Sharing Patreon Exclusive Artwork or Content

tldr

If you're here it means you really enjoy my work. As part of your patronage you get access to artworks that can only be found here on Patreon. And maybe you enjoy it so much that you want to share the exclusive work with others?

I appreciate the love! But I hope you understand that I do not condone sharing exclusive artwork outside of Patreon.  It really does affect me (and all your other favourite artists) directly and significantly and I hope you may think twice before sharing my works elsewhere.

I hope it's enough to know it's my wish as the creator that Patreon exclusives remain exclusive. But if you need more reasons, keep on reading.

It leads to less content that you love.

"I don't mean anything by it, I just want clout." You're self sabotaging. Trust me when I say ALL ARTISTS take it very personally :( if you love the art, show your love by respecting it and the artist. We create for all of us, for the community, and if the community doesn't respect us, we will lose the will to be part of it. Then you lose both artist and art.

Seeing folks mistreat our BABIES (because that's what our art is) is incredibly disheartening to any artist. And disheartened artists do not create work.

"I paid for it, so I can do what I want with it."

As stated in the tier description when you signed up, you gain access to the feed only - no ownership or distribution rights to the contents. 

Just like a Netflix membership gives you access to their library for your own enjoyment, so do you get access to this feed for your own enjoyment. Just like Netflix, a subscription does not give you any digital ownership of any content, nor may you distribute it to others. Where Netflix has the power and money to make it hard for you to record your screen, I rely on your integrity and honour to treat my artwork with respect.

"I'm only sharing it to a small group of people, what's the big deal?"

Even sharing artworks between friends can be more harmful than you realise - as they share it with their friends, who shares it with their friends, who shares it on a public platform, and suddenly the exclusive content is everywhere; thus devaluing the patronage of all my patrons (yourself included), harming me financially and creatively, and increasing the risk of copyright theft.

"I can't afford an artists' Patreon, but I really want to see the exclusive stuff."

You wouldn't go to a concert and tell them "I didn't buy a ticket because I can't afford it. Let me in anyway."

So why are you doing it to us? We're not rich. We're not famous. It's just... us. We feel the impact.

"You got tons of Patrons, a little piracy won't impact you."

100 or 3000 patrons might seem like a mountain - but it really isn't.

We feel the impact of each and every single one of our Patrons. And when too many access our content for free, we suffer the consequences.

Patrons (among other things) provide financial support. Artists need financial support. It is vital. We need to pay taxes, bills, food, housing. And without that support... we can't create. The suffering artist trope is false; a happy artist is able to create more and better work than a starving one.

If our content is readily shared outside of Patreon, then what's the point of being a Patron?

I see now how reposting exclusive work impacts artists and the art I enjoy. How can I help?

I adore you for reading this paragraph.

Sharing our non-exclusive versions to your friends is fantastic. And if someone asks you to share exclusive work, stay strong, and let them know how they might acquire the work legally.

If you see my exclusive artwork in the wild, (or any artist's exclusive artwork) respectfully educate your fellow art appreciators on how harmful that is, and request to a moderator or admin that the post be taken down. Build a community with a healthy relationship to art consumption - where art and artists are supported and built up.

Unfortunately, to protect my work, users who have been found to share patreon exclusive content will be removed and blocked on all platforms.