Page 254
Now that I look at this page again I think it would have been more fun to have team Lecherous Evil turn on each other… next time I guess.
I know some of you got really into commenting on Monday’s health care stuff (it was even mostly name calling free!) but I appreciate the give and take and found it all really interesting. We now know that we’re facing a pretty risky twin birth with a near certainty that if they make it they’ll be in a NICU for anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months or more so where I’ve previously had the luxury of never thinking about my health care situation it’s definitely more on my mind lately. I’m extremely grateful that we’ll only have to worry about them getting healthy and not about how we’re going to pay for it, and I appreciate that even more now.
But enough about scary stuff and more about me :) I have a couple of things I could really use some help with if you guys are bored and particularly if you’re eligible to vote on Shirt Woot (you have to have at least one purchase from a Woot site, I keep wanting to buy some of the fun kid stuff from the Kids Woot site but they won’t ship to Canada… grr.) This week’s derby competition is a double-take where all the designs that didn’t win a print but got an honorable mention have another chance. The Derby opens on Friday around noon, though I’m not certain what time zone exactly. I have these three designs in the running:
The two-toned Tiger, the Unstealthiest Ninja, and “You Weren’t Invited” from last week. So if you’re eligible to vote I’d really appreciate it as a win would pretty much pay for a double stroller and two new infant car seats :P God, my life is going to be over for the next year and a half!!
Problem number two isn’t so fun: a sharp eyed fan noticed my Sushi Fish design being used on a Chilean Sushi restaurant website. They’ve altered it and incorporated it into their branding, it’s even on their Face Book page (not sure why a sushi place needs a FB fan page??) Last time I checked the site was down due to bandwidth exceeded so maybe my problem is solved but my cease and desist email bounced due to a full in box and the emails I’ve sent to the web designers have so far gone unanswered. I imagine it’s probably the web designers that have done this and not the little sushi place and if so I’m royally pissed as they were paid to make the site hence they’ve profited from my design without my permission and they’re not just some foreign company that happily ignores copyright laws: their english site has a freaking Toronto address! If I don’t hear anything by Monday I’ll try calling them and see who I can send my bill to… jerks. I’d post a link to the web designer’s page but it’s a horrible flash heavy monstrosity I don’t want to inflict on you guys.
So if anyone knows any copyright lawyers that can send them an angry email/letter/whatever lawyers do to scare people for me that would be awesome. I don’t think it’s worth trying to sue them and I imagine it will cost me a lot to try. I hate art theft cases like this as you pretty much feel helpless because there’s generally nothing you can do (this is like the third time this has happened to me). For comparison here’s the original version in my deviant gallery and it’s also available on my Red Bubble account.
Ok happy thoughts: horsey!
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February 25th, 2011 at 12:05 am
Lol, “He popped a vein!”.
brilliant~
February 25th, 2011 at 12:20 am
Panel 6 is beyond perfection!! :D And…oh, crap…is Prozac gonna take the fall for this mess??
Woot! Another chance to maybe get an “Unstealthiest Ninja” tshirt! I’m so there!
February 25th, 2011 at 12:26 am
I love Lech’s expression in panel 3. XD
February 25th, 2011 at 1:19 am
Vodka? I thought it was Scotch….
February 25th, 2011 at 2:23 am
Awesome! Gotta watch out for dem spiked snowcones, kids.
Ugh, I’ve seen a couple artists trying to deal with art theft. Not pretty. This is just horrible though; an actual business is using your art, not just some kid trying to make money off prints. I wonder if those web designers have done this before…
Also, is adding “(c) http://www.blah.com” actually enough to trace the design’s ownership back to you?
February 25th, 2011 at 2:53 am
About why they’d use a fb page …. I’m a graphic designer and was just recently told that many companies and businesses are switching to facebook and twitter as more traffic is being handled there and they are getting better exposure. Just an FYI. Cheers!! Hope you sue their pants off!!! ^^
February 25th, 2011 at 3:09 am
That sucks that they would try to rip off your work. =( I hope you can get some sort of compensation. Congrats on the twins!! And btw, your comic is one of my favorite web comics around! I think it has some of the best artwork and coloring on the web. And the storylines rock! Anyway, just wanted to say that I appreciate the dedication you show to this comic and that I’ll be reading as long as I have the interwebs. =)
February 25th, 2011 at 3:28 am
Gah. If the punishment for this kind of thing were more severe and longer lasting it wouldn’t happen so often. But with the internet it’s easy for the art thief to slip into obscurity and re-open buisness and do it again.
Haha. It does me good to see Evil and Lech run like Crack. :3c
February 25th, 2011 at 3:38 am
lol Planel 4’s my favourite now. I can only imagine what they’re thinking: “Cr@p! Busted! Runfor your lives!”
Also, Prozac, go back to the cave now before you are found out of the exhibite. That would be a real day ender right there.
Ugh.Never type when you have a sleep deficet to *Snore*
February 25th, 2011 at 4:22 am
a way to make it alot harder for art thiefs like this is to have a watermark going through every piece of art. then just make a version without watermark and send to the T-shirt site and ask them to use the one with watermark as the “show-er” (hmm i think Prozac could need a shower after that snort) with a note that the watermark won’t be on the T-shirt. i know quite a bunch of people that has been doing this after some jerk stole their work on twitpic (one of the jerks didn’t even change the stuff before posting it) and so far it’s been working.
Panel 4 is a real waste of Scotch. :-(
February 25th, 2011 at 5:56 am
Art theft: You could post a link to your original through their FB fanbook page. Get their fans upset with them and maybe they’ll take care of the problem with whoever sold them the design.
As to why they have such a page–social media advertising. I have subscribed to one (and only one) such page to a local restaurant I like and get discounts. Call it fan loyalty.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:00 am
…Dammit. Now I have to go buy a shirt from shirtwoot. >:| Because I want that uninvited dog shirt SO MUCH.
Oh well. My current tees are getting kinda ratty anyway.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:03 am
PS! I think that if you tell them (politely) that you intend to serve them a cease and desist letter if they don’t stop illegally using your fishy logo, they’ll probably remove it. Most people who do that think they’ll just never get caught.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:38 am
Anyone here know Spanish? The web host is in Santiago; just do a whois search on 200.63.96.10 and you’ll see who to complain to. (I’m not going to assume if they speak English or not without a phone call.) I’ll bet the Web Host doesn’t want to risk an international incident, so just as long as you can prove that you are the owner of the art piece, a “cease & desist” email to said web host will be enough to get the job done.
Not only does it cost you money to sue, it costs the Web Host to defend themselves in the same way. Most Web Hosts usually have a “abuse” department (why this one doesn’t, I don’t know; then again, I could be wrong) that handles such cases.
….and yes, as of this writing, that web site is still giving the “bandwidth exceeded” error.
February 25th, 2011 at 7:05 am
Hello Pro-Hulk!…Goodbye Pro-Hulk. Things are about to get ugly. Not [just] for the bears but for the guy in the snow cone car. I can see an angry mob of parents complaining that he’s trying to spike their kids with Hennessy. And trust me, no one takes someone trying to spike their child lightly, especially if that someone is an adult.
I heard about the sushi art theft. That’s sad that an art theft is not weighed as equally as any other theft as if they are trying to make people starving artist. I would say that they should let you sue for how much profit they made off of your picture, but you don’t know how much. I like Kill2Survive’s suggestion of watermarking; that usually works. I do that (well sign in pen actually) before sending my stuff off to events or charities. Hope it dosen’t happen again.
Oh God, horses are constantly following me! All this week, my lil’ sister wanted to watch MLP: Friendship is Magic and, seeing how I’m her brother, I had to watch it with her. Ever since, they’ve been haunting me constantly and the theme is forever burned into my retina. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t tollerable though. It surprisingly isn’t all that girly for the subject matter and I never felt like gouging my eyes out (at least when the theme didn’t play). I guess until I move, I’ll just have to get used to watching Rarity, Twilight, etc. on TV (or could watch Pulp Fiction when she’s asleep).
February 25th, 2011 at 7:32 am
He Popped a vein!!! LOL, Pto-Hulk Smash! *Can I get some of the Ice cream to go?*
February 25th, 2011 at 7:44 am
I want ice cream with vodka or scotch too. That seems a great idea.
February 25th, 2011 at 9:16 am
I don’t think the bears can get in trouble for this… who would believe bears were spiking snow cones?
The driver should be off the hook, too; he’s been in plain sight, there’s a funnel in the drum and empty/broken bottles outside the open window of the van that all suggest tampering from outside. I would expect the Zoo staff to be on the lookout for teenagers.
Still can’t figure out how this will leave poor Tanked high and dry… well, maybe not “high” anymore. :)
February 25th, 2011 at 9:27 am
@medhi — Your chocolate monkey, sir or madame… :)
February 25th, 2011 at 9:53 am
I’ve never had to deal with art theft although suspect later it might arise because one of my pieces could easily get shot around the internet for rarity reasons. I think in DA’s forum there’s a section for reporting it. Maybe DeviantART has lawyers that could help you out, or some one on their staff could help the situation.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:11 am
It seems like a pretty open-and-shut case. Since DeviantArt has a copyrighting system, as long as you can prove that the web designers are making money off of this without your permission, you could easily sue them back to the Stone Age.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:56 am
systemcat is right, approach DeviantART about it, but also approach Facebook, FB has a policy about not infringing copy write with images you put up on their site and asks if you own the images when you originally post. It’s also possible that the Cool Sushi had someone design their logo for them, and if you point out that you’ve been ripped off they’ll make some sort of reparation…it’s at least worth a try.
February 25th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
The abject terror on Evil’s face in Panel 7 gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. :)
February 25th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Hi.
I sent a private letter to you and am posting the info here for others.
The Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts has offices throughout the United States and a branch in Canada. While I am sure all of the people who have posted here have good intentions, the copyright advice is not going to help you. A competent lawyer will.
Your work is protected by copyright law the minute you create it in a fixed form. DeviantArt does not have a “copyrighting system” as copyright is a federally protected right, and an independent entity does not grant you anything. Your work is yours unless you assign the rights away.
There will be no “international incident”. The quickest way to attempt a takedown is to deliver a DMCA notice to the infringer. If you deliver it to the server as well as the website itself, there’s a good chance they will honor it. Here is how to deliver a DMCA notice:
http://www.seologic.com/faq/dmca-notifications.php
The Canadian Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is here:
CARFAC – Canadian Artists’ Representation
410 Richmond St. West, Ste: 440
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8
416-340-8850 carfac@carfac.ca
http://www.carfacontario.ca/ (list of regional CARFAC contacts & affiliates)
The Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts focuses on legal aid for low-income artists. I am sure they will be able to direct you to competent representation. With any luck after receiving a DMCA notice, the infringer will remove the illustration, and you won’t need an attorney.
February 25th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
trust me there is life after twins, its a different life and best advice i can give is get yourself a routine and stick to it. I know it works for us plus don’t be afriad to kick the hubby in the butt out of bed to do the middle of the night feedings. yes i remember hour to half hour naps all night long due to the fact that Most hospitals give the advice for twins to be fed every three hours. lot easier to do when there are two of ya half awake doing it.
as for the comic for all the booze they where dumping in that had to be one hell of a icey machine to freeze it.
February 25th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
@JS It is now my lifes goal to have one of those….
Also, Happy Belated/Accual/Early Birthday to all. (Just turned 19 :])
February 25th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
@kitsunekage — Cool. If 19’s legal in Yukon, go lose your booze-cherry with a chocolate monkey! But don’t eat yellow snow cones. :)
February 25th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
They knew they were effed when they saw him. XD
February 25th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
I’m making a FB report, I’ve found the more people that report something, the more likely a website’s moderators are to take action to fix a problem. It may take more to get them to take it off their bussiness site however… depending on their ethics.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Oh… looks like FB asks only the owner of the orginal image claim copyright infringment… I’d suggest you get on that if you haven’t.
February 25th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
@kitsunekage: CONGRAGULATIONS!!! You survived 19 years in this hell-hole known as Earth! You deserve all the Chocolate Monkeys you can stand and then some XD.
@JS: I just want to point out something. You’re avatar is hilariously intimidating especially when you debate or disagree with things. I can literally imagine Nerd staring at me saying my comeuppance will come and damning me to hell! Oh, and if the bears do get in trouble, it will be because Prozac or Tanked destroyed them.
February 25th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
@Blacky — Re, chocolate monkeys… I managed two when I was 19. Mind you, I didn’t have the sea legs I have now back then. Now I could drink a… pink rhinoceros! …Wait, let me rephrase that… :)
I could put up a different avatar… I’ve made a few. It’s just I dig on Nerd and that was a really interesting drawing of him. :)
February 25th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
@JS: Well, it takes a real man to wear (or in your case drink) pink so no need to rephrase. Better than drinking a purple rhino (I’m making this sound even worse).
Don’t worry about changing your avater [yet]. I literally meant it was hilarious on how intimidating it is coming from Nerd. I would be contradicting myself if I told you to change yours because to intimidation due to the fact I have a domestic terrorist as mine XD.
February 25th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
As Colleen said, VLA is pretty awesome. But also, you can go to Facebook and give them a DMCA take-down notice reporting the copyright infringement of the group. http://www.facebook.com/legal/copyright.php
At the very least, it should be relatively easy to keep your image from being on Facebook in that manner (compared to everything else). Good luck!
February 25th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
I’m not sure how long it takes for new avatars to show up, but I thought I’d try a new one. :)
February 26th, 2011 at 12:22 am
It’s adorable, JS. :D
February 26th, 2011 at 12:53 am
My best bet would be to see if you can talk to an actual lawyer if you really want to go that far.
Actually, I would first try to get in contact with that store first. If they’re not a big company then their designers are either close friends, family, or themselves. If e-mailing them isn’t working and they’re on facebook, you can still post on their wall. Make sure your original is dated, make sure you make it very clear that you do not appreciate art theft and that you will go through proper channels unless reparations are made. I would suggest they take your art down, and you offer to sell them something better if they really wanted your design that badly. Be polite in dealing with them and if they refuse and the stolen design does not come down, bring legal into it.
Deal with it on the lowest level possible first and don’t stop emailing, even if it bounces back. Also, save those emails. Get every bit of proof of the theft as you can.
Yeah, I sound a little hard core, but if you want them to stop using the image, this might be the best way to go about it, along with reporting to facebook. Though if they’re using the image elsewhere that won’t really solve anything except that now it’s off of facebook.
Also, like someone said before, start water marking. Or start doing like some artists in the past and do something small in each of your pictures that’s the same every time be it a signature worked into your piece or something else.
Sorry, got a friend who’s an artist and she’s really into catching art thieves and bringing them into the open. We’ll keep an out just in case some one else tries this again. Good luck.
February 26th, 2011 at 1:58 am
@ JS It is, and I’ve alread copied the recipe down, so I’m good to go!
@Blacky Blackerson I’m afraid That I don’t understand the refrence to your avatar, but if ya tell where it’s from, I can figure it out. I’ve always thought that it’s amusing when *you* debate ’cause it appears that one is often told off by a kid!
of course, I’ve got nothing going for mine, It looks like I’m ADH- oh! Shiny ball!
February 26th, 2011 at 6:19 am
@Nicole — Thank you, I worked so hard on it! LOL :D
February 26th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
bahhhh i can’t vote on woot, but if it gets chosen i will buy the you weren’t invited shirt. probably more than once.
February 26th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Lech and evil working together ? I know the world end next years (for the tupid peoples who don’t know how mayan calendar work), but why now ?
By the way, cats like to be liked by the house dog because it’s by friend/mommy. Never had a cat AND a dog ? They generally go far better than two cats.
February 26th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
I’ve thought of this for a while so I just going to say this. Chocolate Monkey sounds like an innuendo. I’ll just add it to the list along with Johnson, the Wet Bannana, Mr. Bucket, and 90% of the Animaniacs jokes.
@kitsunekage: The reference is from The Boondocks, an animated African-American show on Adult Swim (usually on Saturdays). It’s a hilarious show that won a Peabody, being one of the few animations to win this award (other two I believe were South Park and Animaniacs) and often parodies things like BET, Tyler Perry, etc. And thanks for the comment; if anyone over 17 ever gets told off by a kid, they need to rethink their lives.
@JS: Now you went from hilariously intimidating to me not even being able to take you seriously because of how awesomely funny Nerd looks. Then again, how is anyone supposed to take this comic seriously? I may change mine in a little bit since this domestic terrorist only has two days left before retirement.
February 26th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Hey, I´m Chilean, and it´s a shame to see art theft once again. It´s very common here to see company´s using stolen artwork. TV channels here use copyrighted music without permission, as soundtracks for their soap operas, series, etc…
I really hope you can make them change “their logo”.
Best of luck
February 26th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
VODKA.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:36 am
Also time for a name change, I think, along with the new avatar. :)
February 27th, 2011 at 2:03 am
Those silly bears and their ignoring the dangers of angering Prozac. It’s adorable. And Prozac look awesome angry for a second.
February 27th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I haven’t been able to decide — does Prozac ACTUALLY change size when he loses it, or it this just a depiction of the impression his rage creates in others? Panels 7 and 9 here make me wonder.
February 27th, 2011 at 11:19 pm
It looks like you have a chance to get TWO of your designs printed in the Derby, and if that happens it’d be a nice windfall for you. Good luck with the contest, and the twins.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:05 am
@Sterling: I think he does grow some.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:17 am
That’s just terrible. I can’t understand how they do this. Sure, you can enjoy someones work, but credits gotta go where credits due. Makes my blood boil. Went to their page and other fans aren’t very happy as well. Hope it all pans out!!