Stolen art by User Rhomana

[kengi103.livejournal.com]

Well this is the first time I have ever had to post something negative.  I thank my mate for helping me steer clear of  less that reputable artists.  However this time its artwork I have made on FurAffinity has been stolen by the user Rhomana and uploaded as her own work.  Now I know my work is Pixel art using perler beads.  I have asked and gotten permission from artists on Deviant Art to use.  there are also other works Original to me that I have made shes stolen and then uploaded herself.  I have sent out Trouble Ticket work one of the works has been taken down by FA staff.  however the rest I will post up here has not.  Also shes not even asked to use it if she would have its fine to use just ask first.
here is my work that I posted up.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3717946/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3403711/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3953376/
and here is the same work taken without a flash and ripped off from me.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4267241/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4133353/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4038856/

I understand in the main case I don't own Inuyasha characters however the design is Original to me to perler bead them in partial chibi form.
I just want people to be aware of this  that if shes stolen this work she might do it to others.

Comments

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

I'm a little unclear on what's going on here. She's taken photos of sprites made by you, and uploaded those same photos? But they don't seem to be the same photos. So is she using her own beads, and making sprites of her own?

I'll admit they seem to be the same sprites, but particularly in the case of the Terra sprite... it's a game sprite. How is it yours? I've made some of those same game sprites, without ever having seen your sprites. How do you know she's ripping off yours, when she's posting sprites that are pixel by pixel from a game that you don't own.

Edit: And following her link giving credit to the original creator of the InuYasha sprite in question, I don't see you. I see somebody which YOU didn't give any credit to. So... if anybody is stealing here, it's you.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

...And I just realized that your mate is the one who was accusing somebody else of art theft when they ASKED me for permission to use one of my sprite designs! You guys need to learn something about ownership and copyright!

[emirasan.livejournal.com]

Excuse me, but I was not aware that the person had asked you permission since the post they made about your sprite mysteriously disappeared after I informed them it belonged to you. Considering the person has pulled similar stunts in the past before doing bead work they did not have permission to use, I thought it only fair to send you a warning about them.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

A post asking who made a sprite is not exactly a warning sign of theft. In fact rather the exact opposite. If he wanted to steal it he could have just stolen it and not tried to find me at all.

And just saying they "pulled similar stunts" means nothing unless you can back it up.

[emirasan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, he did it off of DA, which I no longer access so I personally can't prove it.

I linked him to you. Honestly, I'm glad that he asked your permission. I was only trying to help out in that situation and just thought it more than odd that the journal suddenly got deleted.

[ashleyvsdestiny.livejournal.com]

'No longer have access'. Banned?

[emirasan.livejournal.com]

No, I was not banned. I could access it if I chose too, but unfortunately each time I have accessed it recently, my computers (laptop and desktop) were afflicted with a virus within minutes of visiting the site.

I do not want to put either of my computers at risk again, even to prove I am telling the truth. It's not worth the risk of having to do a complete re-install of everything.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Well paired with this post I find it "more than odd" that you're insisting somebody has stolen art without being able to provide any evidence whatsoever. Maybe you thought you were doing something nice by "warning" me, but you're also slandering somebody, and that's not really very nice.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Posts are moderated, and reports of art theft are allowed here. This an official warning; please do not tell people they are posting in the wrong place.

[willowistari.livejournal.com]

From what I can tell you did not make the original PATTERN you used to create the perler bead sprites, you used pre-made graphics from games as your guide, which means it's not theft.

Just because I do perler beads based off the pokemon video game sprites doesn't mean no one else can. They aren't mine.

[skulldog.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to agree with the other comments so far.

Both of you are using premade game sprites, Rhomana even gives credits to the location where she grabbed the sprites from.

You really have no grounds to tell her to remove designs that are coming from copyrighted sources, unless she's explicitly using sprites YOU created from scratch. Which so far, I'm seeing no proof of.

[succendo.livejournal.com]

Someone else had the same idea as you (make sprites with beads) so you shout art theft.

Really? Come ooooooooooon.

[southernslang.livejournal.com]

As i told you on FA i will tell you the same thing here.

First off
We didn't remove any of them.

Second
You do not own those sprites, they're not yours. She cited the ORIGINAL source. She didn't copy you get over it.

Third
Blocklist don't work for admins and by posting this you're not getting anywhere. We're not removing them.

[ryunwoofie.livejournal.com]

<3

[southernslang.livejournal.com]

Dude that face... Is adorable and evil

[ryunwoofie.livejournal.com]

IKNORITE?!

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

<3

[amarafox.livejournal.com]

Sorry, as sucky as it may be you can't copyright a technique :(

[skanrashke.livejournal.com]

Somebody else stole my art D: My unique and special design! I use graphite sticks to draw on dead, pressed tree fibers :/

Also, I've seen perler bead 8 and 16 bit characters sold at anime conventions PRETTY REGULARLY.. including the ones you've got right there.

[grisser.livejournal.com]

I hope EVERYBODY telling you that you are wrong will finally make you realize that you ARE wrong.

[jamjams.livejournal.com]

Your icon is love!

[teahound.livejournal.com]

No offense but you seem to be more in the wrong here as you're not crediting the person who actually made the sprite, whether you got permission or not. You both had the same idea, this happens. I see people make sprite art with beads on FA all the time, this idea's really not original to you. =/

[silverautomatic.livejournal.com]

Can't copyright beads, can't copyright characters/images/items that don't remotely belong to you.

No art theft has happened here. Have a nice day.

[murasadramon.livejournal.com]

You're both creating works based off of pixel art, and are following the designs of the pixel art almost color for color. Your designs are not original, and there are significant variations in both, despite that you are both are following the outlines of pre-made designs.

This is a non issue, and FA staff in no way will take action on this.

Create something original rather than replicate pre-existing designs and then we can talk.

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

^This.

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

Did you make the sprites yourself? Or are you using already existing sprites for this? Unless you made the sprite, you're just tracing with beads instead of pixels.

[murasadramon.livejournal.com]

Kengi just announced on FA that none of the designs were her own, but were borrowed from Deviant Art.

We informed her she needs to cite the original creators.

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

Wait you mean these pixel sprites belong to an artist and not a game? Damn that's pretty shitty, and if anything that there is the definition of art theft.

Glad to see you're having them site sources though.

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

So to sum up this post.

You bead traced pixel art and called someone else a thief when they traced the exact same are you did.

You are both equally guilty of art theft here but your own definition.

[genkigami.livejournal.com]

You both stole art, one had the sense to name the source, you didn't, you got caught, so you took your tantrum here and expected a community of artists, most if not all against art theft, to back you up and tell you that yes, since you stole the art first we should totally pat you and tell you you're in the right, yes?

You're kidding, right? What part of you thought this was a good idea?

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

OK. So here we go: If someone creates a derivative work without permission, the copyright holder has the right to complain. The question is, is her work derivative of the original work (a violation for the original creator), or derivative of your derivative work (which is a violation to both you and the original creator, regardless of whether you were also in violation).

Given the above, if the actual characters were original to you or if she copied you bead-for-bead you may have cause for complaint. And I have to say the InuYasha case does looks very much like your own, but mirrored. I think that is a violation.

However, you have to be very careful because you can't claim the general concept of 'being able to make this character in perler beads'. That would be like saying 'hey, I already had the idea to make a fursuit of Inuyasha; you can't do it as well!' - it doesn't work that way.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

And as has been noted above, if you traced a particular work, and the other artist did the same tracing as you, that would not be a violation of your work - because your work was not involved, just the same method of creation.

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

Neer and I looked at the pieces, there are significant changes made from what we could see. The pieces created by both users were referenced by an artist on DA, so they are both derivative pieces. The artist being accused was kind enough to provide a source whereas the complaining party has not (even as of yet after warning them to do so). I noted differences in the inuyasha piece, thicker linework in some areas. Problem here is that we have NO idea who the original artist is so there's no basis on who's cheating who here either.

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

Nix that: The artist of DA (the link to DA anyway). The link provided by the accused leads here: http://www.sailorenergy.net/AnimeGIFs/TRSEIMGKawaiiAnimesI.html

*very tired

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

*nods*

It's a lot like making artwork from someone else's photos - I would be surprised if an artist complained about another artist doing that (particularly since it would clue others in to the fact that they, too, were creating derived works).

When it comes to sprites and beads there are only so many ways to make a line. And with the game boy there is definitely a difference, in the frame.

If you are just mechanically copying pixel by pixel, not even interpreting an existing picture with your own eye . . . essentially, because you are just creating a pure copy in a different medium, you end up not owning any copyright at all in the result. It is like photocopying a piece of art for which the copyright has expired. In the UK that might fly as a protected work, but not in the USA.

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I understand. Considering the differences and the fact the other person followed the rules of FA by crediting the source, it's not a problem.

The OP is now going through and providing sources, so no action will be taken against them either.

I find this situation a little amusing at best considering initially they said nothing about even referencing the works from anyone elsewhere. It was only after it was mentioned here that something seemed a bit fishy.

[armaina.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a pixel artist myself, using perler beads to copy existing video game sprites and sprites other artists have made, does not make you a pixel artist. Just to be clear on that.

You are not better than them in any way, just because you think you had the idea to re-create pixel art out of perler beads. It's not like this hasn't been going on for the past oh, 5 years? 10 years? Let me ask you, at any point did you as the person that made the InuYasha sprite if you could use their work? If you haven't then you have no right to call another perler bead user a thief when you are doing the exact same thing.

[tornaderman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty much what everyone said. Also, spamming notes to people on FA about it is really annoying too, and I'm not 100% sure but I think spam like that can get you in trouble. :/
I know you send it to me, but I'm not sure who else you messaged about this. It's really a non issue.

[gaiarage.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,

Since I'm the one being accused, I feel as if I should comment here. Some of my submissions lacked a link, not because I was claiming to make those sprites from scratch, but because my memory is fail.

However, that's now being fixed. I'm slowly going through all my bead artwork, giving credit or linking the sprite I used.

The mods have been extremely nice and understanding about this, so I would like to give them a "thanks" too. :3

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

ROFL at the idea that making bead sprites is copyrighted to you in any way, you are at least ten years too late!

[vtforpedro.livejournal.com]

this.

and... i love your icon |8 ZQ ftw!

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

*highfive* XD

[bluefantasyz.livejournal.com]

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned that his "original" gameboy design was posted a month after the "stolen" ones.

[crystamartin.livejournal.com]

With the Gameboys, the OP links to the "copy" under the list of their works, and theirs under the list of stolen, as well.

Hmmm.

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

Just so we are clear. It has turned out that the OP did not gain permission for use and we have been contacted by the owners of the works. The works have been removed, and user is permabanned.

We do not tolerate tracing or copying, we especially do not tolerate falsification of use/permissions. Considering the amount of trouble we were given by this user and the fact that this isn't the first time, the ban will not be lifted. We respect a users honesty above all else, and in this case we were directly lied to.

[ahkahna.livejournal.com]

One more thing, just as a pre-warning: Please do not comment nor troll the users shout page. Thanks!