Artists Using Doll Likenesses without Crediting [Mijn Schatje discussion]

she just keeps digging herself into deeper and deeper holes.
i really hope her fans realize what she is doing and stop buying her stuff.
she contradicts herself everytime she posts, and then deletes the comments exposing her.
she really needs to give up this little act she has going.

 

Actually, I think she's doing it for legal reasons. If she admits at this point that she's done something wrong, it stuffs up any chance she has of winning in any court case brought against her later on by, say, Volks or Luts, or Audrey Kawasaki. If she holds her hands up now and says "Mea culpa" then she opens herself up to claims for compensation from everyone she's ripped off.

 

I have had two of her fromer fans contact me and let me know they were disappointed in the discovery. So we are reaching some of them, even if it doesn't seem like it.

 

Ugg, okay.. I felt a little bad for a while but I don't at at any more. I think I am getting a better idea what kind of person she is. Initially I wanted to believe that she was just an art student and traced when it was more acceptable, then got in over her head. But now I think she just wanted all the fame and recognition she could squeeze out, and crediting people would just take a bit of that away from her. I am sick of her deleting comments that are against her when they are polite and logical. Here are some of her myspace comments that dive me nuts:
Someone said:
wow I never knew, although I have to ask, why even trace though? Using are references or creating via 3d is one thing as long as it ends up different and unique but it all takes a lot more talent.
And she responded:
well do what I did just for fun, or at least give it a try, and then get back to me and show me, alright ?

She obviously thinks it is okay just because it is "hard" to vector an images. I have to say, I do vector art and 3D art (which is like vector art to the extreme) and it isn't hard. Like everything, some people take to it easier than others, but if you are tracing something and have a good feel for it it isn't hard at all. All it requires is patience, not much skill. You can see a huge difference in the quality of what she does versus what she traces, so obviously it takes a LOT more talent to do it on your own with out a template. I want to do something exactly like she does just to show her, but I don't have time at the moment. I am sure I could get it done in a week. If this debate is still going on after I have pictures of my own doll I am so going to a vector picture of her and show the community really what is involved.

Also someone responded with "trop nul! ceux-là n(ont certainement jamais chatouillé une courbe de bézier!" which I think means something like "these people obviously never touched a bézier curve in their life" (I don't speak French so I don't know). I hate that people think it is okay because "vectoring things is a "very hard skill" and she has so much detail and puts so much time into her work". I'd love to see her try to sculpt a doll and then say what really takes time and skill.

Sorry, I normally don't write when I am angry, but ugg, I am sick of the way she is dealing with the situation.

 

Yes! This absolutely infuriated me D:<
She didn't do it JUST FOR FUN. She traced dozens of images to SELL for thousands. And as you said, it isn't as hard as she leads others to think vectoring is.

 

I'm extremely heartened by Denny's words (and DIM's actions). I was shocked at her announcement, because it came across as if DIM didn't think it was all that serious an issue.

I think her claim of having poor Englishs skills is just an excuse to hide behind so that she can pretend ignorance/confusion/miscommunication whenever it's convenient for her.

 

I really think DIM should be taking more serious action, though I respect Denny's decision ultimately.

The fact is, if she gets away with this she might start doing it again. Plus, she's already made thousands from DIM's images. Can't they at least demand the money goes to a charity or something, rather than themselves if that's not what they want?

It's so enraging seeing her lie and lie and lie! Radiotrash, I think we should definitely put more overlays on your site! People need to see the sheer extent of her copying!

 

Oh, I wasn't shocked by Mijn's statement at all. I think it is getting obvious she is twisting around words. I wouldn't even be surprised if she said she talked to all the companies and everyone was perfectly happy with her "promoting" their dolls or something like that. The sad thing is for most of these companies it will be difficult to pursue legal action, so she will be able to twist that into them saying it is okay. I don't blame any company for not getting legally involved - I know it can be expensive and messy. I wish DIM could post their statements to Mijn's audience but she would obviously take it down right now, not matter how polite and logical it was. By the way, Denny Kim, I think you are handling this issue the best way you can and thank you for keeping the community involved. I hate when people exploit other's hard work for their benefit. Too bad taking down all her images doesn't really do anything to her - she already profited from it all.

 

Well, she has now been warned by Denny IN WRITING which is really important from a legal standpoint. If she continues to use DIM images, this will make a court case easier because Denny will have solid proof that he did not want her using them, as opposed to a "he said, she said" situation.
I'm sorry for Denny- he is such a nice person.

 

This may be true, especially if she's now getting advice from lawyers, which I sincerely hope she is. Pleading innocent (even after she's already admitted things she's now taking back) is probably her last hope.

Unfortunately, the copying is so blatantly, shockingly obvious that I'm not sure that "not admitting anything" at this point is really going to help her much. Honestly, she could avoid a lot of hassle if she'd just admit what she did, face the consequences, and learn from it; otherwise, this will probably drag on for years, and her reputation is already sullied.

This is a really good example of how you just can't get away with anything (especially copyright infringement) if it is remotely connected to the internet. People WILL find out, and you WILL get caught.

For example, I once commissioned an artist to make me a drawing that she later put on her web site to display. Several months later, a friend pointed me toward on eBay auction for a cross stitching pattern that someone had made using this art I had paid the artist to make me. The person took it from the gal's web site without permission, probably thinking that no one would ever make the connection, and made a profit by selling cross stitch patterns.

I'm sure Schatje thought the same thing--no one would ever figure out what she'd been doing. But, it is impossible for these connections not to be made on the internet.

 

Three cheers for Denny!

Is there any way (through url or history or something) that we can solidly prove that the comment from her face book came from her? If we have that blatent lie in hand to compare with Denny's statement it could create a powerful argument.

 

That is a really good example that really translates into what Mijn did in this case. Thanks for posting that- it makes the whole thing a little easier to understand.

 

This is all speculation but I actually don't think she has a lawyer at hand. If she does, she hasn't been telling him/her the truth, because at this stage, no copyright lawyer would say, 'Tracing without credit or permission is not a problem! You are safe!' Or, she's lying about them saying that.

 

"Asking a copyright lawyer" could really mean anything. It could mean that she has HIRED a copyright lawyer to specifically advise her in this case. OR- it could also mean she emailed an online legal advice site, or asked her friend's brother's uncle who is a lawyer about it, etc.

One thing I would advise Denny and anyone else who has a personal interest in this case- PRINT OUT AND BACK UP any communication you have with her. My hard drive recently crashed and I lost everything on the computer- including about 90% of all of my photographs, which like an idiot I had not backed up. Luckily, I had backed up all the files for my Resin Life book, though, including all the correspondence from the doll companies.

The emails from her might be really important in the future, so be sure you save them somehow. I know it sounds stupid and obvious to say back up your files, but when my computer crashed, the guy at the apple store said that about 90% of people do not back up (until their hard drive crashes and they lose everything).

 

Agreed, so very agreed. I do 3D stuff for a living, and while I don't do a lot with vectors in 2D art... ugh.

This really is partly what I don't understand. There are a couple of decent, commercial-use-OK BJD models for 3D software. She obviously already has the relevant skills that would let her use them -- and it's easy to learn in a week, tops, for 'create simple reference image for 2D art use'. This would have provided her with reference that would have been 100% legitimate to use that she could customize to her heart's content -- which would probably take less time than finding an ideal reference image otherwise if something specific was in mind. For a relatively small outlay of cash -- less than half what she charges for a single inkjet print -- she could have had everything she needed to do this.

It just really boggles the mind to me.

It is obvious, because of the amount she's charging for these items, and how many high profile accounts she seems to have connections with, that she has legitimate avenues open to her to produce the same kind of work. Buying her own doll and a camera is a pretty obvious option as well. It doesn't even need to be an elegant or glamorous photo if it's being used for reference, too!

It's all quite frustrating and sad.

 

Denny, you are a gentleman as always. I need to order more stuff from DIM!

 

Thank you so much Denny for posting here. Hearing from you and others who have been hurt or mislead by her is very important. ^_^

In response to a couple of other post here:
I was thinking and I think that Denny as well as other companies are doing what they can for right now. This is all so new to everyone right now and I am sure they can not be too rash. Even if the companies are taking legal action, it might be best for them not to give out too much information on the web. I just hope that they will continue to let us know what is going on even if they cannot be that detailed about it.

Speaking of, has Volks said anything after their initial response of they are forwarding the email to their headquarters? I am very interested in what they think of all this.

 

No problem, I'm glad it was helpful!

Good point! Unless it were a lawyer that was kind of crooked. I think you could find a lawyer that would tell you anything is okay and defend it as long as you paid them enough money.

 

i'm interested as to what Volks will say too. they're the biggest fish in the BJD hobby and i think only an idiot would try to challenge someone of their reputation.

as for the whole lawyer thing, she seems to keep changing her tune a lot. you never know, she might just be saying these things to throw us off.

 

I think the best thing to do is if you see something like this, screen shot it and perhaps email/pm radiotrash and let her know you have it since she is the one dealing with letting artists and companies know. That way the companies are not bombarded with emails every time she makes a post. Of course we do not want to bombard radiotrash either....hmm...radiotrash I hope you do not mind this suggestion! I am not sure what would be best, perhaps someone with a better idea than me will come along.