Whether you've experienced art theft first hand, supported a friend affected by it, or have just heard about it around dA, artistic integrity is a serious issue. Tracing and heavily referencing without permission are just as bad as stealing. If you support artistic integrity and would like to spread the word that theft is wrong (and possibly avert any would-be thieves!), consider using this stamp, or...

I've developed a message about artistic integrity that you can integrate into your journal. If you use CSS, here's the code I use in my journal:

_{[This part goes in your CSS box]}
.element {
position:relative !important;
overflow:auto!important;
vertical-align:top !important;
width:92% !important;
border:3px #8fcb0f inset !important;
color:#ffffff !important;
padding:15px!important;
}

You can customize it by changing the border size, color, and style as well as the text color.

_{[This part goes in your journal/header/footer:]}
<div class="element"><div align="center"><b>Artistic Integrity</b>
Please do not use art you find online without obtaining permission from the artist! Art theft is extremely discouraging and insulting to artists who post online. Imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery. Thank you for respecting art. </div></div>

Feel free to change the wording, but the basic message should stay the same. If you don't use CSS, just the words will be just as good.

Furthermore, you can insert these plz accounts into your Artist's Comments under each deviation as an additional deterrent:

It's wrong to use someone's picture of their character as your RP character. It's wrong to profit from other people's drawings. And it's wrong to mutilate someone's art and claim it as your own.

I support artistic integrity.