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Art Theives?
19 years ago
General
Let's talk about ART THEFT! I'm really really getting tired of all these furs thinking I own that pose or that is MY character you are drawing. Just writing Spooge Wolf, C in a circle me DOES NOT mean you have copy writed the picture. You have to have it legally documented and you have to have the copy write approved. Meaning there can't be anything in the picture that has been copy writed by someone else. As long as I'm DRAWING the picture myself I can part the hair on the other side and call him Wacker Wolf and low and behold I have a new character.
When I first started posting pictures on the web I drew a vixen named Nina, unbelievablely another artist had a vixen character named Nina who was going trough some of the same things my Nina was. I was accused of character theft by friends of the artist. I contacted him and we had quite a laugh over the fact that we had indeed created the same character at roughly the same time. I stopped drawing my Nina because he did so much better at his, my choice and he never asked me to quit. But it goes to show that it IS possible for two people to design very similar character with out stealing the idea from each other.
Some one drawing your character is NOT art theft, it you would be like me doing a painting of the Mona Lisa, unless I'm claiming I'm Da Vinic then it's my painting and I can bloody well sell it if I want. Get it straight art theft is claiming you did art you didn't draw or you are breaking into someone's house to carry it off. I draw a picture of Zig Zag in my style then that picture is mine and belongs to me. If I want to sell that one picture I can. If I mass producing them for public sale or repetitively drawing Zig Zag for sale then Max can come and take me to court. And even then Max would have to PROVE that my picture sales where hurting his sales because a judge would look at the pictures and say well it is a naked tiger stripped skunk but they really don't look anything alike.
I asked a copy write lawyer about this stuff and you know what he told me about taking this stuff to court. ONLY the lawyers win. It will spend years in court till one side or the other runs out of money then the judge will flip a coin and point to one side or the other.
Every one needs to take David Sim's advice in his book on the comic biz, sign no legal papers, draw your character the best that you can, and if someone else can do it better than you BULLY for them.
When I first started posting pictures on the web I drew a vixen named Nina, unbelievablely another artist had a vixen character named Nina who was going trough some of the same things my Nina was. I was accused of character theft by friends of the artist. I contacted him and we had quite a laugh over the fact that we had indeed created the same character at roughly the same time. I stopped drawing my Nina because he did so much better at his, my choice and he never asked me to quit. But it goes to show that it IS possible for two people to design very similar character with out stealing the idea from each other.
Some one drawing your character is NOT art theft, it you would be like me doing a painting of the Mona Lisa, unless I'm claiming I'm Da Vinic then it's my painting and I can bloody well sell it if I want. Get it straight art theft is claiming you did art you didn't draw or you are breaking into someone's house to carry it off. I draw a picture of Zig Zag in my style then that picture is mine and belongs to me. If I want to sell that one picture I can. If I mass producing them for public sale or repetitively drawing Zig Zag for sale then Max can come and take me to court. And even then Max would have to PROVE that my picture sales where hurting his sales because a judge would look at the pictures and say well it is a naked tiger stripped skunk but they really don't look anything alike.
I asked a copy write lawyer about this stuff and you know what he told me about taking this stuff to court. ONLY the lawyers win. It will spend years in court till one side or the other runs out of money then the judge will flip a coin and point to one side or the other.
Every one needs to take David Sim's advice in his book on the comic biz, sign no legal papers, draw your character the best that you can, and if someone else can do it better than you BULLY for them.
http://albinoblacksheep.com/text/copyright This page probably explains it better than I will.
A better, non-copyright paper way to do it is put your work in an envelope, seal it with wax or one of them stickers, then mail it to yourself. The postal thingy in the corner'll have the date, and if it's unopened, they can't dispute it.
One method of proof of date of creation is to have it noterized by a public notery making the orginal work a legal document.
Problem with both methods are the fact you have to go to court and pay massive leagal fees to what at most usually results in a cease and disist order.
Most of us are not finacially harmed by someone drawing our characters and very damn few of us make money off of our fursonas. So all the leagal rights in the world are going to result in your money going in a lawyer's pocket and nothing in your pockets except the rightous knowledge that you have defended your rights. Personally I'd rather spend my money on pizza, anime, and plushies.
point of this? admittedly, ownershiop of a character is VERY difficult to prove baring patents, but proving the usage of such before another is easily provable. but also, that it shouldn't be neccesary, provided people aren't idiots etc...
way i see it. so long as communication is made if using acharacter in anything that either hasnt been done, or could look bad ont hem, and their opinions on the matter are adhered to, then what's the deal?
well, that was likely self contradictory nd just utter rubbish, but... meh; so sue me :P