# Fursona Theft



## Bababooey (Oct 22, 2021)

I'm just going to get straight to the questions:

- Has your fursona ever been taken and used by someone else? How did you feel?
- If not, how would it effect you emotionally if they were?

Some say that stealing a fursona is akin to stealing someone's identity. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

I'll share my answers if this thread gains traction. lol​


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## Outré (Oct 22, 2021)

I don’t know if I would compare it to identity theft.. I mean you can’t use somebody’s fursona to like get fake credit cards and rack up debt and stuff… but it’s probably not cool to steal someone’s fursona and use it as your own.. but if it’s a situation where they just find it on the Internet and they’re showing it to friends or something.. that might not be so problematic.


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## Paws the Opinicus (Oct 23, 2021)

Never quiiiite had this happen, just had the 'concept' stolen. IE someone taking a look at her bio and copying large chunks and concepts of it.


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## TyraWadman (Oct 23, 2021)

Never had the issue so far. My brand doesn't exactly uh... Appeal to most, which is fine. 

I have had people pull from my ideas though, whether it be adopting my catch phrases or 'borrowing' ideas. It made me feel sad because in the end all of my work and creativity/a sort of me was always taken and rebranded by other people. I got nothing from it, and while some were obviously  entertained by it, i was left with nothing. Not even a friend. It was just a case of having the more popular kid say it louder and there's nothing you can do because you're always outnumbered. 

The closest I have felt to someone stealing my sona is when I showed a dude my ref sheet and he started posting it everywhere... It was his twtich icon and everything. And then he started asking people to draw me on some kind of game with people I've never even spoken to or heard of. I'd only known the guy for a couple of hours. It was creepy and invasive. I even said ' I don't care if you do it with a random anime pic online, but this is a representation of me and I don't feel comfortable with feeling of ownership over me' because of course he couldn't accept a polite 'please stop' as an answer. 

So I imagine a lot of that could tie into full on theft. My lunch break is done BYE!!!


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## Foxridley (Oct 23, 2021)

TyraWadman said:


> Never had the issue so far. My brand doesn't exactly uh... Appeal to most, which is fine.
> 
> I have had people pull from my ideas though, whether it be adopting my catch phrases or 'borrowing' ideas. It made me feel sad because in the end all of my work and creativity/a sort of me was always taken and rebranded by other people. I got nothing from it, and while some were obviously  entertained by it, i was left with nothing. Not even a friend. It was just a case of having the more popular kid say it louder and there's nothing you can do because you're always outnumbered.
> 
> ...


Damn, that sounds degrading.

But, to answer OP's question, it would feel like a theft of identity.

That being said, I think my fursona's design is generic enough that not many people would be motivated to steal it.


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## Nexus Cabler (Oct 23, 2021)

Yes, to me, my sona is a part of my identity, and as important as my real life self, perhaps even more so under some situations.


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## Miles Marsalis (Oct 23, 2021)

I had an artist use my OC for an art piece without my permission, which didn't really annoy me too much. They had tried to reach me to ask for permission, but I don't always check my FA and FAF accounts regularly plus it was the holidays. I let it slide and I'll admit I did like the piece they did, so no harm, no foul to me. If someone were to do it again, I probably wouldn't care too much as long as the art isn't in NSFW territory. I'd just take it as free art and be kind of flattered.

As for the identity stuff, everyone feels differently, but to me, Miles is a character I use occasionally for RPs and RPGs along with my avatar here for interacting with the fandom and taking commissions. I don't really really consider Miles or my involvement in the fandom to be a major part of who I am. I mostly just value my friends in the fandom and the work in the fandom, when I bother to write furry material for myself. 

All that said, I don't think people should take other people's creative material without asking and I'm kind of surprised there is not more copyrighting and trademarking in the fandom.


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## The-Courier (Oct 23, 2021)

I'd feel flattered they liked my designs enough to even consider the thought of stealing in the first place.

In any case, it would be an interesting experiment to see how someone performs a particular character of mine without any lore or story background to go with it.


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## StarSn00tz (Oct 24, 2021)

I've never had a sona of mine be stolen before, either that or I haven't found any instances yet.

But if it were to happen, I'd be devastated, especially if the thief were commissioning art that were NSFW, portrays them in a negative light, just anything without my consent including stealing in the first place.

Personally, I would agree in my experience, that if someone were to steal a sona from me, it would be akin to stealing part of or a whole of my identity, this is due to the fact that I am connect to all my son as emotionally and use as my outlets to how I see fit, and all have at least one quality that ties them to me aside from being emotionally attached. Then again, this is the internet and it's up to me what I share and don't..


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## Ziggy Schlacht (Oct 25, 2021)

https://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/have-you-ever-had-a-person-who-accidentally-created-a-fursona-that-looks-identical-exactly-like-yours.1676665/
		


Might want read this for similar.


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## StolenMadWolf (Oct 25, 2021)

It's more along the lines of art theft, but I once saw someone use an commission that I got of my fursona as their own on a twitter account.

I was kinda annoyed with it, but less annoyed than what it could have been, given that it was a kid who was using it and probably had no idea about how commissions and that worked. So I let it slide for that reason. The twitter account later vanished, so it didn't matter much in the long term.


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## Ennui Elemental (Oct 25, 2021)

My sona is fucking boring just like me

It would be like ignoring a bunch of Ferraris with keys in the ignitions to try and steal an old Toyota Corolla


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## The_biscuits_532 (Oct 25, 2021)

Closest I've come to encountering this is when I found someone trying to steal @TheRedGhost 's (main site) sona on Amino. 

Immediately reported them, and informed her. Her sona is of a pretty unusual species so it stood out pretty well. We don't really know each other, but her sona had actually been a point of inspiration for me, so I kinda felt obligated to monitor the situation. 

Lowkey annoyed me the thief rebranded them as a simple hybrid.


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## Bababooey (Oct 25, 2021)

Well since this thread ended up gaining traction, I'll answer like I said I would.

Neither of my fursonas have been stolen (as far as I'm aware), but if they were, I'd probably blow my top. I designed them myself and have spent quite a bit of money commissioning art of them, so if someone just took their art and claimed the character(s) as their own, they'd face my fucking wrath.

Don't underestimate an autistic meltdown. lol

In my opinion, I do think fursona theft is comparable to identity theft, but not in a legal sense. Even though our characters aren't real, they represent us (real people). People frequently associate a fursona with the real person behind them, so if someone takes someone's fursona and does unwanted/bad things, that can be reflected on the actual owner of the character.

Here's a comment on Weasyl that was copied from a now deleted FA journal:





Anyway, yeah. Yikes.


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## Eremurus (Oct 25, 2021)

Yikes, looks like that's even MORE reason to not attend a Furcon.


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## Connor J. Coyote (Oct 25, 2021)

Eh..... my basic answer to the O.P.'s question would be "yeah".

(As for myself personally) - I think it would be akin to (basically): stealing someone's identity.

And in regards to myself (in particular) with my Fursona - he was something that I _created_ - basically: out of nothing.... and he was something that I _personalized_.... and was something (that I created) based on my own unique experiences, interests, and personality traits.... (which helped formed the basis for the kind of coyote - that I wanted Connor to be).

And thus - if someone were to try and "impersonate me" (let's call it)..... and use my identity without my permission - than, whilst I'd probably "shrug it off" on a personal level, as: those who know me (and are close to me) will know it wasn't me anyways...

But - I do think also that it could be viewed as _property_ theft as well.... in addition to identity theft..... where: unique characteristics, interests, and personality traits - that are in essence _property _- were being used without permission from the owner.


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## TyraWadman (Oct 25, 2021)

Chomby said:


> Well since this thread ended up gaining traction, I'll answer like I said I would.
> 
> Neither of my fursonas have been stolen (as far as I'm aware), but if they were, I'd probably blow my top. I designed them myself and have spent quite a bit of money commissioning art of them, so if someone just took their art and claimed the character(s) as their own, they'd face my fucking wrath.
> 
> ...



Definitely a wild story! 

Though I feel like that was a bit more than just sona theft. That was straight up 'this is what I look like, here's how to find me'. Though I suppose if they were a vendor that can't be helped.


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## Foxridley (Oct 26, 2021)

Chomby said:


> Well since this thread ended up gaining traction, I'll answer like I said I would.
> 
> Neither of my fursonas have been stolen (as far as I'm aware), but if they were, I'd probably blow my top. I designed them myself and have spent quite a bit of money commissioning art of them, so if someone just took their art and claimed the character(s) as their own, they'd face my fucking wrath.
> 
> ...


That's beyond fursona theft. That's just straight-up impersonation and catfishing.


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## Rimna (Oct 27, 2021)

My fursona has never been stolen or used without my permission. If it were to happen, it would piss me off tbh. Go make up your own monkey god damn it.


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## Foxridley (Oct 27, 2021)

Rimna said:


> My fursona has never been stolen or used without my permission. If it were to happen, it would piss me off tbh. Go make up your own monkey god damn it.


Monkey see, monkey do.


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## Kingman (Oct 27, 2021)

If someone made a character that looked like mine it'd be hard to call or prove theft, because, I'm a ash grey/cream colored mountain lion with black hair. I'm pretty sure there's others with cat fursonas with the similar color palette and even muscular build. 

Where I'd be pissed is if someone said they ARE me, or my fursona. Then yeah, that's theft, that's absolutely wrong, and it's inexcusable.


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## Lumineer (Nov 24, 2021)

I've never had mine stolen but, I absolutely hate copying or stealing especially when it's something I've originally made and worked so hard on! I would be so mad!!


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