slowtime Rang

I really considered this case closed earlier today when the original artists were informed of the theft. But since Chelsea responsed to me I feel I must respond yet again and waste my time to make myself clear. Chelsea please learn to read and UNDERSTAND the material before you go spouting off and making yourself look bad. I do not care what you do for a "living" if you cannot even undertand the simple question of the original post. The question was IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY to get this stopped. Neither Lauren nor I was suggesting we were going to file a claim. We said that we were informing the original artists of the theft, that's it. That's all. The ONLY relationship was stated clearly in the posts. The DA artists are our friends, or at the very least aquaintences. It is a matter of RESPECT for them and their work that they were informed. And Chelsea, don't worry, when your "original" artwork gets stolen, I will not be myself, I will not step up and speak out on your behalf, I will not come to you and tell you that someone is claiming your work as their own. I will let them keep selling your work, taking credit, and rob you blind. Now, I am off of this thread, consider it case closed. But be warned. I will continue to report stolen art to the orginal owners and will happily apologize IF or WHEN it is made clear that the person selling it has gotten proper permission. I would rather people be safe than sorry.

No, I believe you are right about that. And I am sure there are some false claims as well. But when it can be proven, when it is shown by not only a concerned SL citizen and the rightful owner, and if it happens enough to get a laywer involved.. LL isn't going to have much of a choice but to do something about it once and for all. What they will do, if anything, is unknown, but I hope they are smart enough to not lose people by not doing anything.

Dude, no offence but you are taking it wrong. The question was is there any other way to report it and have it taken care of. It is not every store, it is not every person. But this was blatent, it was obvious, and the person knew it because we were booted and banned when something was said. There are a lot of people who don't realize the kind of trouble they can get into. Sometimes just saying something works enough to let them know and they start doing their own thing, original work. Sure it might not be the best at first, but it's theirs and I would watch out for their work just as I would look out for yours and report it to you if I found any of your stuff being sold by anyone else. We are not playing IP police, but when we know some of the people whos work is being stolen... what do you expect us to do? Just let it go and let our friends be taken advantage of? I don't think so.

Get used to it? lol The law is the law and it is still THEFT. I will tell any and all people I know who's art is stolen and sold as someone else's "work". What they choose to do after that is up to them. IP theft is the worst kind because you cannot be everywhere at once, you do not have hidden cameras or security guards. All artists can rely on are honest people to help them.

Qwaly, I don't steal and I will do my best to protect ANY artist that I feel is being ripped off. You know when you walk into a store and can find EVERY picture there somewhere online that the person does not have rights. There is no protect IP rights poster, there is nothing say that they have any permission from this person or that to sell their items. When I had my store I ALWAYS had a sign up saying that I had the artist's permission to display their work, I had a notecard inside the sale folder telling them the same thing, and to whom the artwork belonged, and how to get in touch with them. I am also friends with several artists on DA and know for a fact that they do not allow their work for commercial sale when the original photos that were tagged have had their tags removed and the THIS IS NOT FOR COMMERICAL OR PRIVATE USE statements ignored. Let's put it simply. When I have permission to display an artist, I shout it to the world and make sure their name is well known because either A) I am in total awe of that person and their work, or B) they are generous enough to share and I want to the word out to help them in any way I can. IF that person had all rights, or any rights, we would not have been kicked off or banned, but we would have been sent straight to the artist so that they could say yes, in a store full of stolen work, this is mine and the owner was given permission by myself to sell it.

Are you seriously saying that you would allow someone to steal from your mom, grandmother, brother just because it's not YOURS? The work I do on Deviant Art takes hours, weeks, even MONTHS to create sometimes. I DO give permission for people to use it in PERSONAL artwork, but they still have to link back so that I can see what they have done with it, but NEVER for commercial works. And selling on SL even for just a few pennies IS considered commercial. For someone to actually say that other people can't protect my rights shows what kind of low some of the people on this planet can be. What happens when it's something YOU have created and no one protects you? What will you be screaming then?