Q. May I use one of your illustrations, doodles or comics as my user icon?

I am often asked if people can use my art as their user icon on social media. While I am flattered that you like my art that much, I am going to have to decline.

Why? Reasons include:

- Often the illustrations get cropped (by the user or by the social media platform) so that my signature and attribution gets cut out. Then the image sometimes gets copied and shared by other people, and then trying to track down those images to get attribution added is a MAJOR pain. In one case, the image went viral (a version without attribution).

- The image may be one that I am incorporating into or using as a basis for a new picture book idea.

- The image may be one I have already licensed to someone else.

To be clear: I do understand that 99.9% of the time, the use without my permission is an innocent mistake. I know you didn't mean any harm by it and most likely meant it as a compliment. Thank you for the intent, but I would still appreciate it if you would not use my image as your user icon.

Thank you for understanding.

Last updated on October 2, 2017 by Debbie Ohi