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Is It Theft?
2 years ago
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I just need some opinions and thoughts because this situation is honestly pissing me off.
In either 2021 or 2022, I started watching an artist named Red Knight. He's a really original adoptable artist, and everything he does is hand drawn. I won a couple designs from them, lost quite a few more. The design in question is one of his older designs, but the person that won the auction put it back up for sale in March of 2023. This is when I won it and gained ownership of it.
So yesterday, I'm browsing YCH.Commish again (because I have an addiction), and this one design just grabbed my eye. Up for sale was a near clone of the adopt I purchased in 2023. Identical pose, identical clothing, identical held item, even the extra tufts of hair on the tail, ears, and hair going down the neck were so close it was clearly traced or so. I asked a few experience artist friends of mine and they all agreed. So I googled the artist in question, and found that they have an account on DeviantArt, Furaffinity, Twitter, and Instagram as well (no, I'm not going to disclose their name) where they were also selling this exact same design (with no mention of it being for sale on any of the other sites). On all their profiles, they have something like "I'm friendly! I love questions! Go ahead and ask, I don't bite!!" I asked them on DeviantArt if they were inspired by Red Knight because of how similar the designs were in as nice a manner as possible... BAM! Instant block and the auction was deleted! So I reported the auction on YCH, and the timer expired without any response from the administration or anyone purchasing it. Find out today, they have a SECOND account and are selling the adoptable yet again. I tried putting in another ticket, but that auction will expire in 30 minutes.
Like... this is ridiculous to me. They basically traced over the design, left out a big detail, washed down the colors a small bit, and are attempting to profit off it. No credit given to the original artist. And when I ask, the "friendly person who loves questions!!" pulls off the sneakiest, most dishonest looking and janky behavior imaginable. But damn, I can't stop them completely. Is this really a fight worth fighting? Or do I just hope that they never sell this 3rd Party Knock-Off Clone?
In either 2021 or 2022, I started watching an artist named Red Knight. He's a really original adoptable artist, and everything he does is hand drawn. I won a couple designs from them, lost quite a few more. The design in question is one of his older designs, but the person that won the auction put it back up for sale in March of 2023. This is when I won it and gained ownership of it.
So yesterday, I'm browsing YCH.Commish again (because I have an addiction), and this one design just grabbed my eye. Up for sale was a near clone of the adopt I purchased in 2023. Identical pose, identical clothing, identical held item, even the extra tufts of hair on the tail, ears, and hair going down the neck were so close it was clearly traced or so. I asked a few experience artist friends of mine and they all agreed. So I googled the artist in question, and found that they have an account on DeviantArt, Furaffinity, Twitter, and Instagram as well (no, I'm not going to disclose their name) where they were also selling this exact same design (with no mention of it being for sale on any of the other sites). On all their profiles, they have something like "I'm friendly! I love questions! Go ahead and ask, I don't bite!!" I asked them on DeviantArt if they were inspired by Red Knight because of how similar the designs were in as nice a manner as possible... BAM! Instant block and the auction was deleted! So I reported the auction on YCH, and the timer expired without any response from the administration or anyone purchasing it. Find out today, they have a SECOND account and are selling the adoptable yet again. I tried putting in another ticket, but that auction will expire in 30 minutes.
Like... this is ridiculous to me. They basically traced over the design, left out a big detail, washed down the colors a small bit, and are attempting to profit off it. No credit given to the original artist. And when I ask, the "friendly person who loves questions!!" pulls off the sneakiest, most dishonest looking and janky behavior imaginable. But damn, I can't stop them completely. Is this really a fight worth fighting? Or do I just hope that they never sell this 3rd Party Knock-Off Clone?
Now, is it MORAL to be selling what essentially boils down to a reskin? Thats subjective. I dont think it should be done, myself. But it also isnt really worth the time to fight a lot of the time. Id just pass the info on to the OG artist and let them decide how upset they are about it. As an artist, id like to know if people are using my art, either to steal or even just as inspiration. Ive seen my stuff being traced before but it was different enough that i got a giggle out of it and felt kinda proud that someone liked my stuff enough to base theirs off it ^_^;
Ultimately, though, while it’s not technically theft or illegal, it is super scummy to do, and the only defence against it is to drag them into the light to fry like the vampire they are. Warn your friends, let the og artist know, and that’s the best you can really do about it.
Kind of hard to trust someone unless they've been around for a while and have some credible reputation. Pending you are indeed speaking to the right person and not someone posing as them. Been seeing a lot of impersonation going on too. Though some people are not stopping to think when a red flag comes up. Like suddenly getting messaged out of the blue on discord or other social media app about an auction or commission, and never had contact with them prior to that. Someone usually states how they will contact an individual somewhere on their page.
Now back on topic... Tracing is bad if they are intending to sell or promote themselves. I understand wanting to improve. But within limits. Or maybe giving tribute to an artist's work by trying to do their style. Though it shouldn't be a direct trace. The best I can say is bring it to light and it should be brought somewhere to warn others. In the end though, it still will boil down to individual buyers making their own judgement whether they are informed or not informed.
The two people who could potentially lend weight to any action against him, apart from the administrators, are Red Knight himself, and the individual from whom you purchased the rights to the character. The admins probably get a lot of claims of theft (many of which I'm sure are bogus), so I imagine they tend to get ignored unless they come from a copyright holder directly.
Hence why he deleted the auction: Because Step #2 for you would have otherwise been to flag it in violation of your copyright. And the fact that he just went right back to business as usual tells me he's very well aware of this -- is very well aware that the admins do take copyright violations seriously but not accusations of theft in general.
If you want to see this idiot face consequences, my advice would be to-
#1: Lurk on his accounts if at all possible.
#2: Use the search tools on other websites to see if you can find any past artists and/or adoptables buyers featuring the same things.
#3: Notify them that their copyrights are being violated.