Artists Beware: Kai

[ilymandias.livejournal.com]

WHO: Kai

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kai/

WHAT: Commissions artists using stolen, often doctored art as a "reference". 

WHEN: ONGOING FOR YEARS. Records of theft dating back to 2008, possibly much longer. 

EXPLAIN: First, tl;dr : Kai is stealing art to pass on to artists as "references" to gain commissioned art of stolen characters, without telling the artist involved that the reference is not their own, OR the artist(s) they stole from.

In April 2011, Kai commissioned me for a certain piece involving their "Asaneth" mech character with Overlai's "Kuu" character (NSFW: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5539711/). I thought nothing of it at the time, but soon after realized some of the references they provided for their Asaneth character were a bit suspicious...

NSFW: http://image.bayimg.com/dapoeaach.jpg 
NSFW: http://kauske.org/Profiles/ekastuff/isisballs.jpg
(mirrors incase the previous links are removed:
NSFW: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/dapoeaach.jpg
NSFW: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/isisballs.jpg )

...Considering they look like they were ripped right out of Pixiv or some other japanese scans. I still have no evidence that Kai ever actually created the character, or even had it created for them, considering they never posted the images to their gallery. I really should have done something about it, or even asked where they had gotten the art from, but it didn't occur to me until a while after the commission was completed.

UPDATE: "Asaneth" references were confirmed also stolen from a Zone of the Enders fan doujinshi (NSFW):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/25aqj4j.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/33bedty.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/k9cpzq.jpg


Anyway, Kai always had a fascination with Overlai's "Kuu" character, but once I stopped maintaining my Vial account or doing fetish commissions, I guess they decided to just make their own Kuu instead:

NSFW: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/1330867288.kai_saviosheet.jpg 
NSFW: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/savioport.jpg
(original posts were on Kai's furaffinity page, have since been taken down.)

At first I wrote it off as just some design inspiration, but Overlai took the time to note the original artist, spookable:

Spookable: "Hi there. kai provided me with references which I assumed were of her own character when I was commissioned to make the sheet, because that's typically how it's done and until now it'd never been done otherwise. Someone sent me a note informing me of your character after I'd uploaded, who I had never seen before. I genuinely apologize -- If I had known, I wouldn't have taken the commission, and I didn't think this person would have sent me someone else's character images for reference because that's quite literally never been done before."

The refs spookable had been provided to work from were direct edits of MY OWN ART. I had NEVER given Kai permission to use my art. They edited it, removed my name, and passed it on to spookable, deceiving them into believing it was art created for them of their own original character. This was a blatant lie.

My original art (nsfw): http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4616700/
Kai's edited "reference" sent to spookable (nsfw): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/Ailith.jpg (the original link was at http://kauske.org/Profiles/Battalion/Kodiak%20fleet/Ailith.jpg , but was very recently removed)

I'm concerned that this Kai person has a long-running history of theft and deception towards well-meaning artists, and wanted to do something about it. Kai is refusing to work with Overlai or me to resolve the character theft, and has blocked Overlai and I on FurAffinity, and wouldn't talk to us at all in notes or comments. Any comments we had left on their work was deleted (before the submissions themselves were finally removed), and they're trying to pass off our attempts of communication as harassment.

This theft seems to be a LONG-RUNNING PROBLEM. Someone else managed to find this trouble thread:

http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-websites-list/2008-January/msg00063.html

...In reference to the "kauske.org" site which seems to be Kai's personal server space, hosting more stolen character art, in 2008. 


DO NOT ACCEPT A COMMISSION FROM KAI, THEIR CHARACTERS AND WORK ARE STOLEN!


PROOF: All posted above as links, other sources can be provided on request.

You can contact me as Arupaka on FurAffinity.

Comments

[ryunwoofie.livejournal.com]

A few of those links appear to be broken, a 404 Not found, or giving a 403 Forbidden error.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Yep, forgot to mention when I approved this. The first two are bad, but are reposted a little ways down.

The link to the commission done based on the stolen ref sheet is no longer valid, as the image was taken down.

ilymandias: Do you have the commission hosted elsewhere so people can see that part of your evidence?

[ilymandias.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've re-uploaded the commissions here:
(nsfw)http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/1330867288.kai_saviosheet.jpg
(nsfw)http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64345918/savioport.jpg

I can edit them into the main post if that's allowed. The submissions were removed from FA once spookable had requested the art be taken down from Kai's gallery.

As a note, that was the only way the art COULD be removed from Kai's account - Under the FA rules, even if something is drawn directly from stolen artwork, as long as the stolen artwork itself is not posted onto FA by the thief, the commission that is drawn FROM the stolen art is thus not considered stolen, so the admins couldn't remove it. The only grounds we had against it was the fact that spookable was the original artist, and under the "for you" policy, could remove Kai's right to have it posted.

It was all very roundabout and pretty unfortunate that we couldn't handle it any other way, to be honest. But there you go. :[

[plastickaiju.livejournal.com]

Original art of the first two links (NSFW):
- http://i43.tinypic.com/ei6zib.jpg
- http://i41.tinypic.com/2n8bf2d.jpg

It's from a fan doujinshi for Zone of the Enders.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was quick! Thanks!

[plastickaiju.livejournal.com]

No problem. I should also add the first "reference" picture linked swapped the head out for this one here: http://i39.tinypic.com/206yonq.jpg (again, NSFW).

[ilymandias.livejournal.com]

Sorry to bother you over this again, but as the links seem to have broken, could you re-upload them? I forgot to host them externally to keep this post archived. :x

[plastickaiju.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, no probs! Here ya go:
- http://i40.tinypic.com/k9cpzq.jpg
- http://i41.tinypic.com/33bedty.jpg
- http://i40.tinypic.com/25aqj4j.jpg

[lackoflollies.livejournal.com]

I've seen kai causing drama and I avoided them, and this seals the deal. I'm gonna block them from my page.

[mikaufoxy.livejournal.com]

That's a first. o.o

[sovy.livejournal.com]

I don't exactly see what the problem is.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

The issue is mainly that this person is violating copyright by modifying others' art and then are using it as ref sheets in order to commission art. In addition, they are using a character from a published work as their own.

[sovy.livejournal.com]

I don't see editing artwork to use for a character reference for an artist as a bad thing.

[cappucola.livejournal.com]

Man, I don't really even know what to say anymore. I've done so many commissions for this person; I've actually drawn this stolen character a couple times. I always wrote it off as just a "It's a character from a game so eh whatever, and I need the cash" So I guess fanart is what I considered it? But man I dunno anymore after reading this, I'm actually feeling disgusted.

The whole Kuu character rip off bugs me A LOT. Kai has told me this one story many times about how his friend Mathy (MathinicGryphon @ FA) had created a character called saturn (a griffon) Kai would go on about how much he loved said character and eventually got Mathy to "gift" him a sibling character. (I think now the correct word was pester, and not gift) And I have even more reason to believe this because Mathy tends to let people step all over him.

Anyways, I'm starting to worry about my own character now; for a long while before contact just deteriorated between us, he/she constantly commissioned me for art of their characters doing sexual things with my character. I accepted it because I am poor, art is my only income, I really need the money. I'm regretting it now, because I am now recalling the hour or so it took for Kai to remove those commissioned pictures from their gallery. I never actually even gave Kai permission to post them in the first place; and when I first asked he/she only censored them, edited the picture description with something kinda snarky, and so on.

So yeah, I sure do feel gross now. Atleast they don't commission me anymore, or even talk to me, and I'm assuming it's because I told them I no longer wanted them paying me for art of me character and theirs, or even uploading it.

In before copycat character, I really hope it doesn't happen but it's probably too late. :T

[ilymandias.livejournal.com]

Jeez that is awful. D: And yeah, I had heard of some weird relations and character mirroring between them and Mathy, but nothing concrete enough to make me do more than raise a brow.

It seems according to the FA AUP, at this point, if Kai does come around in the future with commissions of a character clone of yours, the most you can do is contact the commissioned artist to inform them of the character theft, and ask that they request the art be taken down - since only the artist would own the art and thus the posting rights to it, and according to FA, none of this is theft. :| Just for future reference, as lame as that is.

EDIT : Oh, and also... Kai seems to be posting the Kuu clone on external sites like E621 since they lost the rights to it on FA. I'm not sure if spookable knows about this, but that's something else to be aware of, if you or anyone else has to deal with this in the future.

[cappucola.livejournal.com]

good to know, and yeah I had figured it'd pop up on E621.
I sent a message to Kai yesterday saying I no longer wished to be associated with them, so I get removed off their FA profile page (phew).

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Character creation is so much fun, I can't even begin to understand how uncreative and unimaginative this person is to go around ripping off other people like this. The whole art theft and editing thing aside.
Lame lame lame lame. Beware well earned.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you! I'm not an artist, but I still love to create characters and do so all the time, just for fun. It's saddening to see people flat out steal other people's characters simply because they can't be assed to make their own. :(

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

No kidding!

But for frick's sake, these days even if you have ZERO creativity of your own everybody and their dog is selling adoptables, just buy a few. They're like $2-$5 usually. You can even get some of them for FREE. So there's no excuse at all for this nonsense.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

There's some really nice adoptables out there too.

Failing that, if you can describe the character really well there's places you can go for free requests. AND there's free, editable line-art available from some people.

Yeah, no excuse.

[mgsfriedchicken.livejournal.com]

To blatantly steal someone else's character, this person clearly doesn't have the mental capability or sense of creativity. Very sad.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Please be careful with the insulting language. You are skirting rule number 3.

[enter-data-here.livejournal.com]

Wow, definitely keeping an eye out for stuff like this now, I had no idea people did this.

And though I know it doesn't make it so, I always feel like someone who defends this kind of behavior to the point where they see absolutely nothing wrong with it, it makes me think they do or have done the same thing themselves.

Legal or not, it's still messed up and not something to be condoned. :(

[goddamnanimals.livejournal.com]

Kind of disappointing. I used to think they had a neat character...

[v-e-r-a.livejournal.com]

Just going to add my name to the list of artists who won't be working with kai anymore. I don't know if it's worth a separate post, but they were pretty rude to me in notes just now. I should have known better than to give them a chance to prove they could be professional.