Post #706838 by TikiTacky on Wed, Feb 5, 2014 12:08 PM

On 2014-02-05 11:54, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
TikiTacky - I am really sorry to have to say this to a member of the tiki tribe, but....WAKE UP! You are so wrong, and being fooled.

You are falling right into the trap these sites are using. They require NO PROOF, (that's right I said NO PROOF!) when you up load an image for THEM TO SELL. They sell YOUR ART on items, and then give a royalty back to who ever up loaded them. So, who up loaded then? Funny how no one can ever quite seem to then find that person when someone finaly notices whats being sold is stolen art, and lawyers are dragged in at great expense.. They often disappear. Can't be found because they moved. Or are broke and have no money. I think they are a Cafe Press stooge often, getting their cut, while CafePress reaping in the dough.

What happened to the copy right laws in America? They are being broken on the web every day.

Sorry to be so mad, but lets see how you'd feel after having your life's work stolen, your only $250,00.000 sale taken away from you.

Nobody seems to care. The law is being twisted. The law is being broken. Artist's life work is being stolen.

Then someone like you comes along and sez "Oh...it's not the web site's fault." The web sites are making it easy for crooks to break copy right law. So, who's fault is that? Santa Clause? Micky Mouse...no...must be something to do with the web site...

I urge you to educate yourself . Please, Go to this "Artis Rights Blog" and read about how this is not only happening now but is spreading. They ripped off me. Crazy Al, and right now are ripping of Sam Gambinoi - and he even had his image registered with the copy right office, attained a lawyer, and still could not figure out how to stop them.

http://networkedblogs.com/Tvc3i

Brad,

You misunderstand me. I absolutely agree that it's a nightmare that your work has been stolen. I worked as a graphic designer for many years, and I understand well the concept of copyright infringement. It's something nomeus and I are working diligently to try and prevent from happening over on The Tikipedia, and it's very frustrating to have to delete articles because someone copied and pasted someone else's work thinking it didn't matter.

But what we're talking about isn't how I feel about it, but what the law says. Cafe Press requires you to click a box testifying that you are the owner of the work. How would they be able to have anyone PROVE that their work is their own? Even major book publishers run into this problem. Sometimes, writers will plagiarize, and the publishers are left to clean up the mess because the writer lied. They simply don't have the resources to cross-check everything that is produced against everything that has ever been written. There's literally no way to do that. It's "unfair burden" in legal terms.

I'm not saying that Cafe Press isn't culpable in any way. Maybe there are additional measures they can take to reduce this kind of thing. I would imagine if they required people to submit a copy of their driver's license, passport, or other government issued ID before they sold that they'd put an end to a lot of this. I also imagine that they must have identification of the publisher already, because they have to issue payments to these people, so this shouldn't be so difficult. But, as a non-lawyer, I have difficulty imagining that you have a a case against Cafe Press.

Believe me when I tell you that I hope that you get the money you are owed, and that the person who stole your work is suitably punished, and that Cafe Press is forced to make changes to their business model to put an end to this. But ultimately many people are thieves, and everyone else suffers because of their shitty nature.

My heart goes out to you Brad, it really does. And I hope I'm wrong and that you are able to get the money that's word to you. But from the very little I do know about the law, I worry that you may not be able to win a suit against Cafe Press.