Destiny 2 Fan Art Provokes Plagiarism Debate Over Witness Cutscene
Destiny 2’s cutscene depicting the Witness’s origin was an important turning point in its narrative, garnering widespread acclaim among Destiny fans while sparking heated discussions of legality and morality within its community. Artist @ELEMENTJ21 took to Twitter to showcase both pieces: their original fan art from two years prior – originally posted to Instagram and ArtStation — alongside still images from this cutscene scene.
“The Veil of Darkness” art features a statue from the Pyramid Fleet behind an orb at its bottom with multiple smaller pyramids surrounding her on top of an intricate circle and triangle shape, all which forms part of “The Veil of Darkness”. Although not an exact copy, its composition seems close enough for people playing Destiny 2 to use as “inspiration.” Some Destiny 2 players who commented under Bungie’s tweet hope their artist receives credit or compensation while others don’t hold them responsible.
Also, it turns out that this artist submitted their fan art to Bungie’s Community Creations digital gallery – when you visit that page and try submitting links, an error occurs with text reading: unable to submit link.
By filling out this form, you are submitting content for consideration by Bungie. By doing so, you are agreeing to our Services Terms of Use as well as guaranteeing us that it can be freely utilized, meeting all conditions without restriction, while respecting our Code of Conduct.”
Bungie doesn’t own artwork submitted to their Creations page, yet can use community art they show on there freely (though I am uncertain whether this includes TWID Artist of the Week submissions). Unfortunately, their statement fails to inform artists if their fan art will become part of Destiny 2 lore or canon in-game.
Bungie’s policy on fan-created art states that artists may upload fan art onto social media and the Community Creation page for sharing by fans, as well as address any concerns over commercializing any Destiny IP without permission from Bungie. Unfortunately this section doesn’t give much insight into usage; for more details refer to Section 10. “Materials provided to or posted onto Bungie Services” within its Terms of Use for details regarding usage.
People submitting material to Bungie retain ownership, though Bungie may use those submissions royalty-free in its development and reproduction – without compensating you, per say. “No compensation will be paid with regard to your Submission”, as stated. Though this section doesn’t specifically mention fan art material specifically, other media submissions including images and videos do fall within its ambit; nonetheless proper credit and compensation should still be offered in-game for fan art used therein.
Destiny 2 artists haven’t always seen their works featured within its pages either, though. One artist recognized Xivu Arath fan art they submitted for Bungie’s Fan Art showcase showcase. However, Bungie later reached out for permission and crediting of this artwork by reaching out. Additionally, @D2Clarity tweeted out on Twitter that their visual recoil direction meter they created has made its debut into Destiny 2.
As yet, Bungie has yet to publicly address their use of fan art within a Witness cutscene.
Bungie announced on Twitter that an external vendor mistook Faylona’s fan art as official Bungie artwork and used it inappropriately, leading the developer to issue an apology to her artist as well as provide credit and compensation.
