Put Away the Pitchforks

First, I would like to thank the greater gaming and art communities for all the support regarding a resent run in with an art thief that I posted about on Wednesday. It is reassuring that people out there really do support artists and care that they and there art is treated with respect. Every time I have a run in like this I question the integrity of my endeavors and worry that all my efforts are all for naught and it will all be stolen in the end. My post got shared in the ball park of a hundred times across Facebook and at last count the post had been viewed over 11,000 times. I  definitely hit a nerve and my message resonated with a lot of people.

That said, calls for violence and physical harm on the person that stole my art is CATEGORICALLY UNACCEPTABLE! This is not how I treat people, even if someone has wronged me, and I would expect to not be treated this way, even if I have wronged someone. Threats of physical violence, even if made in jest, are FAR worse than the stealing of my art. Likewise, the unsolicited harassment and verbal attacks on this individual are not acceptable. The intent of my post was to call attention to a systemic and continuing problem that people who create things experience. This person is but one of many that do this and should not be treated as a scapegoat for all art theft. We do not blame a single drop of rain for the destruction of a hurricane, no matter how much of a jerk that drop of rain is. This was NOT a call to action against this person and this is NOT a call to attack and persecute this person.

While some of you may think you are retaliating on my behalf, it is not warranted or appropriate. I would have never made this public if the individual had not severed communication after sending me his little manifesto. My post was meant as a warning to other artists and as a bit a humor looking at this persons behavior and how they think treating artists is appropriate. Threats, harassment, violence, and mistreatment of any kind are not acceptable responses to this. The situation and his behavior are frustrating. He did act with contempt towards me and my art and has violated my copyright of my art. Even with all this, there is no need for calls of lawsuits, threats of violence, or the demand to have projects that he has worked on for ten year removed from the web. It would be next to impossible to prove damages, plus it would be a huge waste of time and money on my end, violence is never the answer for most things, and it is distasteful to contemplate destroying another creative person's work simply to revenge their mistreat of my creative work. Yes he did something wrong, but destroying him utterly is not a way to solve this issue.

I am fairly sure no one that has read my post, shared it, and commented on it actually know this person. We do not know the ups and downs of his life. What he has dealt with or what he has to deal with. True, his behavior towards me does paint him with a fairly wide brush and gives us an opinion of the kind of person he is, but we all make mistakes, we all have bad days. Granted, it is obvious he did not make a mistake and he knowingly and purposefully stole my art and ideas, but persecuting him across the internet is not the answer. Many people have spoken of unfriending him, blocking him, and blacklisting him. While many more has said they have been blocked by him, even for simply attempting to get his side of his story in all this. His words and behavior are not very mature, but this is not grounds for attacks. He has had enough. I don't see any of this changing how he behaves. Hopefully after all this people will be more vigilante in the protection of artists and their work and be more aware to the prolific nature of art theft. 

I use this blog to document my journey as a working artist and this is but one small part of it. I am approached constantly with the request to use my art without pay, in ways that breach copyright and usage rights, and any number of ways that benefit the other person and in no way benefit me. I stumble upon my work being stolen all the time and address it, privately. About every six months I run into a real doozy of a person that behaves in a way that is completely unacceptable. I have shared only a couple of those and this was one. Maybe I should not have share this. While the support of the community is great, the attacks on the person are counter productive. This blog is about art and making monsters and the journey that it has taking me on to be a better person and artist. This blog is not about tearing people down, even ones that have done something wrong. Please treat people with respect, even when none is given in return. It is something I struggle with, but we can all strive to be better... even Alexis.

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...

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