SCP-173's image will, unfortunately, be removed soon.
A short thread on why. 🧵
To give some context: the SCP Foundation is legally licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0. This means anyone is free to make any kind of fan content about SCP, as long as they give credit and let anyone do the same to their work.
The only exception to this is SCP-173.
SCP-173's image is actually Untitled 2004, an art piece by Japanese artist Izumi Kato. Kato only learned about its use in SCP later, and graciously allowed its use as long as it wasn't used commercially, though he was unhappy with the arrangement (understandably).
However, that made SCP-173's situation tenuous. Even though SCP-173 is CC-BY-SA 3.0, its image is not, since it was copyrighted. Because of this, SCP-173's image was technically illegal, especially with the growing number of people trying to profit off of the statue.
Additionally, Kato's work was designed with its own meaning and artistic vision in mind, which was forcefully hijacked by SCP-173. While we cannot fully undo the damage done, we have a moral and legal obligation to at least try separating SCP from Kato's work.
To be clear: Kato has not demanded we take down the art. However we believe it is necessary in the spirit of @creativecommons, open collaboration, and artistic integrity to remove the image. We thank Kato tremendously for putting up with the Wiki and the burden we thrust on him.
At the present moment, we do not plan on replacing the image, as per the wishes of SCP-173's author, Moto42. He has requested this because he wishes everyone to imagine SCP-173's appearance for themselves, as opposed to there being an "official" SCP-173.
Nonetheless, the Wiki staff are hosting an event to commemorate the image by creating a massive art collaboration gallery of SCP-173 re-imaginings, in line with Moto42's wishes. If you're interested, check out the quoted tweet below.
If this brief summary of the situation did not answer some questions, please see our full announcement here:
scpwiki.com/forum/t-144692…
Thank you to everyone who's been a part of the Wiki, and will continue to stick with us through this unfortunate situation.
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