Beware: Pyroscale, impersonator/Thief

[pyxaron.livejournal.com]

I know impersonation and unauthorized use of character is not the usual thing to be posted here, but i think this situation has gone far enough to require it.



WHO: Pyroscale, also using "PyxaronAD", "Pyxaron_Draptor", "Pyxaron_the_draptor" and other variations of my name. Goes by the name "Jonathan Tremblay" on facebook, paypal and some other sites, but i have no idea if that name is a fake or not, as it is a bit of a "John Smith" name here.

WHERE:

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/pyroscale/ (NSFW content)
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/pyxaronAD/ (now banned)
https://pyroscale.sofurry.com/ (NSFW content)
https://inkbunny.net/Pyroscale (NSFW content)
http://profile.aryion.com/profile/Pyxaron_draptor (NSFW content)
User "Pyxaron_the_draptor" on Skype.

WHAT: This person has been, under his own name or using new accounts with name similar to mine, been commissioning pictures involving my character, and claiming ownership of my character. He's been using a copy of my refsheet with the name removed ( http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h448/Pyroscale/draptor_refsheet_resized_zps5c2b79fd.jpg ) to do so, and using various accounts with a name similar to mine to contact artists. Most of the commissions posted on FA involving my character that weren't authorized have been taken down, but i keep regularly getting news of pictures involving my character being drawn or uploaded. Many other characters have also been involved in those pictures without consent, or while unaware of what the picture would actually be.

WHEN: This has started over a year ago, trouble tickets were opened last year on FA and still are being opened there and on various other sites as things are discovered.

PROOF: Most of the art has been taken down from FA, but some remain on other sites. A good example would be ( http://profile.aryion.com/profile/Pyxaron_draptor ) as well as ( http://profile.aryion.com/profile/Pyroscale ) and his sofurry and inkbunny account listed above.

EXPLAIN: The person in question simply continues to contact artists to commission them some "gift art" involving my character in some sexual or vore-related situation, asking it to be kept a secret not to ruin the surprise. Alternatively, he will contact them using an account with a name similar to mine, claiming it to be my "adult account", asking to commission once again pictures involving my character.

I've been doing my best to contact artists in time to get those pictures cancelled, or admins to get the pictures taken down from his own galleries, once made aware of them.

I'm posting this in hope of making people aware of the situation, and keep more of those unwanted pictures involving my character from being drawn.

My own FA, as reference, is https://www.furaffinity.net/user/pyxaron/ and my refsheet is here; https://www.furaffinity.net/view/1065698/ and was originally drawn by Rah-Bop and uploaded to DA here: http://rah-bop.deviantart.com/art/Pyxaron-refsheet-67579636 if this might help establish the ownership of the character.

Comments

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

A small suggestion if you can? Change the title/subject of your post to something like "Beware: Pyroscale, Imperonator/Thief". Its more eye catching and the memory of the beware will stick in the minds of our members A LOT better, which for something like this you'd want.

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

I agree.

[pyxaron.livejournal.com]

Sure, and done.

[draekaar draconigenae (from livejournal.com)]

Small typo, need an s in "impersonator"

[tartii.livejournal.com]

I heard about this, and I am so sorry to hear that it is still on-going. I hope he will be perma-banned because this sort of behavior is ludicrous.
I'm very glad to see you made a beware, and I hope things get better for you.

I've also heard some...other things that make what he does even WORSE, and something I can fully relate to, so I wish you strength and the very best.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I felt as though this had been posted about before?

I did his ref sheet, and he was pretty easy to work with, but I'm also kinda creeped out he's commissioning smut with your character against your will. My rules to help prevent me from getting used by someone like this are fairly strict, and people have whined that it ruins the surprise if they wanna commission me for a picture with a friend, but it's totally worth it to help prevent this sort of thing.

You have my sympathy.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Also I've noticed he uploaded my art to Inkbunny, which I do not allow. Ugh =_=

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

You can legally request it be removed. Although when I asked mods there they told me that I had to ask the people that posted it to remove it. So you might be out of luck.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Asking the person? Really? When what... 95% of furries think they "own" the commission, and more than likely would balk and throw a snitfit at the request?

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

Exactly this. I even threatened a DMCA and they finally said that anyone who refused to remove it, they'd take it down. One of the reasons I refuse to allow commissioners to post things there.

95% of the people I asked pulled the 'I PAID FOR IT I OWN IT' thing and refused to remove them.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

I've noticed IB admins seem to be pretty afraid of confrontation. It's not a good trait to have when you're supposed to be enforcing rules.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

One of the Inkybunny mods removed my art after verifying it was me, so that's nice.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I filed a Support Ticket, but gonna send Dreamhost a proper DMCA if they dig their heels in.

[spyral-out.livejournal.com]

Mmm. It's a good idea to have a rule for that. I should add that policy to my ToS.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I have the whole shebang here if you're curious: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3611704/

[spyral-out.livejournal.com]

That's a good, thorough, and succinct TOS. I thought mine covered most things, but I might swipe a couple of your ideas for it, if that would be alright. :)

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Please, feel free.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

I heard about this some time ago. I am very sorry this is happening to you man, I saw the meat of it and it's just disgusting behavior.

[intj-reflection.livejournal.com]

Wow. Will definitely watch for him.

That aryion profile is just upsetting. Not only using your artwork to set up a kink RP profile on a website, but using your FA/Skype contact info on it instead of his modified ones?

Ngh. Just no.

[kilroyfirelizrd.livejournal.com]

Oh lord, he's still pulling this? I hope word keeps getting around until he can't find anyone able to indulge him in this sick game of his.

[china-kitty.livejournal.com]

I could relate to having someone doing this to me as well, so I sympathize.

That was very disgusting behavior that he impersonated you in order to get "gift art."

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could make some sort of notice that you can post on your page and maybe others can help circulate it for you? Something saying that you will only contact artists from (x) email address or (x) fa account, etc and that if contact/payment comes from anyone else but these listed forms of contact that it is not you and that they do not have permission to use your character. I would also list your chars and their refs so that all information is available in one place. Make it your journal on fa and make sure it is readily viewable to others.

[nakoothetauren.livejournal.com]

If someone was vial about this kind of thing they could Spoof the email that the OP post in something like that to make the commission request seem legit.

I am not sure how the OP could go about this? Perhaps note in his profile or any image locations of his character if an artist gets a request to draw his character the contact his FA or some such.
Eg in fa substitution of his character say something like
"Have you been commissioned to draw this character? Contact me it could be a fake" -shrug.-

[pyxaron.livejournal.com]

I already have a mention on my FA saying:

"If anyone is asking you to draw a commission with my character in it, please check if they have my permission to use my character. If said commission has adult-rated content, it is safe to assume that they do not have it. I love gift art from good friends, but i hate getting unwanted images from someone with a weird obsession."

But the problem is that that individual has the habit of uploading a copy of my reference sheet on various sites (photobucket, fake FA accounts, forums, etc) with my name and contact info erased, so the artists often don't find out that the character is mine until people point it out in comments on their submission.

Adding warnings to my FA and other sites only had the effect of making him take steps to make sure that the artist would not come in contact with the real me and find out what's up.

[draekaar draconigenae (from livejournal.com)]

Good on you to finally put a post about that guy ... I'm sorry it ended up coming to that, in the end, but I REALLY hope it means a lot more artists will be aware of the situation with a quick skim

*hugs lots* I'll try to spread the word among people I know, too :)

[dragontripmon.livejournal.com]

I am wondering has anyone read this yet considering how disturbing this user is. http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4512027/ I definitely see this beware as warranted.

[lackoflollies.livejournal.com]

Oh.... my.. god.

[novemb3r.livejournal.com]

well that's just... disturbing. i'm so sorry to hear about all this, OP.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

It might be against FA's... policies or whatever, but I really think they need to step up and do something about this now. As the last commentor said, it's starting to get confusing as to whether this guy is obsessed with the CHARACTER or the INDIVIDUAL behind the character.

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

You could always put in a ticket! It looks like some action has already been taken against the account, but I'm not sure that journal would be enough to be another strike with the current harassment verbage.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I don't even know how I'd go about doing that. I mean, physically I know how to submit a trouble ticket and all that, but I don't know what I'd put into it to explain the creepy vibe I'm getting from this guy. :/

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I mean by the problematic text. You could always just say something like "As you guys know from his history, he's been a stalker. Does this count?" and see what happens?

[dragontripmon.livejournal.com]

Journal is deleted and the account is suspended.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I did wind up reporting it and they said they would deal with pyroscale, so I guess this is what they chose to do!

[mottenfest.livejournal.com]

I've also had issues with people using my characters for unwanted commissions before, so I can definitely relate. I'm sorry this is happening to you too. I wish there was a better way to prevent it. :/

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be screening this post as it names those without any proof. If you would like to create your own beware, you can find all the pertinent information on our profile page.

[christykitsune.livejournal.com]

What if the names are removed then?

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

If you'd like to post another comment giving your support, that's fine. We just can't have people being accused in comments.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Adding a note to this post; I learned that Pyroscale has been trying to sell his character for about a year, saying that "You would Get the Rights to All the Art".

As the artist who did his ref sheet, I want to make a public note that no, you do not automatically get rights to my artwork if you buy the character from him. And that might also go for many of the other artists.

Do not pay for artwork when someone is selling a character design, more often than not they do not have the rights and cannot transfer these to you.