Relentless Copycat
October 5th, 2006 Filed in: News & Updates Jump to commentsA fellow visitor contacted me today regarding my Illustrator tutorials being ripped by a web development company, called Prowebb. This is not the first time my work has been STOLEN. It shocked me when I’m being doubted about not being the original author of the materials. When I kindly asked for my work to be taken off their website, the response I got in return was: “How do I know you are the original owner of the content.” How can I prove it? Well, some of the tutorial screenshots have my logo on it.
It is illegal to publish any copyright material on a website without giving credit and being authorized to do so. Besides the law, there is also an ethical aspects involved. All people, not just designers, know the basic concept of claiming work that is not yours to be established as stealing. You can be inspired by someone else’s work but don’t steal. Your actions reflect your personality, and to certain extent, your capabilities. Ironically, this company is providing web design and development services.
The last email I got from them was: “I will have the tutorials you mentioned below modified to insure they are not breaking any laws.” So, does this mean it is ok to steal, as long you can find a way to around the laws?
Final Update & Conclusion
Oct 27, 2006
Prowebb has finally accepted my request and removed all my tutorials on their site. And as I promised, I have removed all screen captures and links that are referenced to Prowebb in my post. Thank you for all your support. You guys have made a difference.
October 8th, 2006 at 4:47 am
Public Cease and Desist
There you go, Nick just send them a Public Cease and Desist to there website and there ISP and Hosting Provider after they get the Public Cease and Desist they have to remove the content by law.
October 7th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
This is really poor business behaviour from the company that have stolen your work. Who are they?
October 7th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
You should take legal action either way. It is absolutely wrong that they just stole your tutorials from under your nose and make profit from it! As a fellow designer, I am pissed with you, and I hope a solution comes quickly.
October 7th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Nick,
why don’t you digg this and see how high you can get it. You will likely get more traffic and show up who has really done the work. You could also contact their ISP.
Your website is great.
October 7th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
Ah, well, these folks DID steal one of my tutorials. I just looked through their Illustrator tutorials and found my cloud tutorial. Original tutorial is here:
http://www.ergodraw.com/tutorials/Cartoon_Clouds/cartoon_clouds_01.php
October 7th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
I’ve had this happen as well to a few tutorials I wrote a while back. They removed any mention of the author (me) as well as the Web site name.
You could always name your files with n_design in front of the image name. They’d then have to go to all of the trouble (if they even do) of modifying the file names. Another option would be to include a small version of your logo in the image; perhaps lower it’s opacity so it’s not overwhelmingly visible.
October 7th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
I’m sorry to hear you got ripped off, Nick. One of the inescapable troubles of creative business that there are always lesser folks who rip off the genuine creators.
It’s happened so long I’ve come to view it as a cost of doing business. The value inherent in having unique created work only lasts until someone else rips it off. The best economic strategy is to stay ahead of the rip-offs and try to realize the value of the work before it’s ripped off.
Lawyering up is always a possibility, but it’s rarely a sound economic decision.
Having said that…if you can find no satisfaction writing a personal letter to the “content provider,” follow it up with a letter to their web presence provider. Explain that their client has violated your copyrights of work that took considerable investment to develop, that you have contacted them with a request to cease and desist the use of your work, and they continue to distribute work they do not have the rights to use.
Can’t promise anything, but if their web hosting company takes it seriously (and they often do) it might wake up the offenders up when their domain stops working.
Incidentally…while the copyright was indeed violated, the far more egregious violation (in the eyes of intellectual property folks, lawyers, etc) is the misappropriation of your brand…the logo, names, and images which represent your business image.
Y’see…while copyright is about your right to get the rewards for a given workwork, brand and trademark misuse is viewed as an assault on your reputation and can affect your entire livelihood.
Here’s wishing you well and good luck with it!
October 6th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Pathetic bastards…
Your site is great and its a source of inspiration for a lot of ppl… we all know who the real designer is. Keep you head up, and keep up the good job :)
PS. if you know a lawyer that could do you a favor… let him call the bastards and sweat a little :):):)
October 6th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
It’s really sad, but unless you want to pursue any legal action, I don’t think they’ll do much of anything. I’m not 100% sure on entertainment law, but if you can prove that you created it first, you own the rights to it. Don’t know if it’s worth the trouble…
October 6th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
oh wow, SO lame… i am sorry that those idiots aren’t offering to pay you for the rights or something.. that sucks mate