Okay, gang, I've been cool about this, but this is going a little too far.

I created the original image and character behind the LOL WUT Pear--it's based on my painting "The Biting Pear of Salamanca."

[link]

Yup. That was me.

And I have been mellow about this. I have been cool. I didn't mind that it went off to 4chan and all over hell and back. I am delighted when I get photos of the Pear protesting Scientology. This makes me absurdly happy. I know artists who, when you put a jpg down without their permission, start screaming about rape, and I am not one of them. I have been so laid back that you might wanna check for a pulse.

However.

I invented the pear. I own the copyright on the character. I do not MIND people reposting it, I don't mind them playing around with it, I am delighted that people are havin' fun with it.

But don't sell it.

All I ask is that you not make money on it without my permission. That's all. I'm an artist. My art is how I make a living. You are more than welcome to play with my toys, but it's really not cool if you sell them. I mean, you don't go into somebody's sandbox and start auctioning off their G.I. Joes. It's just not cool. This is how I make a living. You sell the pear, you're quite literally cuttin' in on my ability to pay the rent, and to spend my time making more cool stuff like the pear, instead of flippin' burgers.

The Pear is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike. You can play with it all you want. All that I ask is that you please--PLEASE--don't resell it. Because all the cease and desist letters and lawyer crap isn't worth anybody's time and effort and just harshes all our mellows and then nobody is happy, and I really don't wanna have to get into that. I'm not that sort of person. I don't want to have to BECOME that sort of person.

And if, every now and then, when you repost the pear, you could mention that hey, Ursula Vernon over on DA, with that one website at [link] was the creator? That'd be seriously awesome.

And if you wanted to repost this message when discussions get rolling about people owning the pear and so forth? That'd be awesome. Please spread the word.

Thanks.

Ursula

ETA: You can buy OFFICIAL, artist approved, Pear merchandise at [link]