I'm so frustrated with the complete lack of support from DA admin regarding another member that pirated some of my work. I'm considering only uploading low-res images and watermarking them, even though they were originally stolen from another site. That would pretty much ruin the whole experience as far as I'm concerned, for me and probably for some of you as well.
witchdocktor.deviantart.com (Todd Wood) had a dozen photos of mine in a gallery he called Cape Cod Nudes. Originally stolen from DOMAI or MET-art, he cropped out the identifying info, claimed them as his own, offered them as prints, and submitted them to various DA groups.
Several other members called him on it and contacted me as well. He ignored us and hid our comments. I finally sent him a legal document, a 'Copyright violation a serious crime' type rather than a 'What the hell are you doing with my photos?' and he finally removed them. Now DA customer service says because he took them down willingly (I call it disposing of the evidence) and they didn't see it themselves (because it took them several days to respond) that there's nothing they can do.
Here's on of the screen shots in my gallery fav.me/d4notd1
I have to wonder how many artists have had the entire online experience ruined like this.
Not just by thieves like witchdocktor. I've had my work ripped off many times, that's not what upsets me the most. There will always be lowlifes that can only steal and not create, that try to take credit and profit from others hard work. The worst part is the total lack of support from DA! Even eBay was more helpful, and getting a hold of customer service there is a challenge. to say the least.
I used to love it here, and I've spent a good bit of money too. Not only have I been a paid member for two years but I've given points and ordered prints from other artists, plus I've purchased t-shirts, mouse pads, coffee cups, puzzles, and canvas prints for myself and my customers. The legality of copyright issues aside, it just doesn't make sense from a business point of view.
I'm just very, very disappointed in DA's lack of support. I have screen captures of all witchdoktor's galleries clearly showing the stolen images, date and time and so on. As far as DA is concerned though, if the thief manages to dispose of the goods before he's apprehended then there's no crime!!!
It's the antithesis of everything artists do here, especially given the fact that we all share so freely.
Thanks for letting me rant. I'm interested if any of you have has similar experiences.
Keep The Faith,
Kevin
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