http://www.cgchannel.com/news.php?news_id=708
<< Artwork Thievery ? CG artists are victims of new trend.
Friday, 22 February 2002
Daryl Mandryk got a shock when a friend sent an image of a video card box ? with his artwork all over it. His initial reaction was fury. Who would do such a thing? What company would blatantly steal artwork from his website, and use it as marketing material on their products? The company turned out to be PC Pop, a Chinese video card manufacturer, one of many who use Nvidia reference technology and sell their cards in masses all over Asia. This is a fine example of artwork thievery, and it is becoming a trend, especially with CG art.
Ofer Alon (AKA Pixolator), the visionary and founder of Pixologic, was also a victim of artwork thievery when his image ?Garrr!? was used on the box of Gainward GeForce 4 Powerpack. ?I was not contacted, nor have I given permission to Gainward to use the ?Garr!? image (or any other ZBrush image).? Says Pixolator, ?They should not have used the ZBrush image without my permission and this issue certainly warrants further investigation.?
Yet another recent victim of artwork thievery is Lightwave master Taron, whose work conveniently appeared on the box and brochure for MSI?s G4MX440 video card. Taron, however, was able to contact MSI and resolve the situation. ?MSI did not ask to use my work, but my spies out there didn't wait a second to let me know about it.? Says Taron, ?Then I got in touch with MSI and the little company that does their package designs. I eventually wrote a licence and fee agreement which resolved the case.?
The problem seems to stem from the ?artists? they hire or subcontract for package design. In several Asian countries including China and Taiwan, laws regarding copyright are so lax that there is a general assumption that using images on the Internet is okay. On top of that, some of these package-design companies go on the notion that they are protected geographically ? how is an artist in Europe or the US going to track them down, or file a lawsuit? Is it worth it filing a lawsuit? Unfortunately, many of these cases may never be resolved simply because of geographical constraints.
Luckily for Taron, MSI have an established presence in the US, as MSI motherboards and PC components are widely used in the United States. This enabled him to get in contact with the regional office and resolve the case without much issue.
What can you do if you find that your artwork is being used without permission? Some of the larger manufacturers such as Gainward and MSI have an international presence, thus making it somewhat easier to get in contact with regional offices. Seek legal advice if necessary, and be prepared to provide proof that the artwork is your own (scene files, etc). It is in the best interest of these larger companies to resolve the case, as an infringement of copyright could mean entire product lines taken off shelves or repackaged ? which costs much more than compensating an artist.
?Artists should certainly pursue it,? says Taron, ?Check your own material to be prepared for any procedure of proof and be aware of the legal situation. Companies of any reasonable size will avoid using clearly stolen artwork as they would want to evade any lawsuits.?
How can artists prevent their artwork from being stolen? The simplest way of preventing artwork thievery is to not provide high-resolution images on your website. Boxes and print brochures require images of high enough resolution so that there is little or no perceivable loss in image quality. All of the affected artists mentioned in this article made high-res images of their artwork available on the Internet. To go even further, also consider protecting your artwork with a disclaimer and watermark.
It seems that artwork thievery is becoming a trend, and CG artists are the targets. For Daryl Mandryk, the fight has just begun. Just to make things more interesting, his artwork unexpectedly appeared on another Gainward product. >>
:Q
<< Artwork Thievery ? CG artists are victims of new trend.
Friday, 22 February 2002
Daryl Mandryk got a shock when a friend sent an image of a video card box ? with his artwork all over it. His initial reaction was fury. Who would do such a thing? What company would blatantly steal artwork from his website, and use it as marketing material on their products? The company turned out to be PC Pop, a Chinese video card manufacturer, one of many who use Nvidia reference technology and sell their cards in masses all over Asia. This is a fine example of artwork thievery, and it is becoming a trend, especially with CG art.
Ofer Alon (AKA Pixolator), the visionary and founder of Pixologic, was also a victim of artwork thievery when his image ?Garrr!? was used on the box of Gainward GeForce 4 Powerpack. ?I was not contacted, nor have I given permission to Gainward to use the ?Garr!? image (or any other ZBrush image).? Says Pixolator, ?They should not have used the ZBrush image without my permission and this issue certainly warrants further investigation.?
Yet another recent victim of artwork thievery is Lightwave master Taron, whose work conveniently appeared on the box and brochure for MSI?s G4MX440 video card. Taron, however, was able to contact MSI and resolve the situation. ?MSI did not ask to use my work, but my spies out there didn't wait a second to let me know about it.? Says Taron, ?Then I got in touch with MSI and the little company that does their package designs. I eventually wrote a licence and fee agreement which resolved the case.?
The problem seems to stem from the ?artists? they hire or subcontract for package design. In several Asian countries including China and Taiwan, laws regarding copyright are so lax that there is a general assumption that using images on the Internet is okay. On top of that, some of these package-design companies go on the notion that they are protected geographically ? how is an artist in Europe or the US going to track them down, or file a lawsuit? Is it worth it filing a lawsuit? Unfortunately, many of these cases may never be resolved simply because of geographical constraints.
Luckily for Taron, MSI have an established presence in the US, as MSI motherboards and PC components are widely used in the United States. This enabled him to get in contact with the regional office and resolve the case without much issue.
What can you do if you find that your artwork is being used without permission? Some of the larger manufacturers such as Gainward and MSI have an international presence, thus making it somewhat easier to get in contact with regional offices. Seek legal advice if necessary, and be prepared to provide proof that the artwork is your own (scene files, etc). It is in the best interest of these larger companies to resolve the case, as an infringement of copyright could mean entire product lines taken off shelves or repackaged ? which costs much more than compensating an artist.
?Artists should certainly pursue it,? says Taron, ?Check your own material to be prepared for any procedure of proof and be aware of the legal situation. Companies of any reasonable size will avoid using clearly stolen artwork as they would want to evade any lawsuits.?
How can artists prevent their artwork from being stolen? The simplest way of preventing artwork thievery is to not provide high-resolution images on your website. Boxes and print brochures require images of high enough resolution so that there is little or no perceivable loss in image quality. All of the affected artists mentioned in this article made high-res images of their artwork available on the Internet. To go even further, also consider protecting your artwork with a disclaimer and watermark.
It seems that artwork thievery is becoming a trend, and CG artists are the targets. For Daryl Mandryk, the fight has just begun. Just to make things more interesting, his artwork unexpectedly appeared on another Gainward product. >>
:Q
