New "free art" website

[shirikdraguinea.livejournal.com]

IMPORTANT EDIT
Just had this comment via FA from one of my watchers:
Major alert - shortly after following that link, my google account has been hijacked and has been mass spammng. I have d/c'ed from the internet (using phone atm), and am virus scanning. Be VERY careful, or avoid altogether.
If anyone thinks they got something nasty I'm really sorry - try running HouseCall ( http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ ) - its an online based virus scanner so it can't be affected by anything on your system. I had no negative consequences from visiting this website but some others have - if you have been affected I am incredibly sorry :(


A friend of mine recently alerted me to yet another art theft rich art site - Never To Much Yiff. You can see it advertised at the owners FurAffinity page and he states:

"You can download and archive of 11,745 sorted by artist. I am not selling it is free to download so enjoy and please donate 2$ every 5$ goes to animal shelter of my choice"
(I took some liberty with this quote... the typos on the picture made me cry).

So in a nutshell, this person Techie9098 is putting up work by other artists without permission, and charging "donation" for them. I haven't checked the artists affected by this though as it requires downloading a torrent with all of these files.

Just a heads up for people.

EDIT:

His main page has been replaced by a Caramelldansen video but the download link remains and the torrent is still on pirate bay.

Comments

[lurkerwisp.livejournal.com]

"how do we know you're not the tea lady?"

Exactly what I was thinking!

[lurkerwisp.livejournal.com]

So it would be okay to show up at a public art gallery, take all the work without price tags, and sell the art and prints elsewhere because the artist didn't put it up for sale anyway?

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Uh...The images in the pack were images I WERE selling. What then? The images included are Hardblush.com images as well, images I was paid for, paid to do, images that are paid to be seen and he ripped and is spreading them.

The moment a donation aspect comes into play, is the moment where he's committing a crime. I could care less if he was just sharing FA art (with proper names, credits and watermarking) but sharing it in a bundle with paysite art then asking for money is wrong. This has nothing to do with IP or whatever.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

There is financial loss.

Stop assuming there isn't, I keep reiterating "PAYSITE" for a reason. Money, Monetary, Cashola. Spreading paysite material is taking money out of the pockets from those who actively pay to see the content.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I never once said I wanted to us IP to stop this guy. I'm not sure why you keep bringing it up and throwing your job around, it isn't giving you any clout. I don't give a rats butt where you work or how smart you think you are. But it's clear you're really on the losing side of this argument and should try to be a bit more sensible about artists who do work their butt off to create those images in the first place.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Also, how DO YOU KNOW they weren't selling that art? Plenty of artists make prints out of their galleries, but don't openly discuss it. I sure don't. SO how would you even know whats being sold amongst those 11,000+ images?

You may wanna backpeddle a bit there, you're making it very hard not to resort to frustrated name-calling.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

You're as bad as the kid stealing the art in the first place.

"omfg my bf is a lawyer u giuz"

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

So according to you, not exercising a right means it's okay for someone to take that right for themselves. So if I have a pool but am not swimming in it, that means it's okay for others to come swim in it does it? I mean it's only trespassing after all.

You don't understand the concept of harm it seems, let's break out the examples you've overlooked in your myopia, if artist's don't protect their work or have the right to protect it removed from them, these can happen:

Brand damage:

The work gets associated with something that is harmful to the artist's reputation or which reduces the work's value.

Artist reputation dilution:

Loss of income because companies don't want to hire an artist who would turn a blind eye to the reuse of work for hire/personal work being reused in a manner the customer might not appreciate.

I'm sure a great many people wouldn't want to hire an artist who would ignore someone posting the result on a site that say promotes racism.

If the right to prevent it being taken is removed, you get more cases of private work, where work will specifically not be shared at all by artists because they wouldn't want someone stealing their customers work, which again REDUCES the creativity available to inspire.

Failure to protect:

Artist's lose their work after an unscrupulous individual sues them because he's selling their work and their sales of it interfere with his money making which they haven't stopped.

I could go on but if you don't get the picture by now, you never will, losses is more than just simple money losses ergo can you kindly stop talking nonsense now because you're really starting to aggravate those of us who have done our research and who are offended at your attempts to insist that OUR rights should be given away, go slap creative commons crap on YOUR work if you believe that rights shouldn't belong to artists, put YOUR work in public domain if you support this, but don't tell US what WE can do with OUR work!

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

I think Gabe's idea has merit in place of name-calling: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/8/1/tender-human-trachea/

[dobie.livejournal.com]

For those of you who are wondering, here is a listing of the root directory of the archive:

Directory of Z:\Furry Archive
Ayame-Emaya
BlackTeagan
Blotch
Cheetahs
Chris Goodwin
Chris Sawyer
Comics

a bet's a bet
all the comforts
another fine mess
Another Yiff Story
anti social behavior 1-2
anubis dark desire
Anubis Dark Desire 04
asb
bath time
beast heaven
Beast Heaven - Hibakichi
Beast Heaven Alternative
Bedtime Drunk
Behind the scenes
Berries
big bad wolf club
Blazingcheeks
blind date
Boku No Ana
Boku To Asobo
Bonk comic
Bossmen
Boytoy
Breath of Fire
Build Tiger
Bull Bk Store
bunny boys
Butter Toast
Byakkoto Byakkotukai
captin triumph
Carpe Diem 1-2
chances
chap
Chicken Stealer
Circles
Closet coon
Cobalt 1-5
cocktails
cocktails 2
comic Klonoa
Connor
Cross Platform
Curiosity
DARKRON
DARKRON II
devil's advocate
digi yaoi 1
digi yaoi 2
digi yaoi 4
digi_yaoi 3
Dogs Days of Summer COMPLETE
enforced slavery
expirement
fel's deamon hunter
fel's no exceptions
Feline Boi Love
final
Finding_Avalon_issue__1
fishing
Flamedramon + Tiger
Flamedramon Yaoi 1
flaming tart
fox mccloud comic
Fox Trap
furonika
furpiled.1 Midnight Radio
furpiled.2 Boys who like Boys
furpiled.3 Mr Tangerine Speedo updated
furpiled.4 Cue the pulse to begin
furpiled.5 Love of the Loveless
Furronika
furry boys
Furry Porno
furry revolution
FurryGlide
game boys
game boys 3
gathering wood
genus male 8
gideon comic
good clean fun
Gun
Gyro Comic
hangout
Hank And The Newbies
hardblush
Harubon 1
Harubon 2
Harubon 3
Harubon 4
heathen city
Hibakichi - Beast Chaser 1
Hibakichi - Beast Chaser 2
Hibakichi - Beast Chaser 3
hick donalds
hitting the showers
incomplete
initiation
inside muscle
Jay Huskeh -Curiosity comic
jock tease
juice series
Just Stay Five Minutes
Kairaku
Kemo Shota Daozukan
Kemono Shounen
Kings Play
Klonoa
Klonoa & Tails
Kogemani
kuro black noir
lapping the competition
Lip-Tale
little entrepreneur
little red and the big bad wolf
Little Saints
Love Juice
Love Me More
love potion
Love sucks
lovin tree
Lube Job
Lupe N Lore
Magic 3 Lizardman
Mamoru-kun
Mark Wulfgar - Wuffy
Massage pallour
matted fur
mean streets
Meesh - Sluty Fox Comic
Meeting In The Sauna
megaton dragon
Megatron Dragon - Digimon Dragon Sanctuary
Misemono
morn than words
Morning Wood
moving in
my hustler
New Folder
Not For Return
Nyng To Geo
od
Only If You Kiss
onta comic
Orera no Okite
palm of my hand
Panda
Panty Shot
Pao
paper jam
Paw
pb and jay
pb and jay 2
Pet and Stray Love
PetShopBoy
PetShopBoy Puppy Love
Pictograph in Preprint
pj pup
play
porto police
Profiles 1
Profiles2
queer's in the kitchen
queerman
Re J
Reo - New Years Party
ring tail cafe
Rio Grande
Robin Hood's adventure
Roommates
rough riders
Sandan und Sandamer
Sanft (cat boys)
sex stages
Shenanigans
Shishimaru Yuuya
sleep over
sleeping in
Slutty kitty
softpaw 4
song and dance
soul of the past
Special Delivery
Spelunker_Sal_Roommates
SPFA
spinonit
Sticky Stuff
storge room
Stripes
suducing a werewolf
Sugar Candy
summer crammin
Summer Job
SVASTI KATS
sweat and sex
syndicate brigade
T2
Tailless Dog
Tanoshii Kemono No Jikan
the 19 yr old squire
the day before the exam
the deal
the fitting room
the horn of desire
The Leap
The Misadventures Of The Tanuki
The New Adventures of Ashchu
The Scary Teacher
the stand in's
the temple
the wanderer
Thundercats
time well spent
tryst
tylers trouble
unfinished comic
unknown comic
unnamed meesh comic
vilani_saetto
virtual intimacy
Wa Juu
wanwan paradise
wfsb
Wild kNights Gulkeeva yaoi comic
wonderful life of doom
Woof
zaush comic
Zen Comic
zettai_byakko
[FxA] Kogenami yaoi comic
[FxA] Photo Shoot 1
[FxA] Pre-sent
[FxA] Rej
[FxA] Roxikat game boys summer special
[FxA] Swishy 2
[FxA] Thief
[FxA] Yin & Yang Kogenami comic
[fxc]Louie Furrywolfy's personal training
[Team Shuffle] T2 of Trump

Dalmation
Dr. Comit
dragoneer
Favorites
FEL
Flatrat
Fluke
foxxfire
Friends Eager
Funnys
gembeck
Hangin' Out
Heat
hiker
Hitting The Showers
Hitting The Showers Part 2
Inuki
jijix
JW
k-9 room mates
kama citra - full poster
Karabiner
Klaus Dobermann
MicahFennec
Motion on the ocean
Mudshark
Onta
Peritian
Random Fox
Random unsorted
Renamon
Sanft
sirrus
splotch
tanidareal
Taurinfox
teh non yiffies
The Tape
unsorted artist
Wookiee
wookiee comic
zaush
Zen
[fxc]_Furnation_6

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

I really don't care if you believe me or not (though it's telling that you still haven't answered as to your own learnings, when you demand so much from me, but then dismiss my answer so easily), but let me just go grab one of my books... let's see "copyright in Historical Perspective" by Lyman Ray Patterson. This is known to be one of the most comprehensive texts on early copyright. Let's see what Mr. Patterson has to say on page 20, "when William Caxton introduced the printing press into England in 1476, the creation of a new form of property, eventually to be called copyright, was inevitable. The new property concept developed over some two hundred years..."

The Statute of Anne is well known and many consider it as the beginning of MODERN day copyright, but copyright was actually in development long before it, which is why the chapter on the Statute comes in the middle of the book and not the beginning. Your knowledge of copyright really has the feel of someone who only wikis things when they need to for an argument. You don't seem to grasp a lot of copyright discussion as a whole, you just pick and chose from sites off the net, then pretend like you're well versed in the subject. I know I'm no expert, but I at least know enough about copyright to know how overwhelming and extensive the subject is. That you claim to have vast knowledge of it, then fumble even with basic concepts suggests you don't even know enough to realize how little you know.

You can have the last word on this thread too. You seemed to revel in it all the other times I've let you have it, so go nuts.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

Yes, because questioning the status quo = being a thief.

I spent my day amending patent specifications and writing letters to CIPO for some Industrial Design files. I broke for lunch to study for the LSATs, which I'll be taking in fall when I apply to the University of Ottawa School of Law.

I'm not sure how good you look when you take the easy route and call me first a troll, and now dismiss me as some 'e-lawyer' type. It would be so much better and more respectable if you could just say you disagree with me. I disagree with you, but I haven't made it personal. Why would I? Only someone who can't find or articulate something more clever will devolve into
such antics.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

I agree that people shouldn't hurt an artists ability to profit off their own work, but what about when a behaviour is not hurting that ability? that's all im asking.

"LJ icon =/= hundreds of low and high res images taken and redistributed"

how do you figure? arent these icons, collectively, EXACTLY like that? I'm afraid you're just rationalizing.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

It's not that I'm saying its good or its okay to do that, im just saying that if I was never going to profit, then I'm not loosing profit when someone else does it. Is that not sound logic? Sure there may be other factors that make that behaviour wrong, but it's not enough to just say something is wrong without thinking about WHY. I hope that's understandable.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

I may only know you from words you've written through this community, but you don't strike me as the type to do something like that. I don't think it would help either, since you'd just be becoming the thing you're arguing against, no?

Now, up there I stated that I don't think people SHOULD go around doing this, in fact, I think they probably should not, and should find other ways to make money, but honestly, if I make a list of the pros and cons for the situation of YOU selling MY work, it doesn't come out as bad as all that. I'm not currently selling my work, so I'm literally not loosing money. I may not like that you did it without permission, but your lack of permission may very well result in either no detriment to me, or an increase in traffic, attention, comments, etc. It may even show me that people are willing to buy my stuff (I doubt it lol) and inspire me to start selling it myself. Why am I so wrong for just thinking about the issue in this way, instead of being cliche and getting up in arms and thinking that the law is the best protector of IP?

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

I never said it was okay, only that we need to think about WHY its wrong and maybe factor in other considerations. When you were a kid, did you ever see something that to this day still inspires you? Did you need to know that the creator authorized you to look at it to be inspired? Probably not. There is a benefit in works being distributed. Does it necessarily outweigh the creator's rights? certainly not, but I just don't think its wise to immediately get angry and shout 'LAWSUIT! DMCA! MINE MINE MINE', instead of looking at the situation as a whole. Is that really so awful of me?

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

AS I've stated before, I think that someone SHOULD NOT, and is WRONG, for selling something to the DETRIMENT of the creator. So, I agree with you, but that should be something we consider before we immediately get up in arms. If someone looses no money, as in, someone else sells something they really had no intention of selling themselves, is it still wrong? I think you might answer that it is, and I can totally accept that, even if I don't agree, but it seems like I'm not being allowed to ask the question without being accused of thievery or insincerity myself.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

but then you disagree with Lilenth and agree with me, because I'm the one who believes that the amount of harm should be equal to the amount of upset, and that if there is no harm, maybe we shouldn't treat it as a big deal. Lilenth (despite her still holding onto the icon she isn't sure she has permission to use), is saying that it doesn't matter if profit is being made or not, it's still wrong to use another's IP, even as a LJ icon.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

Where did I say that? I think the opposite is true.

My apologies if I made one spelling error in all the responses I've given tonight after a long day at work. I also don't know where you're getting that I ever said I was an expert. I am no expert. None at all. I just happen to read and study the subject both formally and informally and like to keep up with current events regarding IP.

The fact is, I know my views are complex, but I really am not saying it's okay, people shouldn't do it, but if they do, maybe we should consider each case individually and use different factors to determine what exactly makes it wrong, before we jump on the bandwagon. It's the bandwagon-ing and the use of law to enforce IP rights that worries me. Am I wrong to be worried?

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

Let me try to explain it this way; I don't smoke. I think people shouldn't smoke, but IF they do we have to consider a lot of factors before we judge them, right? Does their smoking affect other people? Does it have an adverse effect on their budget? etc. etc. Maybe it makes sense if I present it kind of like that?

"it can ruin the integrity of the IP or reputation of the artist, depending on where it is sold, what it is sold on, or what it is sold with."

That is exactly the kind of factor I'm talking about. I agree! something like that can happen! but in situations (let's say LJ icons since people seem to be paying attention to that example) where MAYBE unauthorized use isn't really hurting anyone, MAYBE we shouldn't get too too upset about it.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

What about if some of the artists are gone forever from the fandom and don't care about their art? What if some of them live in another country and have no way or intention of selling their art? I'm just saying that we have to take into account the relevant factors that determine if the behaviour is bad.

For a site like this, I agree, there could be a lot of people that are losing money to this site, and THEY have a right to demand it be taken down, but I just want to get to the bottom, to the crux of why the behaviour is bad. If we don't pinpoint it, and just allow ourselves to get in a frenzy of trying to protect our IP, maybe we do ourselves a disservice in the long run.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

Uhh...where did I throw my job around just now? If I gave you that impression, I apologize. I was only bringing it up earlier in this thread to counteract repeated claims of ignorance, and yet when I listed how not ignorant I am, I'm disbelieved and held as a braggart. How does one win in that situation?

If you're not suggesting that we use IP, then why didn't you ever mention the alternatives I suggested when I first commented on this particular thread? Maybe we could have found common ground earlier.

"should try to be a bit more sensible about artists who do work their butt off to create those images in the first place." I am positive that you and many many others who frequent this board work very hard on their art. I may just be a hobbyist, but I work hard on mine as well. This isn't a contest over who is more passionate about the craft, it's a discussion about what precisely makes a behaviour regarding those works right or wrong.

[animehoneybee.livejournal.com]

"You are acting as though your opinions are fact, so I am going to assume that you fancy yourself an expert."

...by assuming such...don't you just make your opinions out to be fact, which you in the same breath accuse me of doing?

I agree with your last point. I think in this particular case, this person probably has wronged at least some of the artists who's work was posted. I just dislike it when people blindly say 'it's wrong' without really understanding why they think that. I also worry about the future of copyright and that things we enjoy today (like LJ icons) might be prohibited in the near future.

I am sorry this has gotten so out of hand. I'm not trying to make enemies. I rather like and respect the vast majority of people on this board. I am sorry if I've caused you or anyone else upset. I just don't think it's bad to have a different opinion. After all, if we have come this far and you've considered my words and I've still failed to convince you, then that just means that your own opinions have been further strengthened :)

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Some bullet points outta' fix this:

* I didn't make that comparison. You talking about your oh-so-important job sounds like the kid claiming he has a lawyer boyfriend. Again I could care less about your job and what qualifies you.

* Don't care. I don't talk about my personal life, I have yet to MAKE this a personal argument. I'm also not here to look good - I'm here to argue a very loud point. "It's not okay." Which you keep reiterating it is, if the artist hadn't turned a profit before the thefter did. That thinking is flat out offensive, no ifs ands or butts. Maybe in Canada they do it different? I don't rightly know.

* Easy route? Troll? I've never said you were a troll. Trolls know when to stop. Nor is this the easy route. Easy would be blowing you off and enjoying myself, easy would be calling you 'crazy' and ignoring you. No, I'm taking the significantly harder route by making an internet argument. One of which I'm ending now.

* I disagree with you. Happy? I thought that was strikingly apparent, especially when you have a group of people giving you good, valid reasons, to rethink your position. You can stand idly by with it, we'll rage and fight and continue being angry when someone yanks our work out from under us.

This is done. You have your own thoughts, I'll stick to the reality of it all. Time for the easy route =).

[armaina.livejournal.com]

Smoking is the worst analogy you can use in this case, for one. Secondly, this post, the thing that got you started, isn't talking about icons.