.^[1]https://scpper.com/page/13376002

Copyright Infringement

Dragonsnails is also the title of a series of proprietary images and copyright-protected sculptures by DeviantArt artist EriewolfCreations, and posted in 2009. ^[2]https://www.deviantart.com/eirewolfcreations/art/DragonSnails-1st-Sight-Kinoko-132389179 This image was utilized in the initial version of SCP-111, and is what the article is based upon.

Adam Henderson had not received permission from EriewolfCreations to use the image, who discovered the use of their copyrighted image by happenstance sometime in 2012. Additionally, the portion of the image (right upper corner) that contained the artist’s copyright notice and watermark had been cropped out of the version present on SCP-111. The artist had written a statement about the pirated intellectual property on their DeviantArt page for the specific picture:^[3]https://archive.ph/wKZzr

I am aware that this picture was used for an article on The SCP Foundation scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-111 — thank you to the commenters who let me know. Unfortunately, the writer of that article did NOT ask for my permission, and he even took the time to crop out my watermark from the photo. It saddens me that a fellow creative could not be bothered to respect my work, and even took pains to remove my name from my own creation.

At this point I don’t even know what to do about it, as Wikidot makes you jump through hoops to create an account just to flag a page or post in the forums or contact the article creator…. *sigh* I’d be satisfied if there were a link to my website www.eirewolfcreations.com, or even the image here on deviantART if that’s where he got it. The irony here is that permission would have been happily granted, if respectfully requested (with the caveat of credit being given, at least in the discussion page if not on the article itself).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my work… just please don’t steal it. R-E-S-P-E-C-T….

This was first brought to SCP Wiki staff’s attention by WikiDot user Fantem in October 2013.^[4]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-469985/scp-111#post-1873183 A discussion was created addressing the uncredited use of the image where the grievances of the artist were recognized.^[5]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails Staff then reached out to the artist, and to Adam Henderson, to request written permission.^[6]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1873388 Adam Henderson was not blamed for the situation; it is was unclear who cropped the image, and due to the widespread sharing of images on the internet, he may have unknowingly perpetuated someone else’s edit. The image was taken down out of an abundance of caution and in the legal ambiguity, pending a discussion with the author.^[7]https://archive.fo/Esf0b#selection-2075.0-2075.14

The artist was ultimately contacted, and wrote the following reply:^[8]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875682

Hi Zyn,

Thank you so much for contacting me. I appreciate that you share my concern regarding the violation of my copyright. Had the author of the SCP article contacted me to ask for permission to use the photo of my Dragon Snail sculptures, I would have gladly given it (with the caveat that my watermark be retained, the artwork attributed to me, Erin Metcalf, and a link to my website, www.EirewolfCreations.com, be made available on the page). It does upset me that he didn’t see a problem with stealing someone else’s artwork (and even going so far as to strip the watermark from it — unless that was done by someone else and the image was later found by the article’s author). Several people have since found me because of that image, so I know it is not very hard to track down the source and ask for permission.

However, I am willing to forgive and allow the image to be used on the SCP site with the aforementioned caveats, so long as the author of the article, and the SCP authors in general, are made aware that, if they did not create a work of art themselves, that they must obtain permission from the artist and give attribution if the artist wishes it. My art is my livelihood. Several people in the discussion on that article have expressed a desire to own a Dragon Snail…. Maybe they could have, if there had been a link back to the artist.

The original source of the image in question, with the watermark included, is at the following link:
http://www.eirewolfcreations.com/?page=gallery&gallery_id=1&piece_id=110&picture_id=8

Thank you again for your attention in this matter.

Blessings,
Erin Metcalf

These instructions were followed, and the image re-uploaded with attribution given.^[9]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875686^[10]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-469985/scp-111#post-1875695

The Dragonsnails image was ultimately removed in 2019.^[11]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-111, see Edit History, rev 41 In October 2019, WikiDot user and staff member Naepic wrote in the discussion of SCP-111:^[12]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-469985/scp-111#post-4390462

Legacy

The event was a legal and cultural turning point for the SCP Wiki, and represented the beginning of a lasting judicial awareness regarding the site’s content.^[13]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1873491

It had long been an unquestioned practice to base SCP articles off of obscure and striking images found on the internet (see SCP-173). Also, prior to the O5 Command discussion, members of the site and even staff routinely encouraged the practice of removing watermarks from copyrighted images, in order to maintain realism and a sense of immersion, which the watermark would confound.^[14]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875284 For example, SCP-804’s page history of edits notes a change on Auguest 26 2011 that reads “Updated with watermark-less image.”^[15]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-804

During the discussion, it was decided that the removal of watermarks would be discouraged from then on.^[16]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1873503^[17]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875348 Additionally, past articles that cropped watermarks were re-addressed with images re-uploaded with watermarks.^[18]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875349^[19]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875501^[20]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-710825/archived-dragon-snails#post-1875508

The discussion also spurred a larger discussion about intellectual property theft in images on the SCP Wiki. It inspired a new O5 Command discussion (Pictures, watermarks, and attribution), where official policy for image use and attribution began.^[21]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-713000/pictures-watermarks-and-attribution Official image use policy was created in the months after.^[22]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/image-use-policy

This thread also saw the first attempt to cull non-compliant images from the Wiki.^[23]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-713000/pictures-watermarks-and-attribution#post-1875959 The intellectual property theft of SCP-173’s image is also addressed, perhaps for the first time collectively and in an official capacity.^[24]http://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-713000/pictures-watermarks-and-attribution#post-1876075

Commenting on the issue, and referencing the Dragonsnails incident, a Reddit user and possibly SCP Wiki staff representative (account now deleted) wrote:^[25]https://archive.ph/w48y2#selection-2109.0-2113.715

In the early days of SCP, people just took images from anywhere and used them without permission. I’m not saying that as a condemnation – SCP wasn’t at all well known and people were using the same image permissions logic as places like Reddit – but it’s ultimately not something legally or morally tenable.

Our first image policy back in 2014 iirc was our first step to fixing the problem, but many license violating images preceded that. With angry dmcas increasing over the years, we’ve had to step up enforcement with the goal of making every image on the side CC-BY-SA compatible. This does unfortunately mean many older articles will lose their images, but we love those pages and images too and are taking pains to replace as many as possible. 106 is probably the most famous example of a replacement due to the notoriety involved, but a number of classics have seen worthy replacements over the past year. I’d argue some are even superior to the originals, though it certainly pains me to lose the nostalgia factor.