Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Yet Another Ignorant Art Thief

Before I start this let me say that there by far more important issues going on in this country and world right now other than stealing art. Issues of life and death and issues that have real serious repercussions, but I can not control those things and this blog has always been about my career as a working artist. I can't save the world, but I can call out ignorant people that like to steal art.

I received this comment on my blog a month or so ago from Alexis Smolensk:

"Just wanted to tell you that I'm working on a rewrite of D&D monsters for my gaming blog, and this image encouraged me to completely rewrite the boring beetle's description. I really don't need another big fighting beetle - this was better.

I'm afraid I'm stealing your pic for the wiki, but I'll give you a credit. I've cut the pic a bit so it will fit on my layout, making your blog's name hard to read, so I've created a caption. I've also linked the pic to your blog. The page is here:

http://tao-of-dnd.wikispaces.com/Beetle+%28giant+boring%29
(this link has since been taken down)
I've done the same with the bombadier beetle:

http://tao-of-dnd.wikispaces.com/Beetle+%28giant+bombadier%29"
(This link is still up but the art of someone else is currently being used without credit)


Okay. My response appreciated their interest in my work, but I had not given them permission to use my work, nor had I been paid for the use of my art in their project. I did not even address that not only were they using my art without permission they were using my ideas involved with my redesign of this monster. It is my art, I do have say over its use. Plain and simple. It is mine and I can at least expect a certain level of respect or to have some level of control over it.

What got me was the use of the word "stealing". While I am impressed that credit is being given, the intent was theft, not only of my art, but my ideas. I am getting really frustrated that giving credit is the most we can hope for. Credit should be the starting point of the discussion of usage, not the end. This whole thing could have been handled in so many different way. They could have approached me ahead of time with an inquiry to use or license my work. They could have even not contacted me. I would never know they were stealing my art and ideas. I do not have the time, energy, or interest to spend my time hunting down the unapproved use of my art. Instead of any of these options they contacted me after the fact and told me they were stealing my art. My response to this comment was probably stronger then it needed to be, but this is all getting old and they admitted they were stealing my ideas and art.

Of course, in response to my request for them to stop using my art without my permission they doubled, or even tripled, downed on their stance with this gem of a message on Facebook. Keep in mind their sent me this on Facebook and then (from what I can not tell) blocked me so that I could not respond back. The classic internet tough guy move.

"I think you should know that my wiki receives more than 1,000 page views a day, most of which goes to the most recent added content, such as your work last week, and consistently dozens of views for months afterwards. I considered putting your name and link on the content as free advertising, beneficial for you, which is compensation in the world of business. In future, if you don't want things stolen from you, I suggest not putting in a public place far from your house and your ability to observe what happens to it. I suggest you put it behind a wall, where you can better protect it. Take note. I did not need to inform you at all about your content; most of the internet would not. I was direct and open about its use and I am direct and open about taking it down. You won't find this sort of treatment to be common. Finally, if you wish to sell your work, I suggest improving your work. The only value it had to me was in depicting a specific kind of monster for someone to see what that monster looked like. I have many other options for that. But the idea that your work, as shown, has monetary value, is laughable. I certainly wouldn't pay for it. You have a long way to go as an artist. I do wish you luck in that regard. It will go hard on you if you insist on treating collaboration, which is what I was offering, as an insult and not praise. As one artist to another, we all need friends. I happen to be a writer. I write thousands of words of content for free and am compensated happily by hundreds and hundreds of persons who, seeing my free work, want more. They want to buy anything I put in front of them because they cannot get enough. You should get out of your head that any work you create has value in itself. You are the artist. YOU are the value. If someone in the future "steals" you work (and it certainly won't be me, not ever), I suggest you be flattered, you point out to everyone you know that your work is somewhere else on the internet and you ask for as much credit as you can get to move your name into other people's thoughts. Your approach that work = transaction = money is dead and gone, has been since the internet broke. You want to be an artist? Time to get with the future. I might have been happy to give you as much good press as I could give, talking to my readership. But you've pissed on all that now, for short-term gain. I suspect you've been art-school trained. Your approach usually comes from that kind of field. You're going to find that won't work for you, not in this century and not in this decade. I tell you this sincerely and in your interest, though I know that you're plenty furious by now."

While this speaks for itself, let's break this down. First, I did not even read this till weeks after he sent this to me. I really did not care what he had to say and I didn't have the time or energy to waste on what turned out to be exactly what I expected. In fact I ended up reading this while my wife and I were in Paris a week or two ago. My wife was using my phone to coordinate the evacuation of our cats from our home as hurricane Irma headed towards Florida and she stumbled upon this unread message. She responded for me, but the account was already blocked and it went nowhere. Oh well, these internet tough guys stamp their little feet and scream their little words and then slam the door so they are always correct in their eyes.

This message is a classic. It starts with how awesome he is and how important his blog is and how he is doing me a favor by including my art in his project. Weeeee! OH BOY! Gosh, that is swell! Then of course he blames the victim for his crime. If I don't want my art stolen I need to lock it away so not one can see it. This is laughable. How about you don't steal peoples art? I guess stores need to have DO NOT STEAL signs above ever item?

I RAWR'd with laughter when I read this, "Finally, if you wish to sell your work, I suggest improving your work. / But the idea that your work, as shown, has monetary value, is laughable. I certainly wouldn't pay for it. You have a long way to go as an artist." So my art is good enough to steal the ideas from it and to use on my blog, but it also sucks? I am confused. Let me check my credentials: I have designed makeup effects for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly (just to name a few) and I am an artist for Magic the Gathering, the Star Wars games, and Dungeons & Dragons (that game that he is making all his fan fiction for), not to mention many many others. You know what, here is my RESUME, it is a little out of date but should give you an idea of my work experience. In a couple of months it will mark the beginning of my 18th year as a working professional artist, but sure, yeah, I have a long way to go. Also, I have to turn down work constantly. I do not have time to take on all the projects that come my way. Real projects, with real clients, that pay real money.

"It will go hard on you if you insist on treating collaboration, which is what I was offering, as an insult and not praise. As one artist to another, we all need friends." Collaboration is when two or more people are working on a project together not when one person steals another person's art and ideas to use in their own project. Stealing art and ideas is not how you make friends. Funny how that works.

Then he is going on about how he is a noble writer who works for free and then people buy his work and how I should give my stuff away and that will magically turn into money. Same old worn out tripe that I have heard a million times. I think Harlan Ellison has something to say about this...



"I suspect you've been art-school trained. Your approach usually comes from that kind of field." When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. I am an open book on this blog, I went to Florida State University which is definitely an art school. I never had a single professional practices course and I had professors that openly taught stealing from others. I knew it was wrong then and I know it is still wrong. Make your own damn art or pay the people that are working with you.

Finally, "I tell you this sincerely and in your interest, though I know that you're plenty furious by now.", you know what, in a sincerity, I laughed when I read this. I laughed long and hard and then I felt really really sad for this person. They are so misguided or ignorant... or both. But they are an internet tough guy and slammed the door closed after they shouted into the internet at me for calling them out for stealing. I guess they won.


*UPDATE* It has been pointed out to me that one of the images that started all this was still on his site. After further investigation not only are the images in question that he told me he removed are still on his site, but several more of my giant beetle drawings as well. So, we can add LIAR to list of his crimes. Way to stay classy, Alexis!

*UPDATE*  Some have questioned if I was in fact sharing all of the communication with this person and being fully transparent. The conversation started in the comments section of the post containing one of the pieces of art he stole. It is still all public and nothing has been edited. Not knowing if my comment would be seen on my blog, I sent it to him on Facebook to be sure that my art was removed. Here is a screen caps of the conversion. I repeated what I said on my blog, then he responded and then blocked me ending all communication with him. Notice the "You can not reply conversation" at the bottom. He told me he is stealing my art and ideas. I told him not without paying me. Then he sent me the manifesto and ended the conversation.


*UPDATE* I have some additional thoughts I think are extremely important to consider in all this. I have put them all in a new blog post for ease of reading. Please give it a read.

That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

55 comments:

  1. I thought you were overreacting at first. If I own the rights and the project is non commercial, making nobody any money, especially if it's something like a wiki that potentially benefits many people and is made by volunteers, I allow the use of my art.

    This guy though...this fucking guy. Unbelievable arrogance and stupidity.

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    1. Oh, he's Canadian?! :D An exception to the rule, it seems.

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    2. He sells books, he attaches people to his book store through the blog. There is money being generated. It is definitely commercial and he wanted to use my art to as part of the web component of his projects without permission or compensation. So NOPE to that! :) AND that the exact same thing I thought of when I saw he was Canadian :)

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    3. I would like to point out that non-commercial use in and of itself is NOT fair use and never has been. It doesn't matter if you're using stolen intellectual property (no matter the medium) for commercial or non-commercial use or if you're crediting the rights holder or not. It is still illegal.

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    4. VERY true, good sir. Truer words have rarely spoken here on the blog :)

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  2. It is prob worse than you think, a lot of wikis explicitly mention a certain license that applies to all stuff that is added to them. So it could be that by adding your images to a wiki, he is saying 'these works are now public domain' Or fall under some other broad license.

    Depending on your agreements with Hasbro, and the license of the wiki he is using, he might have broken the law in a pretty stupid way. (As making money indirectly of products that are also owned by a big company is a bad bad idea, esp if you also say 'these things are now free to use' to others).

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    1. I ran into an issue like that - I found an image on a Wiki that was listed as public domain. A year later, for whatever reason I needed to "Find Images Like This," and lo and behold, the original image was definitely NOT public domain. Worse, I found that the image I used was altered - removing the artist's signature. I did reach out to that artist to see about making financial restitution, an ex post facto licence, but he never replied.

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    2. I truly appreciate the due diligence that you showed in this example. So few would do so. Really appreciate your concern for the artist!

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  3. And just so you know, the images are prob still up http://tao-of-dnd.wikispaces.com/file/detail/Bombadier+Beetle+%28gt%29+image.jpg he just removed the links to the pages not the images themselves.

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    1. HUH! Well thanks for pointing that one out. Classy!

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    2. I suspect that might be another point of ignorance. Thinking that if the image is removed from a wiki page, it is gone. It isn't -- it's sitting on the server, ready to be used and available in searches.

      Incidentally, Wikispaces is an education focused platform (for educators and classes). They are extremely responsive with a phone line. You can contact them by going to http://www.wikispaces.com/ and clicking the "Contact" link in the header.

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    3. Great! Thanks for the info. Appreciated!

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    4. Ow I agree it was probably simply ignorance, not malicious intent. Which you usually should assume imho even if the other guy is being an ass (or well, more so then, as people tend to go confrontational in return).

      I'm assuming that he isn't the biggest technical expert around, and for non experts it is very easy to miss or forget about stuff like that. (And a lot of experts also miss a lot of stuff).

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  4. Send Facebook, Google, etc. DMCA notices.

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    1. Looking into it. So far the files seem to be now hanging out in the file structure of his blog/site. Looking into my options.

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  5. Just incredible.
    I'm no artist, but I've been privy enough to the business end of visual, audible, and written arts to know that this is *complete* crap. Art isn't public domain just because it's freely accessible.
    Personally, I am a bit of a preservationist when it comes to various forms of media, and may at times mirror certain selections if I feel there is a danger of removal, but with the permission of the artist if there is no distribution license obviously attached, and at the very least there is attribution and a link to the artist if possible.
    This guy.. complete disrespect for artists and your work, and a massive lack of understanding of just how much work it actually is.

    Soywiser has a good point, check licensing of the Wiki itself. I believe Wikipedia officially requires public domain or Creative Commons-licensed media, but each wiki site implementation could try to enforce their own license for content. He's likely run far afoul of Hasbro, only slipping by due to... well, what's an ant to an elephant?
    Just as easily missed, just as easily pulverized.

    I'm sorry this happened. Such people are vile.

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    1. Really appreciated. I am sure by now this fellow has definitely run afoul of the law plenty of times. From his attitude though I am sure he has an excuse it all and it would never be HIS fault.

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    2. "Ant. Boot." -Nick Fury (Sam Jackson); The Avengers.

      :-)

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  6. Hi - saw this post via Jim Hines FB page - I looked up the Terms of Service on the hosting site and it contained the following -

    You agree to not use the Services to:

    upload, post, email, PM (personal message) or otherwise transmit any User-Uploaded Content that:
    you do not have a right to transmit or that infringes the intellectual property rights of any party;

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    1. Hi Lisa! WOW! That is really good to know. Thank you very much for looking into that. I REALLY appreciate it. :) Glad to know I have an ace in the hole.

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    2. I have had a number of people steal images from my own blog (a golf one, not the miniatures one). When they did not take down my photos, I used WHOIS to find out who their host and registrars were and contacted them. The images came down.

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  7. Have you complained to Facebook - if he posts such stuff there, I only did a quick scan of his stuff.

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    1. He blocked me after he sent me his little manifesto, so I have no idea what he has on FB. As far as I know it was all, and is still all, on his blog/wiki thing.

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  8. Chris, as a fellow artist I am reaching out to as many of my art friends as I have in the industry. This guy basically needs blackballed. However, he does having one redeeming trait. His blog is a MUST read if you have never experienced the writings of someone who was obviously put on this planet to edify the ignorant and to deliver his obvious brilliance to the dull. I have never met anyone so completely full of himself and so completely sure of his non-existent genius. It's an absolute blast.

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    1. HAHAHA! :D Thanks William! The support is appreciated, as well as the laughs.

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  9. He also makes 200+ dollars a month on Patreon, so I'd definitely report his conduct to those authorities as well.

    This guy is a total ass, best of luck.

    https://www.patreon.com/user?u=3015466

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  10. Alexis is a known narcissist, unable to take criticism. His blog and "writing" have not had its audience substantially increased in nearly a decade, mostly because of the churn as people find out how immature his tantrums can be. You certainly don't have to defend your work to him. He's a little man in a little place and acts like it.

    I'm sorry this happened to you.

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    1. Thanks for the support! I was worried that I may have caught someone on a bad day and outing them was overkill, but I am hearing similar descriptions of the guy from multiple sources. So, I glad I went ahead with this.

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  11. Chris,

    I just checked out the beetle pictures and they are beautiful. I would happily pay to use this quality of artwork in my own products. In fact, why don't you quote him as a form of advertising? RPGNow and DriveThru do clipart products, and you would be well within your rights to quote him based on his email to you.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Craig! Your kind words about my art are appreciated, and thanks for the idea! :)

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  12. You might want to throttle back on the "idea" part of stealing. I clicked on your link to your art and immediately saw Disney IP. Stealing your actual art is detestable; using your art to inspire creativity is another thing entirely.

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    1. I would assume that since he is paid to use licensed Disney IP, that is part of his portfolio of items now owned by the Disney licensee. Or perhaps I'm not quite understanding what you're saying.

      (And thank for linking this rather interesting post, as I found it via you.)

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    2. I work for companies that have licenses for ALL the work that I do. I create work for the Star Wars games produced by Fantasy Flight Games. All of my Star Wars are licensed and approved by FFG and Disney. They know that I am making it and pay me to make it. I have worked for Wizards of the Coast as a concept designer multiple times to create new monsters and new takes on existing monsters for Dungeons & Dragons. All of my D&D monster redesigns are known by them and help me get the work and keep up my design chops for future work with them. I am contractually granted usage rights of all of my art by these companies for my blog, website, portfolio, etc.

      He told me he explicitly wrote his description of the monster beetle based on the narrative in my illustration. He admitted to stealing the image and the idea, his words.

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    3. "based on the narrative in my illustration" so you not only drew something but wrote a paragraph about it and this guy comes and puts stats on it and calls it his?

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    4. His post is now gone, but this is my post with my write up and art. He took the art and then wrote a blurb about how the beetle is used as a mount and sought after, etc. etc.

      https://christopherburdett.blogspot.com/2015/10/fresh-from-drawing-table-beetle-giant.html

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    5. His words in his comment on that post, "..and this image encouraged me to completely rewrite the boring beetle's description. I really don't need another big fighting beetle - this was better."

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    6. Yeah dude, you have ever right to be pissed. Apologies to you and screw him.

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    7. Thanks! The outpouring of support has been really encouraging.

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  13. How much did you pay Harlan Ellison to use that interview clip? Just curious!

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    1. You are a funny one! It is linked directly to the YouTube account that has, as far as we know, legally posted it 9 years ago. I did not take it, claim it as my own, or remove ownership or credit. It is a publicly shared link as with all YouTube videos. Now if someone had an issue with that clip being on YouTube in the last 9 years it would have been removed. I have plenty of videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2d568HFSkln8TjV1GMHW8Q?view_as=subscriber and people are more than free to share them to theirs hearts content. That is the nature of the service and site. The videos always link back to the source and my contact info is there. If I copied or downloaded the clip, posted it as my own, hosted it myself for usage, altered it in anyway, or made an effort to remove the originators from content, THAT is the issue. That is the breech in usage and ownership.

      But thanks for trying to turn the conversation into something about me sharing video clips from a video clip sharing site in the way the entire platform was designed for and is used for.

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    2. Much like the way this post was shared far and wide on Facebook, in the intended way. It always links directly back to THIS post on my blog or to my Facebook account. No ownership or illicit usage is taking place.

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    3. And really, if you were serious in your inquiry, you would be asking about the documentary makers that are responsible for that clip. I am more than sure Ellison was compensated for his part in it. It would be the compensation of the filmmakers who made and own the clip that are the ones who would be paid, if the clip was not publicly accessible for viewing and sharing.

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    4. @Anonymous - A pathetic attempt by a troll to hijack this thread and distract from the real issue being discussed. Only one person's acts being criticised on this thread. I wonder....

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    5. Why not just water mark your stuff. If you put it out there 'blank' google images will eventually pick it up, and people that have no idea whether its PD or not will mistakenly use it.

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    6. @anonymous... I think it's pretty hard to "mistakenly" google search something, save it, and use it in your project while full well knowing that you don't have any legal right to use it. And sure, there are public domain pics out there... but honestly, what self respecting company would want to use art that's public domain and 100s of other people have used the same damned thing?
      Originality has a price. And that price is paying the artists.

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    7. All of my work IS watermarked. It includes my website and blog, copyright for me of the client I produced the work for and my RAWR! branding. People simply crop it off or digitally remove it. My work is never blank, people make it blank.

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    8. The watermark thing is literally a waste of time because of money. Here's why. I am a company in Vermont who makes ceramic plates. I sell 40 plates a year that have Chris's art prominently displayed on them. Is this illegal and immoral, yes...but keep in mind no one has stopped me..... yet. The artist (Chris in this case) must issue the cease and desist and then start a laborious court process and then IF damages are awarded at the end ..... collect from a nearly bankrupt curio maker who has no money to give Chris. Isn't being the victim of art theft grand? I have a friend who I emailed to congratulate on her pillow and bedding contract. There was no such contract. A company in Brazil of all places jus stole all of her art work (by purchasing $15 prints) scanning and re-mastering them. Again, watermarks don't help. Needless to say this hard-working Pittsburgh artist isn't holding an international copyright case because duvets are being knocked off in Brazil. The artist gets screwed again.

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. Where's the rest of the conversation?

    I agree that an artist should be compensated fairly for their work. And what you've posted certainly paints a picture about how this exchange went down.

    I've learned, over the years and through much online reading, that there is always more than one side. If this exchange took place over Facebook, then you've got a record of everything that was said.

    Maybe there's something else going on, something your audience hasn't seen?

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    1. @Anonymous I have shared the entire conversation. The parts that are public are still on my blog in the post containing one of the pieces of art he stole :https://christopherburdett.blogspot.com/2015/10/fresh-from-drawing-table-beetle-giant.html

      His manifesto above was sent to me privately via Facebook and he immediately blocked me upon sending it. Ending all communication with me. That is the beginning, middle, and end of it.

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  16. What an asshole.

    I think he was using the typical 'nice guy' reply to being shot down. "Hey baby, you're hot, let's bang. What's that, you don't want to? Well, you're ugly anyway."

    I think you did a good job telling him off. He'll never know he's an asshole, so there's no point in pursuing any more contact. But if you could DCMA him....

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