# Stealing artwork...



## vickletiggz (Aug 21, 2009)

I have no tolerance for it and have just noticed this happening on FA .. 
How does anyone else feel?


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## anichellen (Aug 21, 2009)

Woah, thats one of my big nonos...  I can understand if it's made for you and one uploads it on the forum.... but seriously..... Can I say not again, that's the reason I left DA


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## Azerane (Aug 21, 2009)

art theft is everywhere, which is areal shame. Especially since so many people work so hard to produce what they do, but it's always going to be around, there will always be people doing it. I don't agree with it but there's not much you can do when it's so prevalent


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## anichellen (Aug 21, 2009)

hell I gave up on watermarking.... people were still stealing my art. *sighs*


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## sakket (Aug 21, 2009)

now that i think about it, I cant imagine even being upset about it if it happened to me. Stolen page views don't concern me much, and it's not like anyone ever buys prints from me.. whats the problem with it other than minor annoyance? mebbe i'm overconfident?


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## Tanzenlicht (Aug 21, 2009)

If you put it on the internet it's gonna get stolen.  Unless you're completely crap at art.

It's like a compliment.  Not one you want, but you'll get lots of creepy compliments if you put your art up on the internet.

You can't stop it.  Not even by putting low quality pics with huge watermarks up.  You can just make it unpleasant for people who aren't stealing your art.

So you just have to decide if it bothers your enough to outweigh the enjoyment you get from sharing your art and the potential profit you might make.


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## Aden (Aug 21, 2009)

It's worse on dA, but it's everywhere on the internet. That's why you make sure to sign your works (and make it so the signature can't be cropped off without ruining something).

\There are "graphic designers" from Dubai who do nothing more than rip art off dA and sell it to whatever magazine they're hired onto. Can't be prosecuted because the laws over there are different.


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## vickletiggz (Aug 21, 2009)

anichellen said:


> Woah, thats one of my big nonos...  I can understand if it's made for you and one uploads it on the forum.... but seriously..... Can I say not again, that's the reason I left DA



SAME HERE D:


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## vickletiggz (Aug 21, 2009)

sakket said:


> now that i think about it, I cant imagine even being upset about it if it happened to me. Stolen page views don't concern me much, and it's not like anyone ever buys prints from me.. whats the problem with it other than minor annoyance? mebbe i'm overconfident?



I don't care much about pageviews either sweetie . I'm just sayin its annoying  yeah I guess it is everywhere, but its hard to advert your eyes when something looks all so peculiar, i checked the rest of their gallery and nothing owned up to what they had just posted...all they did was draw over top of a face and some legs and left the other artists work tainted ...they barely tried to make it believable..I was like...are you fricken serious..people here wanna get noticed that bad that they'll blatantly draw over someone elses drawing to make it their own?


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## vickletiggz (Aug 21, 2009)

Tanzenlicht said:


> If you put it on the internet it's gonna get stolen.  Unless you're completely crap at art.
> 
> It's like a compliment.  Not one you want, but you'll get lots of creepy compliments if you put your art up on the internet.
> 
> ...



Good point, once again its not my art thats being stolen its someone in the high end marketable art community, however you wanna put it.I'm just bitchen really cause its sad to see, I just really find it pathetic, because this person doesn't wanna practice enough to draw half as decent as what they stole..its all just sad..but yeah I know i'm at potential like everyone else for my own stuff to get stolen no matter what anyone does... I just wish there was something to be done about it..i know some people from conceptart.org are trying something big to fight against stuff like this in the future, but thats on a way way bigger scale.. and i can't find the link right now to explain this any farther haha.. good point though.


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## Aden (Aug 21, 2009)

Multiquote, yo. Learn it, love it, live it.


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## vickletiggz (Aug 21, 2009)

Aden said:


> Multiquote, yo. Learn it, love it, live it.



Awesome. got it.


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 21, 2009)

Because Right Click - Save As now makes people think they're an artist


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## Aurali (Aug 21, 2009)

Step one on being famous artist. Next step is when they start stealing your identity. XD


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## sakket (Aug 21, 2009)

vickletiggz said:


> I don't care much about pageviews either sweetie . I'm just sayin its annoying  yeah I guess it is everywhere, but its hard to advert your eyes when something looks all so peculiar, i checked the rest of their gallery and nothing owned up to what they had just posted...all they did was draw over top of a face and some legs and left the other artists work tainted ...they barely tried to make it believable..I was like...are you fricken serious..people here wanna get noticed that bad that they'll blatantly draw over someone elses drawing to make it their own?



my favorites are the ones where they just filter a photograph and then go through an enormous amount of effort to somehow prove they digitally painted the whole thing. Then when you ask why they would put so much effort into something that just looks like a badly filtered photograph in the end, digitally painted or not, they never reply.


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## cylenri (Aug 22, 2009)

My arts so bad id be overjoyed if someone took it, that means it would be worth stealing. But i can easily understand how people can feel when there good art is stolen, sadly theres not much you can do about it....watermarks can (usually) be edited out rather easily.Ive had to do it myself when a freind lost the original and only had a watermarked version (of a picture she made herself, not stolen)
perhaps with careful precautions i suppose it could be stopped, but not always.


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## vickletiggz (Aug 22, 2009)

sakket said:


> my favorites are the ones where they just filter a photograph and then go through an enormous amount of effort to somehow prove they digitally painted the whole thing. Then when you ask why they would put so much effort into something that just looks like a badly filtered photograph in the end, digitally painted or not, they never reply.



Oh boy i've seen that so many times haha..


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## onewingedweasel (Aug 23, 2009)

when i first started posting stuff online again id make sure everything is watermarked, but if someone is gonna steal it, they will steal it.   if they want it, they'll photoshop it and take the watermark out.  

so i dont usually bother these days. 

i personally wish copyright protection was a little stronger, i think the fact copyright is granted upon creation completely  goes against the fact you have to pay and register to be able to defend it.  that is more to the protection of the thieves than the artists i think thats a joke.
i feel if anyone could take legit action against art theft then maybe it wouldnt be so prevalent, sadly i feel that often the law is not on the artist side.
$35 dollars a piece is steep. especially if you're not pro, or working for a company who can afford it.  it really steps on the begining or casual artist.


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## vickletiggz (Aug 23, 2009)

onewingedweasel said:


> when i first started posting stuff online again id make sure everything is watermarked, but if someone is gonna steal it, they will steal it.   if they want it, they'll photoshop it and take the watermark out.
> 
> so i dont usually bother these days.
> 
> ...



I totally agree


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## Balthamos (Aug 23, 2009)

It happened allot with me, now I watermark each piece. Some people have phothoshoped the watermark out. So I'm getting to the point where I go " meh whatev "


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## sakket (Aug 24, 2009)

hmm, whats the plausibility of copyrighting a single design element and then incorporating it in multiple drawings? that might work if done the right way..


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## Aaron Roger Scott (Aug 25, 2009)

Watermarks might not work, but what about the classic all-over-the-painting signature? Signatures are a really classic, and harder to take off than a watermark.

I'm not exactly the best artist, but I always make a point to sign right over one of the legs, or right next to the face.


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## krisCrash (Aug 27, 2009)

I don't mind people sharing my art a little, but things like removing an artist's signature to post something has completely ulterior motives


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## Greykitty (Sep 1, 2009)

The only time it really annoys me is when they pull out my signature and recolor it etc.  Or the BIG one, and the reason I save everything in very low resolution, is when they try to sell my art as prints or on t-shirts, whatever.  Or a time where a girl stole my character designs, altered them only a tiny bit then claimed she had never seen my work before even though she was tracing my poses and everything.  >_<  Worst part is people believed her and DA would not remove her, even though she made three different accounts and even outright admitted to me she ripped my art in a note.  But yeah those are the only times I really DO care, but as for sharing my artwork and passing it around, I don't mind that much.


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## Bun (Oct 8, 2009)

I've had my art stolen once before, and that was the last time (thankfully) it was on Balto Source if anyone knows what that place is x] but yeah, my friends flamed the person and I PMd them asking to delete my art from their gallery... and they did lol

Sadly, my art wasn't even that great x] it isn't even that great now lol I'll never know why someone would bother to steal it.

I'm also a member of DA, and have seen a lot of people get their art stolen, thankfully the thieves were banned.. (isn't always the case though).


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## Donryu (Oct 9, 2009)

Because who can't help but bathe in the temporary and shallow immediate attention you get for getting people to think you're talented?  I mean come on!  Is there no greater glory...

Oh yeah there is...

ACTUALLY BEING A TALENTED ARTIST.


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## sakket (Oct 14, 2009)

i wonder if anyone's stolen from me yet..


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## krisCrash (Oct 16, 2009)

Today someone posted one of my sketches on a critique board. I lol'ed.


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## Armaetus (Oct 16, 2009)

*Please stop tossing the "stealing" word around like this*

I only give a shit if people start using my photographs on for-profit purposes..hell, it's not really stealing unless the person(s) mug you and take the physical drawing from your place. It's more or less copyright infringement to a degree, so stop tossing around "theft" the way certain furries on FA throw it around.

It is one thing to repost the art to lulz.net or e621 but it's a totally different thing to take that art that was freely posted on X's FA or personal artsite and charging folks to see it (IE SinisterTaz) on Y's paysite when Y paid Z to draw something for them. The artwork is technically still Z's but Y's characters are there.

That doesn't give Y the right to charge users to see Z's commissions even tho it's on his/her FA/Furocity/BlueTaboo page.


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## sakket (Oct 20, 2009)

krisCrash said:


> Today someone posted one of my sketches on a critique board. I lol'ed.


oh man id shit brix


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## Vaelarsa (Oct 20, 2009)

It's annoying.

It's why I watermark everything.

And yes, people can still steal watermarked images, but if someone sees the watermark on someone's posted image, hopefully they'll be intelligent enough to believe that "ToxicPaws" isn't "Sonic_lover4897345."


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## Timitei (Oct 20, 2009)

I couldn't care less.
I know i'm not a great artist or anything, but even if I WAS I still wouldn't care.
The thing is, I draw without being paid. Once I'm done making a picture, I'm DONE with it. After spending 3+ hours looking at that thing, I don't care anymore. I couldn't care less if someone wants to pretend it's theirs. Even if it was a commission for someone. As long as I got paid, I don't really care what happens to the picture.
And hey, it would make me feel like my art was actually WORTH stealing. xP


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## Aurali (Oct 20, 2009)

dude. someone tried to pull one of my avatars and use that as their image once.. I couldn't stop thinking, "why would you even think to use MY ART >.>"


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## Lonewolf (Oct 20, 2009)

its common towards people with no lifes


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## AlienkittyII (Oct 20, 2009)

I understand hating pple for stealing artwork to sell or claim it as if it is there own. But all other reasons for stealing art to me really isn't a big deal in my view.


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## Ieatcrackersandjumpcliffs (Nov 3, 2009)

I love it. You people rage so much over it. Like, you're going to get cheated out your royalties or something.


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## krisCrash (Nov 3, 2009)

One of my friends got a few of his pieces stolen by a porn-paysite though.
Ain't nothing he can do about it.

He doesn't really give a damn about non-commercial theft though, like he said, it's advertising.


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## NaniOokami (Nov 3, 2009)

Ieatcrackersandjumpcliffs said:


> I love it. You people rage so much over it. Like, you're going to get cheated out your royalties or something.



This. 

Seriously, though - we're furry artists. We can't expect that our art is all that valuable to -anyone- outside the community. And in the community - let's face it - we STILL expire rather fast.

If someone makes a profit off of your art, that sucks. :/ Somehow I highly doubt that they'd make enough of a profit from your art to even merit legal action, however. Furry art's very...niche.

If they're not making a profit, it's free advertising. If you put it up first, it will inevitably end up pointing towards you, should you have any sort of online presence whatsoever. 

Another problem I see with fur artists and their "OMG THEFT" accusations is style. Can't draw characters with overly seductive eyes, etc etc etc, because somehow it'll be ripping on someone's "style". 

I'm jaded about the whole thing. Everyone has their run-ins with it, everyone learns in a different way. And then after it happens enough, you really do learn that it isn't as evil a thing as once thought. 

Life inevitably goes on.


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## Arshes Nei (Nov 3, 2009)

I just think it's funny when people complain about theft when they haven't purchased or pirated software to do it. Granted not all have, but the ones who do....you kinda reaped what you sowed. (By the way I legally own mine - it's cheaper than traditional paints and other art supplies by a longshot).


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## ZiggyTheWolf (Nov 22, 2009)

Not much can be done about it, after all it is the internet and to quote something in a very nerdy way 

*"you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"
*_Obi-Wan Kenobi_


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## Kajhera (Nov 25, 2009)

vickletiggz said:


> I don't care much about pageviews either sweetie . I'm just sayin its annoying  yeah I guess it is everywhere, but its hard to advert your eyes when something looks all so peculiar, i checked the rest of their gallery and nothing owned up to what they had just posted...all they did was draw over top of a face and some legs and left the other artists work tainted ...they barely tried to make it believable..I was like...are you fricken serious..people here wanna get noticed that bad that they'll blatantly draw over someone elses drawing to make it their own?



So I take it you don't appreciate this piece of mine?  Not that I expect all that many people to get the reference, if they did it would be ruined...


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## Ladyfaegassr (Nov 25, 2009)

Timitei said:


> I couldn't care less.
> I know i'm not a great artist or anything, but even if I WAS I still wouldn't care.
> The thing is, I draw without being paid. Once I'm done making a picture, I'm DONE with it. After spending 3+ hours looking at that thing, I don't care anymore. I couldn't care less if someone wants to pretend it's theirs. Even if it was a commission for someone. As long as I got paid, I don't really care what happens to the picture.
> And hey, it would make me feel like my art was actually WORTH stealing. xP



This.


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## krimv (Nov 25, 2009)

A pretender is only fooling themselves by taking credit for someone else's art and they will only ever be a pretend artist.  If they have that little self-respect for themselves to swipe someone else's art and pass it off as their own, they're losers anyway.  Personally, I've never had an issue with anyone stealing my art, but then I wouldn't know if they did anyway.  I think my art is good, but not great and likely not worth stealing.


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