Don't change the paper, man. Ten to one those people are complaining about the paper because they tried to scan it and found out what it does.
-Capt. Havoc
"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...
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Received on Thu Jan 19 2006 - 14:41:32 CST