--- "Take a wild, friggin guess"
<a_change_of_plans_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> I recently received an e-mail from Second Ed
> stating that some of
> the folks who are buying my artwork from him are
> less than happy with
> the kind of paper it is being printed on now. For
> those of you who
> do not know, the paper I'm using for my folios costs
> about 45 bucks a
> ream, a cost which I have not passed on to either Ed
> or to the
> consumer. The paper is a very pale grey/offwhite
> stock which
> incorporates a certain safety feature: any attempt
> to scan or copy
> the image will result in the text "COPY COPY COPY"
> appearing all over
> the picture.
> Now, why did I decide to use that paper? Because
> of pathetic
> little shitbags who think it's totally okay to post
> unauthorized high-
> resolution scans of an artist's work online. People
> who run their
> little art-pirating sites are quickly becoming a
> weed that needs to
> be plucked.
> Having been the victim of such activities more
> times than I can
> count, I can honestly say I understand why some
> artists just pack up
> their bags and call it quits. And I won't lie,
> there were more than
> a few times when I was standing at that doorway
> myself. But I like
> what I draw, and (excluding those few pathetic
> ass-ticks who pirate
> stuff) I like the fandom and all the folks in it. I
> would feel it
> would be akin to a betrayal if I were to do
> something like calling it
> quits. That's not really what I want to do. But I
> have to do
> something to stem the illegal duplication and
> redistribution of my
> artwork.
> There seems to be a little clique in the fandom of
> folks who think
> they are entitled to furry artwork (or anything,
> really) simply
> because they want it. The only thing these
> individuals are entitled
> to is a mouthful of broken teeth. Obviously, they
> fail to realize
> that it takes a lot of time, effort and money to
> make a single
> drawing, let alone something as large as a
> portfolio. Those markers
> I use? Those sons-of-bitches are 4 bucks EACH. One
> marker may last
> as much as 3 pictures. Those pencils? A
> buck-twenty-five each. So
> if I need to stock up on, let's say, 20 pencils and
> 20 markers,
> that's about 110 dollars just for supplies (not
> including paper, ink
> pens, erasers, etcetera). Add that to the regular
> monthly bills, and
> the $430 worth of medicine I must now buy every
> month, and you can
> see why I might get a little miffed about someone
> posting
> unauthorized copies all over the place. I'm not
> made of money, and I
> haven't won the lottery. In fact, I filed Chapter 7
> bankruptcy back
> in December because of massive debt due to medical
> bills and loans.
> So obviously, greenbacks are not falling out of my
> ass.
> Now, some of these customers have stated they
> won't buy any more
> folios if I continue to print on the special paper.
> It's possible
> they don't know WHY I'm using that paper. That's
> definitely a
> possibility. I do not want to upset anyone, or lose
> any customers.
> But I also do not want to have art pirates posting
> high-resolution
> scans of brand-new material online. It's been
> several months since
> the Skunkworks Animated folio came out, and I
> haven't seen any
> unauthorized scans. Ditto with Better Mousetrap.
> I feel that if I back down and change back to
> standard stock, it
> will appear as if the entire situation is motivated
> by money. And
> it's not. I draw what I draw because I like to draw
> it. Plain and
> simple. Do I expect to become rich off drawing
> furry art? No.
> Would I still draw it even if I were no longer
> selling it or posting
> it? Yes. Do I want my artwork all over the place?
> Not really. And
> don't give me the "Well, if it's posted online, it's
> fair game"
> bullshit. That remark is gonna lead to a need for
> massive dental
> reconstruction.
> I do not have the money or the lawyers or whatever
> that folks like
> Jeremy Bernal have to go after art pirates.
> Personally, I'd prefer
> to beat those guilty of such activities with a lead
> pipe, but there
> are laws against that sort of thing. So I do the
> next best thing:
> make it as hard as possible for someone to illegally
> distribute my
> artwork. Stop them before they start, so to speak.
> Now, the only way someone would notice the special
> watermarking is
> if they tried to scan the pictures into their
> computer. Otherwise,
> the text is extremely faint. You have to be pretty
> much on top of
> the picture in order to even detect it. So maybe
> some of those folks
> were trying to make digital copies of the artwork.
> They sounds very
> legit. I know some people who do that, so I don't
> doubt the
> possibility. It's always a good idea to have a
> "back up copy".
> Unfortunately, there's no way to produce a kind of
> paper that will
> allow "legitimate copying" while stemming the flow
> of "illegal
> redistribution".
> So, in short, I'd like to know what you folks
> think about this
> situation. I can guarantee if I come out with
> another folio on
> standard stock, it's gonna be less than a month
> before it shows up
> online in it's entirety. And at this point in my
> life, I've had it
> with some of these 90-pound weaklings behaving as if
> they're 7 years
> old, hiding behind a computer screen and making it
> their life mission
> to make other people's lives a little more hellish.
> I'm pretty much
> at the point where I think these particular folks
> need to be stopped,
> and I don't much care about the method used.
> They're ripping off a
> lot of good people, and that just doesn't sit well
> with me.
> Again, your input on this would be very much
> appreciated. The copy-
> protected paper is the least troublesome method I
> could think of to
> keep things moving along at a nice smooth pace. If
> you have any
> other ideas, please post them here or e-mail me
> directly.
> Thanks for your time and for listening to me
> vent...
>
> --JMH, not willing to let "the other side" win...
>
I want to take a moment to applaud your determination
Mr. Hardiman. With everything that you have had to
put up with in your life, it would be a simple thing
to throw up your hands in disgust and say fuck it.
Chasing after people for copywright infringement is
just stupid and the simple step that you have taken to
protect your work is something that I appreciate as a
collector. I do have a suggestion for your future
published works.
Have you considered numbering your portfolios and
other works? Something along the lines of a number on
one of the front corners, perhaps next to a signature?
I'm not exactly sure how you might go about it, but
this would be a useful way to keep track of your
works. The item purchased could have the number
included as a part of the transaction reciept, leaving
a record. Then if that number were to show up
somewhere on the net in a place it should not be, the
piece of work could be traced directly back to it's
purchaser.
I hope this suggestion was usefull in some way. Thank
you Mr. Hardiman for not letting them get away with
stealing from you, every day, with every copy.
PS: Listen to Cheska, she's an overworked,
underappreciated uber bitch on Adultfurries and we all
love her dearly for it.
Michael Castricano
Ancientwurm on Adultfurries
Nox_Corax on Tapestries Muck and elswhere
Budding IT Technician and student member of the
International Systems Security Association, Portland Charter.
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Received on Thu Jan 19 2006 - 12:47:05 CST