This morning I had another wake up call. Someone in an artists’ group I belong to had posted pictures of merchandise she was selling. She had used art which many people recognized as being stolen from a Deviant Art site, and did not belong to her. AND SHE WAS SELLING IT AS HERS. The perp refused to believe she was in the wrong, protesting, “But I can’t do it myself! I can’t draw! I only got it from the internet! That’s not stealing!”
That’s when I lost it and saw red. This post was originally going to be a nasty long drawn out letter to that person, but instead I decided that my argument would work better as a comic illustrating in clear points why stealing other artists’ work to sell as your own is wrong. Sorry if it’s a bit preachy, but this needs to be said. If it speaks to you or you know some people who need enlightenment on this subject, please feel free to share. This one’s on me.
Monica Marier Author 
Reblogged this on Hired Guns and commented:
UGH, I’m no stranger to this experience, sadly
That expression in the third panel looks a little like one of the Bone characters, in the comic of the same name :3
Glad it spoke to you! Love Bone by the way. I read it way back when I was stuck in hospital for weeks.
Ah yeah it’s so whimsical but so epic! And certainly a good use of several weeks… 😉
Devil’s Advocate Here:
And yet, the problem is that corporations have started to own many of the best ideas there are to date. Can I write 500 million lines of code to compete with facebook? nawp. Can anyone but another company with the funding for that sort of ‘risky’ endeavor?
Really, the problem would be solved if:
A. The creator(s) can sell the rights to whatever they own, but they can never lose/transfer ownership/the rights to use what they’ve created.
B. The owner(s) has control over the rights for as long at it takes to create what they intended and…
c. The owner(s) loses this propriety ownership once they’ve made enough income from their construct to SUSTAIN them so that they’d not have to worry about having to work on anything else for the rest of their life. (adjusted for inflation)
d. Any other creations which would go beyond sustainability amount of the creator(s) are immediately available for anyone to use and sell.
There’s a reason Germany’s Golden Age came when copyright laws were suspended.
Corporations are another fish entirely. This comic is aimed at helping independent artists who barely make enough to live off their artwork. They put things on the internet solely so they can get enough visibility to make sales (not having advertising budgets like big art houses like Disney and Warner Bros. have.) Many OTHER hack artists are stealing the work from their ads.
If my artwork EVER made enough money to sustain my life, I’d be willing to consider your proposal. In the meantime, I’d like my $5, please. My kids need new pants.
UGH, I’m no stranger to this experience, sadly
That expression in the third panel looks a little like one of the Bone characters, in the comic of the same name :3
This is perfect! I had the same problem with this girl who not only ‘lied’ that she stole it from an artist, she tried to say it was from an ‘official site’ image which was worse *sigh* some people have no sense.
Oh wow, perfect!!! Thanks. And yup off to share it as well.
wonderful message! how can we share it? just post a link to this post?
That’s it really. 🙂
*REALLY* well done! Thank you!
This is awesome! I’ve had art stolen before & the worst was a person that had the nerve to say “no I just based it on your art” flipping the image is still stealing & not original art….. So this comic is just perfect!!
May I use this to explain to directors why I can’t just copy someone else’s set design that they found on the internet and printed me pictures of?
Please do.
£5 says someone will steal this and sell it 😛
The odds are WAY in your favor on that one. *L*
Thanks for this. I have shared it. I have had poetry stolen from me, so I don’t share it anymore…….and my drawings that I post are at angles that do not show well to reuse. Sometimes I think the people have lost respect for its artists.
I can’t see the image; I think you may have gone… viral.
No, it’s still there. Not sure why you can’t see it.
Oh, I see it now… but I think maybe you were experiencing a brief surge in popularity that was overwhelming the server and making it difficult for the comic to be transferred. (I also could not see the checkered background image.) But it’s all cleared up now!
Gosh. I HOPE that’s why.
My friend had to just start adding watermarks on all his pictures because someone stole them and refused to admit it
I am so stealing this… (irony intended)
As long as you credit me.
LOL…. I’m just gong to link this on my facebook.. 😉
Great job on explaining the problem of all artists on the Internet. Just because we post it, that doesn’t mean it becomes clip art for the World!