Art Theft on Adult Paysite

[bagheera.livejournal.com]

As posted on my FA journal, I received a message on FA from another user who said they found my art on a certain newly-popped up adult paysite. I Googled the page and it looks like the site has pretty much stolen the entire FA.

http://sites.adult-empire.com/7095/

So, what should we do about it? :)

Comments

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

If you are the copyright holder, there is no filing a false DMCA. Bagheera has their work on that paysite. They have full rights to enforce their copyright with a DMCA notice.

If it was some random person on an internet crusade against art-theft, you'd have a case.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

That's why I said if someone has an actual paper signed copyright
If they didn't pay for a paper and signed it, their character technicallyy isn't "copyright them"

just going into semantics.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Wanna talk semantics?

Characters are not copywritten they are trademarked. That is the highest holy fact that this community should have put into your head.

Also. You do not need to file for official copyright its retained upon creation. Obtaining the paperwork makes it solid as a rock, but not exactly required. Which gives Bagheera the right to file a notice because its not their characters, its the art.

[kairi-koitra.livejournal.com]

Seriously this so hard. I really am tired of hearing copyright when it comes to characters it isn't even funny. I had my high theft characters legally trademarked which takes a bit but its a safe point. Even after that i've had people sit here and tell me i did it wrong.

I seriously wish people would understand the difference between copyright and trademark. My favorite example when it comes to this is Disney princesses images are trademarked. Their merchandise featuring their images is copyright. So when you purhcase a doll or figure from disney if you look at the box you will see Princess Jasmine is (Tm) of Disney corporation Doll and its clothing is copyright of Disney. or (c) of disney.

Copyrights involve physical assets, where trademarks involve looks and characters.

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

A lot of people mix this up, but it's "copyrighted" not "copywritten" because the root word is "copyright" (i.e. the right to copy things) not "copywrite."

I certainly agree with the rest, though. A lot of people mix up copyright and trademark and also don't realize that copyright requires no registration.

[ashleyvsdestiny.livejournal.com]

And, let's not forget that tricky bit about how you have to do TRADE by the MARK that you trademarked. You can't just whip up a sparkle dog for use as an avatar and go 'TRADEMARKED, BITCHES'. People can argue down your trademarks fairly easily if you arn't using them as marks of trade.

[copper-curls.livejournal.com]

Exactly - if you trademark something but do no trade, you can't demonstrate losses to a court if someone else uses your trademark. You also have to defend the trademark against infringement, too; a business can let two or three or four instances of infringement slide (maybe figuring it's too expensive to take to court), but if they take offender #5 to court, figuring "Enough, already", the court may well rule that the first four uncontested infringements constitute abandonment of the trademark.

Further, trademarks aren't all-encompassing; the idea behind a trademark is that customers should not readily confuse two businesses. Apple Computers uses the apple-with-a-bite logo for their brand of computers, but a company in the apple-harvesting business could probably use a similar (not identical) mark because of being in a completely different area of business. There's very little odds their customer base is likely to confuse their product logo with that of a company that makes and sells computers. Disclaimer: This is a layperson's understanding of the intent and application of trademark law, so take it with a large lump of salt and by all means consult a solicitor.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

This is something I have been told on here, FD2 and FA Forums when e621 drama was going around

[foxhack.livejournal.com]

The character, I don't think it's copyrighted.

But the art? That's copyrighted to you immediately.