Wow, what an asshole. Unfortunately, as Juxtapoz mag put it:
"Copyright and intellectual property laws are nebulous, legal representation is rarely free, plus filing a lawsuit and seeing it through is a huge burden on people just trying to live their lives"
In other words, if somebody steals your art, you're more or less screwed.
Incidentally, re your work, you might be interested to know that you don't really have any intellectual property rights unless you've taken active steps to preserve them. It's true that being the creator of an artwork theoretically gives you certain common-law rights, but they will not stand up in court without formal proof of a copyright application. To quote from an art marketing book I have:
"If you don't file copyright formally in the Copyright Office in Washington, DC, you cannot sue someone for infringing the copyright." (Emphasis added by me.) -Art Marketing 101, a handbook for the fine artist, ArtNetwork, 2003
It's important to know that if you plan on creating something that you might want to market someday!
Excellent :) Dunno if you've decided to sue (it is a lot of hassle and time) but I hope you let us know!
I figure I'll just do what I can to make trouble and hurt sales (without giving negative publicity Todd Goldman apparently enjoys). If this poostorm isn't over by april 28th (and from how Todd's acting, I somewhat doubt it...) I'll bring fliers to give away at SPACE :D
However, it's my understanding - from what I've read and from speaking to a professional illustrator who I know - that to actually enforce a copyright you have to have proof that YOU created the concept, and that you created the concept BEFORE the person who plagiarized your concept did their work; and that without a formal copyright to provide such proof most lawyers wouldn't even take the case for you.
"Copyright and intellectual property laws are nebulous, legal representation is rarely free, plus filing a lawsuit and seeing it through is a huge burden on people just trying to live their lives"
In other words, if somebody steals your art, you're more or less screwed.
Incidentally, re your work, you might be interested to know that you don't really have any intellectual property rights unless you've taken active steps to preserve them. It's true that being the creator of an artwork theoretically gives you certain common-law rights, but they will not stand up in court without formal proof of a copyright application. To quote from an art marketing book I have:
"If you don't file copyright formally in the Copyright Office in Washington, DC, you cannot sue someone for infringing the copyright." (Emphasis added by me.)
-Art Marketing 101, a handbook for the fine artist, ArtNetwork, 2003
It's important to know that if you plan on creating something that you might want to market someday!
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Although unless someone pulls a Goldman (making hundreds/thousands off a direct copy of my art) I wouldn't much care...
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I figure I'll just do what I can to make trouble and hurt sales (without giving negative publicity Todd Goldman apparently enjoys). If this poostorm isn't over by april 28th (and from how Todd's acting, I somewhat doubt it...) I'll bring fliers to give away at SPACE :D
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There's no veil to the plagiarism here, it's a blatant ripoff.
What a shithead!
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However, it's my understanding - from what I've read and from speaking to a professional illustrator who I know - that to actually enforce a copyright you have to have proof that YOU created the concept, and that you created the concept BEFORE the person who plagiarized your concept did their work; and that without a formal copyright to provide such proof most lawyers wouldn't even take the case for you.
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