Someone's riping me off

MrEff · Post by **MrEff** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:58 pm

I just found out through a friend that someone has been riping off my main character.... suposeably the only thing changed is the symbol on his chest and his "name" I haven't found out the site just yet but does anyone have any help as to what action I can and should take?? I mean this is my intellectual property... I have the (c) Ryan Borella 2005 on all my strips and I figure everything can be tracked through comicgenesis....

But is there someone I can contact about this.... an organization or something??? Has anyone else gone through something like this at all??

anything would be helpful.... thanx a bunch....

-MrEff-

Keffria · Post by **Keffria** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:40 pm

I would suggest just finding this person and, before doing anything rash (like hiring a third party to sue his ass), confronting them. Once he realizes he's been found out, odds are he'll back off. Or else threaten *you* with a lawsuit for stealing *his* work. Whatever. *shrugs*

MrEff · Post by **MrEff** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:04 pm

Thats what I plan on doing to start and hopefully that's all it will take....

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas in case I need to bring it to the next level...

-MrEff-

Post by **STrRedWolf** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:11 pm

If the person is on Comic Genesis, then I need to know about this. This is a DMCA copyright violation.

Toxic · Post by **Toxic** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:30 pm

Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the copyright infringers, before the start of the raining season. And remember, a shiny new donkey for whoever brings me the head of this plagiarist.

Spriteville, USA · Post by **Spriteville, USA** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:06 pm

Got links of the other guys stuff?

I'd start collecting all the info you need for something more concrete now, but before you go and even mention the word "lawsuit". Just ask him to stop. Who knows maybe it won't be that big a deal.

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:06 pm

Just find out who he is and email him...once he finds out you're onto him he'll probably wuss out and stop. A lot of people simply assume that copyrights on the Internet are no big deal and no-one will bother them about it...I mean, how many Star Wars related posts have you seen on websites and blogs? If you call him on it, he'll probably fold pretty easily.

MixedMyth · Post by **MixedMyth** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:01 pm

Toxic wrote:Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the copyright infringers, before the start of the raining season. And remember, a shiny new donkey for whoever brings me the head of this plagiarist.

Ooooooo. A shiny new donkey? Onwards! To glory and victory!

Sincerely · Post by **Sincerely** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:02 pm

This happened to a friend of mine. I found the site that contained the plagiarized material and told her about it. She emailed the people involved and all of the people they associated with, plus this was a community so she emailed all of the people on their members list. As far as I know all she said was "hey, you stole my stuff and I told everyone you know that you stole my stuff, so it's probably a good idea for you to stop stealing my stuff."

The plagiarists said that they didn't know they were plagiarizing, that someone they knew presented the stolen ideas which they used, but later booked it. They took the stuff down and my friend was quickly assured by the host community that they wouldn't stand for this kind of thing.

I was impressed with the speed of the thing.

Bustertheclown · Post by **Bustertheclown** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:22 pm

I'm a bit of an intellectual property nerd, and it's been awhile since I've had the opportunity to wax poetic on the subject. Don't worry. I'm not going to get too far into it.

First thing you need to do is definitely find the person in question, and check to see if you are truly a victim. After that, identify whether it's actually copyright infringement, or if it's trademark infringement. The "look" of a character is often subject to trademark law, rather than copyright law, as copyrights deal with specific works of art, and not identifying marks. Trademarks are like copyrights, in that they don't necessarily have to be registered to be used. However, if you feel the need for full legal protection and recourse, then I suggest you look into registration, at least for copyrights. Registering a copyright is really the the only way to ensure you're fully covered by the law. Not to mention, if you ever have to go to court to defend your copyrights, you'll have to register your work anyway, so you'd might as well do it before things go wrong.

To learn more about copyright law, visit the U.S. Copyright Office. To learn more about trademark law, visit the Patent and Trademark Office website.

Some things you can do once you find the alleged culprit, and he turns out to be an actual culprit are...

-Register your artwork with the Copyright Office to ensure you're fully protected under the law from further theft, as well as to ensure you prima facie evidence to be entered into possible legal action.
-Tell them to knock it off.
-Inform their host that they have illegal material displayed on their service, and ask them to take it down.
-Contact a lawyer, specifically one who deals in intellectual property issues.
-Sue the perp's pants off.

Well, probably, it's not going to get to the point of legal action. However, if this allegedly unscrupulous individual is making money from your property, you might be entitled to damages.

Intellectual property law is pretty in-depth stuff. Things like the rising commodity value of intellectual property, as well as the effect of digital technology, is changing the face of the law pretty rapidly and frequently. I'd suggest to ANY artist to know the law, but especially artists who display their works online. The only way you can use the law to your advantage is if you know what the law is about.

Here's some more links!

http://www.benedict.com/

http://www.whatiscopyright.org/

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

http://www.wipo.int/portal/index.html.en

http://public.findlaw.com/

Hope that kinda helps a little.

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:59 pm

And why didn't your friend tell you where he actually found that other comic?

DJMayhem · Post by **DJMayhem** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:07 pm

yeah, id be kinda helpful to see such links.

Toxic · Post by **Toxic** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:35 pm

mcDuffies wrote:And why didn't your friend tell you where he actually found that other comic?

Maybe the friend is the thief, and he is setting up an elaborate cat-and-mouse game.

CJBurgandy · Post by **CJBurgandy** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:38 pm

maybe your friend was joking about the resemblance of your avatar compared to Homesar?

(I'm joking BTW)

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:42 pm

Toxic wrote:
mcDuffies wrote:And why didn't your friend tell you where he actually found that other comic?
Maybe the friend is the thief, and he is setting up an elaborate cat-and-mouse game.

That begs for a comic... or at least fake poster.

MrEff · Post by **MrEff** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:44 am

My friend wasn't the one who found it.... he said a co-worker at his job was looking at something and he knew right away it was pretty much a rip-off of my material.... He's supposed to be getting back to me with a link today....

Thank you so much for all the info... once I find out the perp I'll be sure to post the link here.... I plan on asking him nicely at first (if it is indeed the case of plagirism) and taking any necessary further steps if he/she doesn't comply...

And I'm definetly going to look into copyright and trademark regestering after this whole mess....

Thanx again and I'll be sure to keep you all posted!!

-MrEff-

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:20 am

cjburgandy wrote:maybe your friend was joking about the resemblance of your avatar compared to Homesar?

(I'm joking BTW)

I personally can't see past the personal observation that the Ded End (pardon my inappropriately forwardly-positioned letters) character looks strikingly like the child of Homestar and Jack Skellington. If there actually is another character out there with those characteristics, I wouldn't be too surprised. It's difficult to design anything these days without (accidentally) ripping someone off.

ShineDog · Post by **ShineDog** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:03 am

oh no! you are being riped!

IN THE PIPES.

MariaAndMichelle · Post by **MariaAndMichelle** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:32 am

*Have nothing useful to add to the conversation*

MrEff · Post by **MrEff** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:13 pm

Ricky wrote:
cjburgandy wrote:maybe your friend was joking about the resemblance of your avatar compared to Homesar?

(I'm joking BTW)

I personally can't see past the personal observation that the Ded End (pardon my inappropriately forwardly-positioned letters) character looks strikingly like the child of Homestar and Jack Skellington. If there actually is another character out there with those characteristics, I wouldn't be too surprised. It's difficult to design anything these days without (accidentally) ripping someone off.

Yea see thats the problem... When I originally created Ded he was supposed to be a character named "Nopey" which was to be a part of a whole other comic I had in my head. That fell through and "Nopey" lost his arms and developed a serious under-bite and became "Ded' (at which time I was presently un-aware that there even was a Homestar Runner)

From what I understand from my friend is that some of my jokes were used as well and the general design of this "other character" was VERY similar (i.e. they changed the symbol on his shirt and his "name") As I've said before I'm still waiting to get the URL but big thanx to everyone for backing me up.... I'll bring you more news as I find out...

-MrEff-