And Who Says Trolling Doesn't Work?

I don't suggest you troll other people but when the nice method doesn't work - troll away.

This morning I checked RainbowKidShop's store and all the listings were either changed to new pictures created by her or they were just removed all together. Now she's still stealing ideas from other people which sucks but at least she's posting pictures of the stolen ideas she made with her own two hands, and not the actual picture stolen from the artist.

Now we don't know if the stolen pictures on the My Space page are gone yet, but since she decided to close off the page to anybody but her friends, I figure it's a win for us here. She can't promote the store to strangers using our stolen pictures if no one but her friends and family can see it, so I think a few battles have been won here.

Unfortunately she still has a few photos on her Etsy Store Facebook page with is open to the public and we can't have that. So we're leaving bad reviews on the page and I reporting the page as promoting a scam which is true. She posted false information on her page, so its a technically a scam.

Honestly if she just removed those last few photos off the facebook page I would be happy and I think the rest of the crafters would be too.

Another Image Thief: Beeliciouss

One of the forum members posted this site today and I just about fell over from all the images this person had ripped off from all my fellow bead artists.

Beeliciouss posts on (her?) site that she just came back from the US and while there, she met an artist that created all these fabulous creations which she wants to help sell. Problem is all the crafts she's trying to sell on the site for her "artist friend" are actually all crafts from various bead artists (that I know) and not just one person. Plus one of the images is actually mine and I sure as hell didn't give her permission to sell my work.

Actually if a person really paid attention to the images and the payment options on the site, they could see the whole thing is a scam. The images don't match up in some cases, for example, the Owl brooches/pendants - she shows you a picture of a hair accessory but offers to sell you a pendant. The payment options don't include anything that would allow you to secure your purchases like a creditcard or Paypal would, so basically she can take your money and run once the transaction is complete. Personally I don't buy anything online anymore unless I can purchase it with Paypal and even then I do my homework before I buy.

I really hate when people do this. It's one thing to rip off someone's idea and sell it as your own because then you are at least doing the work for the money, but this woman probably just googled a bunch of bead art and posted up on a site in hopes she could con a bunch of people into sending her money in exchange for nothing. Though honestly, if any one is dumb enough to buy anything off an unsecure site at almost triple what they are worth, then maybe they deserve to get ripped off.

UPDATE: So Beeliciouss has blocked me from her page and made it accessible only to certain logins, so you will have to check out this link instead - http://beeliciouss.livejournal.com/ another site full of other people's items she's offering to swap or sell items but again she's using pictures from other people's sites. If you scroll down the page, you'll see another bead art group of items where you can see a picture with a watermark that she's tried to erase as much as possible without erasing the actual products in the picture. You can still see though the www.mi .... a.livejournal.com which obviously isn't her blog address.

She's really clever doing the whole item swap thing on the one site because people are even more likely to trust item swaps and she'll end up with a whole bunch of free stuff, but again if you pay attention to the requirements of her swap - she wants specific items in exchange for her items. In the end, she gets something she really wants and you will get nothing.

Art Thief Alert: Frost Claw Studios

Hyrule Sword and Shield by ~Frost-Claw-Studios on deviantART Oh the douchebags, they just keep coming don't they? If the internet has taught me anything as an artist, it is one thing. WATERMARK, WATERMARK, WATERMARK! God, the newest pattern of mine to spread like fucking herpes throughout the beading community is my Master Sword idea along with the borrowed but always credited Shield from Gold Stud (which is what he always asked for). I posted this combo on my flickr account back in May 2009 but recently it has appeared on Deviant Art about 5 or 6 times and someone decided to sell it on Etsy.

Now I don't mind people using my original work as long as they credit me but one guy posting under Frost Claw Studios is not only using my work but he is claiming it as he own. Plus he's using other artist's work I know like Geek Mythology and he really is claiming he made her work - complete with dumb links to posters that apparently inspired him.
Left4DeadTank - His 
Left4DeadTank - GM

He was banned from one site for stealing original work but now he's moved onto Deviant Art and has just reposted everything there. I tried to ask for credit on my piece but he banned me from the comments, so no one can see the truth of what he did.

I would ask that everyone post a little something on his page to remind him that stealing isn't cool and maybe even report his ass to the site. My sword pattern I made out of thin air - no modded, no nothing and I don't appreciate other people ripping my stuff off and selling it without at least giving me credit. Click on the picture above and let him know that not crediting artists for their hardwork is not cool, if you have a deviant art account.

More on the Subject of Etsy and Copycats

Now I don't want anyone to think I hate Etsy due to my last rant because it is a great site for artists to sell their wares. Ebay is too expensive and not targeted at the right market for us, plus it lacks the community that Etsy has. However what does upset me about Etsy is the lack of support they show artists when they need it the most.

Etsy claims that they will moderate between members when there are issues but honestly I have seen several stories where sellers who create original items had other sellers on Etsy steal their exact items and Etsy did nothing to help them. Most small sellers or hobbyists can't afford lawyers to defend their work and if Etsy doesn't step in, how can you stop other people from just selling your art without your permission?

So sellers are left to defend for themselves and disputes can get nasty. The harassing emails start, more items are stolen and people will go as far as attempting to destroy each other lives basically. Thankfully I've never had to deal with anyone like that but I've again heard the stories.

But all the finger pointing aside, isn't the idea of copying art just ruining the whole purpose of art? Why bother selling crafts if all you're doing is producing something created in the mind of someone else? You may as well go work in a factory then sell on Etsy?

Read more

Etsy: The Perfect Place for Craft Sellers ... And Thieves

So I've been selling my videogame crafts for about 2 years now on Etsy and is been a good little side hobby for me. I don't make a lot on the bead crafts but I do it for the fun of it. Lately the craft has been losing its fun side do to the huge amount of copycat artists and idea thieves on Etsy who are selling both the exact same designs as me and other sellers or just stealing our good ideas and making their own versions.
Now a lot of people sell videogame bead crafts on Etsy and a lot of us use original videogame sprites from retro game system, so I'm not complaining about other people selling the same Secret of Mana set as me because well, I don't own the rights to those sprite designs. That's not the issue here because the game companies encourage fan art. Hell, I've sold some of my work to Sega, Blizzard and Sony employees, so I don't think they have a problem.

What I'm talking about here today is when I come up with a unique bead design like my Patapon magnets or Loco Roco keychain (as seen above) which don't come in pixel sprite form in the first place and someone starts selling them on Etsy. See I know I don't own the rights to those characters - Sony does, but I did create the design for those magnets and that keychain, so when someone else comes along and starts selling that keychain or magnet design without my permission that's what irks me.

Read More