Thread: Possible art theft

I have been watching this thread all day, wondering if I should mention my suspicions or if it would sound paranoid/melodramatic. I thought that some images on the forum were not visible to people who had not registered as members, and therefore the culprit in this instance might be a member. Schwarzkreuz has now mentioned this possibility too, which I think makes it seem even more likely. So many people seem to join, and then never post again.

I still regard myself as fairly new, so I don't know if that's been a long-term trend here, but is there any way to find out? Has anyone registered with the name 'Sarthony' on the Cartographers Guild? I don't know how frequently this stuff happens, but, like Vellum, the possibility of it happening ****es me off. Is there anything that the CG can do about these matters?

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, Schwarz. Hope things pick up soon for you.

Such a behaviour is simply not acceptable. This here is such a great community, always friendly, always helpfull... one of the best places on the web I have ever found (and of course the mappiest). So many people post their works of art here, and many are freely sharing their stuff.

To steal it, claim it as your own and sell it is not only a crime - it is a grave insult to the artist and the whole community.

I think what happened should make CG think about what can be done about the pictures we post and share. I'm scared that some of us would stop to share their works regarding some stupid and unkindly behaviours like we just saw :/

LOL Diamond -

Originally Posted by Diamond

he created such a sh!tstorm on that person's DA page

Now there's something to map!

Glad you did catch this guy though. There isn't much that makes me as angry as does a thief.

Hey if your a member here and the one that stole Schwarzkreuz' brushes you are truly incredibly stupid to think we wouldn't recognize each other's work. I think I'll go steal torstan's iconic island maps and sell them on that site, no one will notice for sure as our work is sooooo much alike (real sarcasm here!!). Personaly I think Arcana should publicly expose the member here if there is positive proof it was a member.

Originally Posted by - Max -

I think what happened should make CG think about what can be done about the pictures we post and share. I'm scared that some of us would stop to share their works regarding some stupid and unkindly behaviors like we just saw :/

While frustrating that someone attempts to make a dime off of one of us it could be thought of as a kind of advertising expense.
I was very concerned about this type of thing when I started posting stuff on the internet myself. (Not that I'm making stuff that's easily stolen or arguably worth stealing but...)

I decided I had a choice to either draw for myself and keep it to myself and those few of my friends who cared to look at it or I could expose my work to the universe knowing there would be some folks who might steal it on occasion. Now, I have no way of knowing if anything has been stolen but I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later and I'll probably be right hacked off about it. I saw a guy shoplift right in front of me the other day at a store and I wanted to rip his head off. What I do know is that due to my posting stuff I have received several commissions that have been from paying customers. Commissions that would never have happened otherwise. I also feel like my best work is yet to come so basically, I have chosen to look at it as an advertising expense and that helps to soften the pain.

Now, in regards to this guy we are posting about, what a jackwagon! Obviously Schwarzkreuz deserves compensation if only for the principle of it. Maybe the website who allowed this to be posted would be willing to post a link to his website or else here for a period of time equivalent to the amount lost which might bring in some benefit to Schwarzkreuz? I certainly hope they banned the guy who was selling stuff from there but I imagine (especially if they were getting a cut) they are only sorry they got caught.

Originally Posted by - Max -

I think what happened should make CG think about what can be done about the pictures we post and share. I'm scared that some of us would stop to share their works regarding some stupid and unkindly behaviours like we just saw :/

I don't know. If I post something on the Internet it's with the full knowledge that it might be taken and used in a way I don't care for without my permission. If I catch somebody doing it then I'll certainly be mad and try to do something about it. BUT...this isn't my major line of work. I might make a couple of grand each year from making maps, and that's being paid for complete maps. If I was making brushes and textures or something like that and I wanted to sell them I would never release hi-res versions of them onto the broader Internet. They will almost certainly be taken!
M

An advert for these brushes by Sarthony remains up at Deviant Art: sarthony on deviantART

I expect she's ripping off everyone and making brushes from everyone's work. So stupid.