Intellectual Property and Copyright Theft In Our Industry.

Cpt,

I dont' care what ANYONE else has to say, I respect you for pointing stuff like this out. If someone walked into THIS guy's shop and stole a bunch of his material I'm guessing he would be livid. But it's ok for him to steal someone elses materials....

Nope.


Gary

 

People use Google Images as their photo source every day. Half the stuff you see on wraps on this site can be rounded up if you do an image search long enough. It's become almost commonplace for me to get artwork from clients with Corbis or istockphoto watermarks on them or poorly photoshopped out.

While you're at it ask how many people have commercial rights to all of their fonts? If you look at the EULA on lots of free fonts they're free for personal use but cost for commercial use.

It's just going to become a bigger and bigger problem. The idea of Copyright law and intellectual property are laughed at by most people and not even considered stealing. I know PREACHERS who don't think anything about using Limewire to download music. Stealing something physical people can understand, stealing something digital is beyond most people's grasp.

 

great post cpt. i am also disappointed that the before mentioned post was deleted...

there was material in that thread that was of benefit to many members. obviously the op didn't like the responses that he received but if a post is deleted because the op doesnt like the direction the discussion has gone, well, that is disappointing.

the majority of the responses explained why they did not feel the design was effective and why they would not utilize the products/services of the person sporting that particular advertisement...there is tremendous value in those replies, in my opinion.

 

Yes it's unfortunate but also unavoidable. Signs 101 is totally opposed to the use of copyrighted work obtained illegally. Once it was established that the work displayed included infringements, the thread was removed.

I have also spent half my morning answering emails from Mr. Freeman. He is very upset about how the photo was used considering the actual nature of the photo and the human misery it represents.

 

Cptcorn, where in Minnesota are you? I am in Willmar, which is about 2 hours east of the cities on hwy 12. I am just curious.

I was reading that post as it was happening. How did you find that pic and make the match like that so fast. I agree with your views on copyright. You have to watch as your looking for stuff as it is easy to be searching for what you need and use what you need. Which is why I have gotten into photography over the last couple of years to be able to take my own photos. Then you don't have to worry about using someone else's stuff improperly.

Keeping this info out there will hopefully make people think about what they are doing more.

 

i've been using http://www.tineye.com/ to check against questionable artwork customers provide me. the database is not very big yet.

it's not just professionals, the world as a whole seem to believe all the internetz is under the creative commons license.

 

Why is he contacting you, Fred? I'm just curious, I would think he'd be contacting the person who used the photo.

 

I had already deleted the thread Pat and Mr. Freeman couldn't access it...

 

Wow Capt - you have always maintained a pretty solid and outspoken stance against pirated art work and I commend you for that. But this is some incredible detective work. I wish I would have been able to follow the thread yesterday.

Curious - how did Mr. Freeman discover the misuse?

 

was wondering the same thing, although it doesn't much matter

 

It was reported to Mr. Freeman by an anonymous person who viewed the thread.

 

Fred we are all responsible for the decisions we make. If the OP chose to steal content and use it for his own gain...well we are all professionals and he made his choice(s).

I am trying to find a way to ask my next question in the way it is meant. To me I don't understand why the thread was deleted. He knew he stole the content and to me it seems like the forum is protecting those people by deleting the thread because of how he obtained the content he choose to cut corners and steal artwork versus purchasing it like the rest of us...why is this any different than the posts we see about people printing copyrighted material for clients valve covers or video game advertisments for wallpaper? when those people have in many cases blatantly admitted they had no authorization to print said content?

 

The main difference is monetary gain I believe...

 

I'm not defending this guy, but doesn't he have a provision under fair use to create new unique works of art.

 

He found the image through Google Image Search, he didn't buy the rights to the use the photo...

 

Our policy is not to provide a venue for anything that includes copyright infringement. That prevents any notion of a seal of approval from Signs 101 on such behavior and it also reduces liability exposure for Signs 101.

It should be understood that at the current level of member activity, it is impossible to read every post or recognize every situation. If such posts are reported, they will be reviewed and acted upon. We receive reports from less members than my total fingers and thumbs on my two hands. Evidently most don't know, or don't care, or somehow think it's worse to be a "rat" than to protect our community and support intellectual property rights.

 

No one has the right to create derivative works without first obtaining the right to do so. One can be inspired by another's work and create their own from scratch. One cannot simply copy, paste and position someone else's work and claim it as their own.

 

It seems like have nabbed yet another stupid person, but as Dan has mentioned... I have no idea of what happened or if the perpetrator was indeed a member here. It might've been mentioned in the articles, and I over looked it, but is the OP or whomever posted the stolen artwork still a member here ??

Since such good detective work was done by one of our members... I would like to extend a well meant 'Thank You' to him and possibly even suggest something for his efforts somehow.

I'm sure cpt is not looking or seeking any returns for his work, but I believe he has achieved quite a goal here red handedly.




Anyway.... three hip-hip-hoorah's for cpt in the meantime.