Another Artist Using Doll Likenesses Without Crediting?

Just going to throw this out there, but one of the two people who are friends with him that asked him on his wall about if he was stealing art was a girl named Cliodna Fae. Now, harassing random friends of his wouldn't seem logical or nice, obviously, *but* I have some reason to believe she may be part of the larger doll community (outside BJDs), as our mutual friend is Paulette Goodreau (of Goodreau dolls) *and* from what I can see of her from friends of friends, she makes doll jewlery, like necklaces with doll faces as pendants and stuff... Anyways, my point is, if anyone happens to know her or her art from other websites or whatever, then if one wanted to speak to a friend of his, she would probably be your best bet.

 

Another blogger, reviewing his stuff. Somebody who has compiled a nice, clear and polite account of the story, please send her a note!

 

And a link to his flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/97611602@N07/

 

I'm the one that made a dummy account, but it has my real last name still. xD
I doubt he'd add me as a friend.

 

I got a mail from FB that they deleted my photos, but it's entirely possible that he re-uploaded them afterwards and just switched them on private :/
We have no clue what he's sharing with his friends or posting on private sites, and it's obvious that he still thinks that he's in the right, even though his agents and publishers are on our side.
I get the feeling this dude definitely has some issues >_>

 

Okay, I asked and it had been posted on this FB page that morning. That's all I know at this particular moment.

The DFW BJD Facebook group is keeping tabs on this and I am reporting back to them as things occur here. I will also report what they find if it hasn't already been posted here.

 

The What the Flux website still has the book available for pre-order: http://whatthefluxcomics.com/webstore.php

 

Response from GMTA - http://gmtapublishing.com/. (I wrote them, linked them to the photographic evidence and suggested they examine the work he's done for them)

"I was not at all aware of this and I do very much apologize for any involvement we had with him. I'm very appreciative of you letting me know about what he's done and is doing. I will immediately be taking him off of my site and in no way do I condone his actions. Thank you again for letting me know. I'll be sure to rectify this as soon as possible. I am very sorry to all that have been stolen from, luckily GMTA has not used him or his work at all so we have been spared embarrassment and I thank you for that.

All the best to you and if you ever need GMTA for anything just let us know. "




ETA: looks like we're getting cookie cutter responses. But I don't blame them.
They truly did take him off the site, so that's pleasing

 

Has someone contacted What the Flux comics? Is what the Flux and GMTA the same company? I'm confused. I definitely think What the Flux should be contacted as it's been proven that his cover art is a stolen image!

 

Yeah, I didn't believe his story. How else did he get banned? Someone obviously had to report him as a thief, and an Admin must have had a complaint from an original copyright holder to actually ban or suspend him. My theory is he didn't even know the original artist, and he's just a compulsive liar.

 

Yes it has been done and they have responded, I think page 24

 

DeviantArt member, PoetofLore, wrote:
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"Under fair use law, especially after Cariou V Prince, the courts found appropriated and altered art protected. If he would have given proper attribution or citation to the originals, or if they had been altered more, he would probably be fine.

"Generally, courts define “transformative” use as when an author employs a copyrighted work as a type of raw material in creating his or her own information, aesthetics and insights"

Which is why Collages for example are fine, I could take someones picture, throw a couple apples in the eyes, a streetlamp, and bam, it is now mine. Think of it as a legal remix.

One of the reasons I took media and com law is to see how much of my writing is protected, luckily the succession of words is mostly under a stricter lock and key. However, change the form, change the perception and feel, and you very well will be able to walk away with it.
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What do you guys think? I sure do hope this guy doesn't get away with this!

Source (comments section): http://laughinggurl.deviantart.com/journal/Art-Thief-EXPOSED-438692010

 

Well, for one, he's claiming he has sketched and painted these, which is a definite lie. So, even if this held up under fair use law, he's lying about how he came about his 'work'. He didn't use just pieces, he saved a photo and used a filter and then claimed he sketched and painted it himself. He'd have to show proof that he did draw these, and he can't show that.

The good thing about this guy is he hasn't changed the pieces enough to count as transformative; I hesitate to say he isn't too smart, because I hate to be rude (and on the chance he does have an intellectual disability, that's not cool at all), but, his Photoshopped pictures are being presented as originals, not parody and not 'fan art'. This isn't his own vision of a BJD, it's a blatant rip-off of someone else's photos, especially the few that were found to be photos from the doll company websites themselves. And the polymer clay fairies/art of the fairies from DA are protected under their own medium. Now, had he claimed "this is fan art", he might be able to get away with posting them, but not to make a profit.

In short, he won't get away with it: he may not be able to be arrested for posting these Photoshopped pictures, but his comic isn't going to be sold-- no publishing company is going to risk being sued over it.

 

No, he isn't going to get away with it, because he keeps insisting all of it is his work. He's giving NO credit to the original artists and, like PoetofLore said: the images aren't altered enough to consider it 'transformative'.

EDIT:
Fairie_Speak beat me to it .

 

Silk, I've got your back. *fist bump*

 

Whether it's a good thing or not, it hardly matters if he could win a case in a court of law. He hasn't made enough money to go to court over this, so he will probably cry uncle and do what the lawyers tell him to do -- until he thinks he can get away with it again.

I think what offends me the most about this whole case is that he took art that was really beautiful and made it ugly, and STILL was able to make money off of it. Sigh.

 

The problem in this case is though:
a) he didn't properly citate the source material
b) he made money with this
c) the alterations are actually "minimal" in terms of the time he puts into it and the actual amount of work done to make it "his own work"
d) As far as I'm informed the "fair use" law does NOT cover what he's doing, due to several reasons.

In Germany we have a law for c), which says that the "Schaffungshöhe" needs to be high enough in terms of time/afford/amount of change put into the "new work" towards the source material.
Schaffungshöhe basically describes the "amount of own work" on such a piece, and applying a few PS filters does not count as "enough work".
And like I've already mentioned, Fair Use doesn't really work in his case.

 

I have a dummy account that I use only for games in FB, and He's smart and does not accept friends request in this days.. I don't know yours, but I'm sure that mine and my friends photos are still up in his gallery, 'cos the direct link that I saved still work, so I suspect that others to are also up.
Here an exemple:

if you still can see this, also the gallery is up >___<

 

Here is a list of links for anyone who wants to get updated:

His Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.c.nelson1

The Grove on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGroveComic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cinemadragon

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/dmca/turn-the-creative-vision-of-the-road-to-war-into-reality-submitt

DeviantArt (alternate 10 yr old account): http://ghostdragonpoet.deviantart.com/

WhattheFluxComics (The Grove Comic still up for sale): http://whatthefluxcomics.com/webstore.php

 

^ And the flickr link posted above: