BEWARE: xminefieldx

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

WHO: xminefieldx http://www.furaffinity.net/user/xminefieldx/ and http://www.neopets.com/~danged#pg1

WHERE: http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Corgion [ Traced work and trades of said character] and  http://www.neopets.com/~danged#pg1 [source of images created by xminefieldx in order to process trades with others]

WHAT: Stolen/Ripped Off Character[s] and Traced Work mostly [traditional work thats scanned]

WHEN: Started Feb 28th and has still yet to be resolved [ Edit: artwork has been taken down from said sites 4/6/2013 ]

PROOF:

My character: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6220005/

"Their" character: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/WwCheshireWolfwW/xmindfieldx/gb7GB_zps35b0cde0.png
Traced Work It came from: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7863899/

"Their" Work: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/WwCheshireWolfwW/xmindfieldx/PsCGv_zpsf5aa739e.png
Traced Work: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8643546/

Im sure on their portfolio site the other images are traced from other artists but I'm unsure of which or I dont have the links to the original work.

EXPLAIN: February 28th, 2013 04:23 I sent a note to an artist on FA who drew a picture of what looked like my character, Cheshire. I noticed that the commission was done for someone by the name of xminefieldx. Unsure of how to handle the situation I contacted the artist to inquire on how they came about to drawing that character because it looks almost exactly like mine. I was provided this link. http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Corgion ; Upset about the situation I sent a note to xminefieldx. It took some time to receive a response but here is the first set of conversations I had with them.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3611006/First%20Conversation.png

They took down all the work on the neopets page right after their last note to me.

 March 12th, 2013 06:56 I send out another note to xminefieldx as I find another artist had drawn and posted the same character xminefieldx had acknowledged  the immoral use of the stolen character.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3611006/Second%20Conversation.png

They claimed that this was the last commission floating out there but...

March 22nd, 2013 I accidentally clicked a bookmarked link to xminefieldx's neopets page just to find all the work that was promised to be taken down was now back up. Again upset about it all I decided to search about. I found their direct user name http://www.neopets.com/userlookup.phtml?user=fawxii and noticed they posted link to their art and for trades.

This brought me to this page: http://www.neopets.com/~danged#pg1

Once again my "character" is not only up there but it appears that xminefieldx has been drawing the traced work all along and not some friend of theirs. I noticed some of the work here as direct traces with minor alterations and some of pieces I do not know if they belong to anyone else but since all the styles are different I can only assume each of those was taken from several artists. All of those have copy write notes to xminefieldx with no credit given to the original artist work.

Note: I left the artist that created the commissons for xminefieldx out because I want to keep their names in good sake since I believe they were as much in the dark as I was. This is also my first post here. I hope provided enough detail and alow people to be aware of xminefieldx's ripped off goods. Its possible that trades they have done with other people are just as much as a rip off as the trace of my character and SqueedgeMonsters's art. I also contacted Neopets and I'm waiting for a reply.




Edit 4/3/2013:

Updated List of Tracing

Original: http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Halloween-2006-42077894
Trace: http://i.imgur.com/GojxF.png

Original: http://likeshine.deviantart.com/art/proud-12403928?q=gallery%3Alikeshine%2F33114000&qo=38
Trace: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/WwCheshireWolfwW/xmindfieldx/xtz9O_zpsa4291798.jpg

Original:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4899627/
Trace: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/WwCheshireWolfwW/media/xmindfieldx/KMlEl_zps22f14c3c.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Contest Submissions On Neopets Beauty Contest

Source: Neopets and ranlur
Traced from Likeshines work. Link Above

http://upload.neopets.com/beauty/images/winners/Ywiv-2012-08-03.jpg
http://upload.neopets.com/beauty/images/winners/Ywiv-2012-06-01.jpg
http://upload.neopets.com/beauty/images/winners/Ywiv-2011-09-23.gif


Apirl 3, 2013 5:58PM:  Artwork has been taken down from here http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Corgion


Edit: 4/6/2013

"Porfolio" Update

Site: http://www.neopets.com/~danged

All of their work has been taken down. Default pages are now up. Still no word from xminefieldx. I don't really expect anything more to happen from this point on but I will keep updating as necessary.

Comments

(frozen)

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

NOTICE! This post is a little different from our usual fare, but after much discussion, we've decided to approve it. If you are unsure as to why we've approved this post, please PM one of us directly to discuss it instead of commenting here, which would be breaking our rules, thank you!

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already, I'd contact all the artists you can identify/are involved with this and tell them that they are either A) posting work of a stolen character design or B) being stolen from, since it seems that this xminefieldx character doesn't see the issue with this situation...

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

I talked to some of them and they were sorry/and unaware. The work is done and I can't reverse that...and I have no anger towards the artist.

Im just kinda unhappy that minefield "acknowledge" the stolen work. Art or character design and still put his work back up.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Yep, I completely understand! It's not the artists' fault in any regards, but they should be notified especially if they're being traced from.

[mekania.livejournal.com]

While I believe it's unethical to copy someone's character to that degree, ideas are not protected by copyright and thus not illegal like you told him. If he wasn't explicitly copying a picture drawn of your character with his you probably wouldn't even consider them the same if you saw say http://www.furaffinity.net/full/9996088/ this image floating around. I know you know he was inspired by your because of the trace but my advice would be to let it go. The markings/colors/piercings are different enough from yours so that as long as he stops using the traced image there shouldn't be any confusion between the two.

You should definitely contact the artists who he traced from and let them handle getting take down notices wherever the art is posted. Provide them with any gallery links you can.

Edited for a little clarification

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

I agree with this. The tracing is an issue but the characters aren't similar enough to me for them to be an exact rip. Yeah, it's obviously based off the OP's character, but you can't really copyright black and green dog people.
Additionally you can't just claim your character is copyrighted... you have to actually have a copyright :P

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Its honestly more of a trademark issue than a copyright one. If they want 'black and toxic green dog people' to belong to them, they'd need to go through the process of trademark, proving their intentions of using the character's image as something they'll use in a business plan/etc...

We all do the 'So so (c) to me no steal' but it holds about as much water as an ice cube on a mirror in Death Valley.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Same wavelength, different protection

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

He added, piercing and fluff on a tail end as well as a bio hazard marking on the chest.

100% Anatomy, markings, colors and structure are all cheshire as shown from the trace. I just dont feel like it was enough of a change because lets say I decided to upgrade chesh to have those items people would say "Hey chesh, you got some tattoos and metal in you now". The tail isnt fluffy anymore due to Sqeedgemonsters style.

If it was enough of a change I wouldn't have bothered with this. Or writing to him. He directly traced over sqeedges art to replicate the design. I don't feel like he was inspired by it...trust me I've seen tons of neon green/black dogs. Long ears, manes or long tails....but they didn't have 99% of the design as my character.

At first I was really upset about it all. It took a while to let it go because its possible that this person is 12. The main reason for my post was to inform people because he is conducting trades with people using "stolen/traced" art. Which very well may be that all the art someone receives is just as much stolen.

[zippiner.livejournal.com]

I can point out another source of a traced image in the gallery:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4899627/

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

I don't know how it works over on Neopets but have you contacted the staff there?

[norsepaw.livejournal.com]

Its much more easier to report if they are in a beauty contest, but I think if you go to the help page on neopets there is a link to submit a ticket like you do on FA.

[ratrina.livejournal.com]

Original: http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Halloween-2006-42077894
Trace: http://i.imgur.com/GojxF.png
(trace located on http://www.neopets.com/~danged#pg1 )

Definitely tracing going on here.

[ranlur.livejournal.com]

Neopets usually takes art theft pretty seriously. A simple report will result in the page being wiped clean (and probably a warning to the user). If they put it all back up after that, their account will probably be frozen.

I will report for you if you don't have an account.

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

I reported it. Though I am not sure I did it right...because it doesn't seem like they are taking the situation seriously nor have I received an email yet.

[ranlur.livejournal.com]

I sent another one in just in case.

You shouldn't receive an email if you sent in a report against a user--reports are generally looked into fairly quickly (though only during business hours).

Disclaimer: At least, they were when I was pretty active.

Meanwhile trouble tickets are hit/miss. I've sent some in that weren't looked at for months, and when they finally were I just got some automated e-mail back that didn't say anything useful or even pertinent to my question.

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it

[likeshine.livejournal.com]

o hay
edit: sorry, posted too soon.

there is a trace of my work in their gallery. lame :p

original:
http://likeshine.deviantart.com/art/proud-12403928?q=gallery%3Alikeshine%2F33114000&qo=38

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

:[ I'm sorry

[ranlur.livejournal.com]

Not only that but his eyrie has gotten three BC trophies from that traced image. :p

http://upload.neopets.com/beauty/images/winners/Ywiv-2012-08-03.jpg
http://upload.neopets.com/beauty/images/winners/Ywiv-2012-06-01.jpg
http://upload.neopets.com/beauty/images/winners/Ywiv-2011-09-23.gif

Reported those. Hopefully the trophies will be revoked and the artwork removed.

[cat-claw-fever.livejournal.com]

I really want to know who the artists of some of the originals are...

[fetuspup.livejournal.com]

I will update with a list provided thus far, later.

Edit: Updated with more info. including those links

[zrcalo.livejournal.com]

A few of them look like a friend of mine's ... she's a well known artist on neopets, so I'll message her. Unfortunately, she doesnt keep all her artwork up and she's constantly taking it down so I'll ask her if she sees anything.

[ranlur.livejournal.com]

neopets.com/~Danged has been reset to default. I'm assuming neopets did it as the user has not logged onto that account for three days.

Nothing on the beauty contest wins yet, though.