Chinese Copyright Infringement: Published?

I've read something like this several times in the last few weeks, and I feel it's a great time to make use of our endless contact and information through the internet and work together:

I couldn't put it better, so the wording/links are taken from my friend Tom's blog - thanks, Tom.

Illustrator Luc Latulippe and the folks at the Little Chimp Society discovered a few weeks ago that a Chinese publisher stole content off the LCS website, namely interviews with artists including Latulippe and the artwork included, and published it translated in book format selling for $100. No kidding… a full book of “scraped” content complete with their illustrations. You can read the story about it here and here.

Of course there is little legal recourse here. I doubt China, that bastion of the upholding of human rights, is even part of the Berne convention of international copyright law… but even if they are this publisher used fake contact info and a fake ISBN, so finding them at all is going to be tough, let alone getting them into a court somewhere. Basically there are some places on the planet where you can do nothing about someone stealing your work… I’ve run across my artwork produced on postage stamps from South American and former USSR republics before and have basically no legal recourse.

Contacting the distributors and sellers of the book also yielded no results, as they refused to stop selling it.

Well, Latulippe decided not to take this lying down, so he called for a grass roots “spread the word” campaign to let people know what this was about and hopefully damage the reputations of the parties involved or at least cause a few less sales for them. The good news is that it has yielded some results. At least one of the resellers, Index Books, has agreed to stop selling it and has sent the remaining copies back to the distributor. Hopefully more of such action will follow.

So, here is [my] contribution to the cause in the form of links to increase their search engine ranking. Good luck guys, and keep fighting the good fight.

*Thanks to Cedric Honstadt and Tom Richmond.

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Here we go again...

Here's a unique level of dirty politics - abusing art:

In case you missed the latest news, you can read here on MSNBC how a well-known McCain 'hater' (possibly others) is using a flier sent to more than 80 newspapers in South Carolina to send a negative message about the beliefs and history of Senator John McCain, a Republican presidential candidate. A few of you might also recognize the art. It is a drawing that I completed while passing time at Sea World in 2005, posted on(and eventually taken directly from) THIS blog back in 2006:

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This is a clear violation of copyright. The image was chopped up and used without my concent, while the only changes are the re-tracing of the linework, minimal distortion in the eyes, and the cropping of the jowls to cut the size of the jaw and neck:

It's amazing how some individuals assume they can steal artwork and misrepresent someone with their dirty message. A mildly edited EXACT version of my drawing, stolen right here from my blog and used for negative political campaigning. It's quite sad.

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Lincoln Plagiarism: Moot

About a year ago I addressed this issue. If you didn't read it I can recap the whole thing very quickly:

• I did a drawing.
• I posted it online.
• Someone traced it and published it.
• I found out.
• The offender denied it.

*Here is a visual comparison; my image mirrored on the
left, sliding over the published illustration on the right.

So over the course of several months, I was communicating with the editor of the paper where this employee works, trying to come to (what was promised to be) an amicable solution. To keep it simple, I can tell you that it was not amicable, but the issue is over.

After emails, talks, discussions with lawyers, a phone call harassment from a husband and many weeks in between conversations (seemingly stalling the discussion), I decided to drop the issue. Last month I communicated this to the person in charge, on the publication's end.

I did this for three reasons:

1. The person in charge of this "investigation" apparently had very little knowledge about the logistics in this situation, making it very difficult to convey the seriousness, validity and obvious nature of the charge, as well as the proper solution. I was facing a 50 ft. brick wall that was saying, "I don't understand why you can't just walk over me?" - in as purely sincere a way as possible. He is really a genuine individual and I didn't want to get heated with him.

2. In my opinion, I was past an implied statute of limitations. By that I mean the matter had been stalled for too long by the employer of the offending party, as well as my delay in obtaining a lawyer to handle the situation. My defaulting to honesty and trust was a flaw in this particular situation. While I trust it overall in my life (HONESTY, INTEGRITY and ACCOUNTABILITY), it doesn't seem to convince anyone of a 'crime'.

3. I learned from my good friend Tom that this particular case doesn't really matter in the long run. Jennifer Boressen is in no way ruining my career, stalling my work ethic, obstructing future jobs or hurting me directly. An argument can be made the opposite, sure, but in this case, I learned more than I achieved. I will have to pick my battles, and much like the person on the city sidewalk printing my caricatures for their $5 charcoal sketches, it doesn't hurt me as much as it hurts them. I am somewhat a believer in karma and I feel that I need to worry only about myself and I'll be fine.

So yes, it is over and I had nothing admitted to me. I was assured that the issue was not taken lightly. Supposedly actions were taken in the workplace and "...a discussion has arose that will not soon go away." I've spoken with this editor quite a bit and gotten to know him as an individual and I feel he is sincere.

--- NOW ---

Although I treaded lightly this time, I have learned a lot. I have also already begun to legally copyright ALL of my own artwork as well as contact a lawyer for future cases of plagiarism or theft. Next time I know how to handle it and have decided that while I attempted to trust honesty this time, next time I probably won't be so nice. I'm not out to get anyone's head on a platter, but if someone steals, I will try to them accountable for it legally and financially (if reasonable and fitting).

I want to say that I appreciate all the support I got on this issue, and I don't intend to let it lay next time. It's great to know there are so many artists watching each others' backs, and that community is what really matters. I want to thank my buddy Mike Briggs in Worcester MA for the heads-up on this one. I owe him a beer!

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