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May 11, 2006
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R.I.P.

Thu May 11, 2006, 8:49 PM
..

J O U R N A L



I just want to take a moment here and talk about the theft of art.  Yesterday I was informed of yet another rip of my photos.. there seems to be a plague of this stuff going on out there on the big bad internet.  Unfortunately there is not a whole lot one can do about these things.. even if legal pursuits are successful, they are an expensive endeavor and often not worth the hardship..

My good friend Bernie (`foureyes) has recently encountered a huge theft of his art when one of his photos was actually used for the cover of a hard-cover book by a major publishing house : [link] .. best of luck with your fight Bernie!

I have been 'ripped' many times in the past, both as a photographer and before that as an application skinner.  Although I'm quite certain nobody has profitted largely from my art, it is still offensive.. one tends to feel victimized ..not pleasant at all.

I am disgusted by this latest mass-rip : [link] .. I may have to start watermarking all my images. :no:

If you haven't heard about this yet, a fairly extensive list of offended artists from dA is available here: [link] ... apparently many complaints were directed toward the offending host-site and all the rips were taken down.  

My sincerest thanks go out to the people who took action here ... and in particular I'd like to thank `WaitingForTheWorms , !Purification , and ~environaut for alerting me to the situation in the first place.

Be well my friends.

Love y'all.

Skinner

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RECENT WOWS:
:thumb32788748:

:thumb32265632:


(if you can't click the thumbs, right-click 'em and 'open link')

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fire hazard

RANDOM DEVIANT
RANDOM DEVIATION
</u>

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MY PRINT STOREFRONT

latest prints:



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MY URBAN EXPLORATION PHOTOGRAPHY

~CellarDweller This new foray into a genre of photography completely different from my nature stuff has.. artistically speaking.. been an absolute breath of fresh air for me.  It's become, in fact, far more challenging and rewarding then I ever would have guessed.  I started with rural explorations such as old barns and abandoned farmhouse interiors and branched out into trespassing dangerous old industrial derelict buildings and shooting seedy alleyways at night in the worst parts of town...






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MY SKINS, ICONS & WALLPAPERS

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MY STOCK

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the secret
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GROUPS I SUPPORT

ArtistsForCharity

`ArtistsForCharity ..members donate a print to be sold with all proceeds going to UNICEF.

ArtForDeviants

~ArtForDeviants ..members donate a print to be sold with the proceeds going toward purchasing site-subscriptions for other deviants..

I'm now a member of ~Urban-Explorers & #UrbanExploration ..devoted and completely addicted to sneaking around in abandoned buildings.

Also a proud member of ~GreenDA and #NaturPics-club

  .... because the Earth matters :nod:

.



  • Mood: Mad
Add a Comment:
 
:iconmjwilliam:
*MJWilliam May 18, 2006  Professional Traditional Artist
Unbelievable. I just had a rant in my own journal about this. It's one thing when a third party like eBay, but when a publishing house does it... Disturbing! :shakefist:

The previous poster suggested watermarks, but unfortunately, thieves have gotten around those a while ago. It just doesn't stop them. The only solution, IMHO, is to go after them and sue the heck out of them every single time.
Reply
:iconwb-skinner:
sueing can be tough.. I certainly hope Bernie meets with some success..
Reply
:iconnaturephotography:
~NaturePhotography May 17, 2006   Photographer
watermarks!
Reply
:iconwb-skinner:
I hate watermarks...
Reply
:iconnaturephotography:
~NaturePhotography May 18, 2006   Photographer
yes yes as do I but you need to protect your beautiful work my friend!
Reply
:iconwb-skinner:
yes..but my work will no longer be beautiful with a watermark on it.. I feel that strongly against them. I suppose if one claims my work as thier own, I won't like it..but can live with it knowing they only have a small image which is no good to print..
Reply
:iconnaturephotography:
~NaturePhotography May 18, 2006   Photographer
I feel displaying your work on dv should be about sampling your prints, not to upload big photos so someone can come along and take it for themselves. Your work is beautiful with or without a watermark and people should understand that and respect that about whomever uses watermarks. Watermarks are not dumb, me being on this site I have realized that you can't trust no one. I am grateful for everyone that does use them and I respect them that much more for protecting there hard work. Dont get me wrong I do see your point and I guess you'll have to choose whats more important to you, someone steeling your small photo and claiming it as there own, or making a slight watermark across your photo somewhere. I tell you, your work is billiant and I look up to you for your talent and I want you to know nothing could ruin your photos, not even a watermark.

P.S. I use watermarks as you already know, so in saying that do you think my photos are 'not beautiful' ?

Good luck with everything, take care!

Crystal
Reply
:iconwb-skinner:
Well I certainly appreciate your opinions here Crystal .. an to answer your last question.. I've always felt that a photograph should capture the eyes entirely.. so much so that I go out of my way to include nothing distracting in the composition which may cause the eye to drift the wrong way when viewing.. its all about the flow of the eyes .. and where they finally rest. A watermark is extremely distracting from that flow.. so no ..I don't think it makes the photo 'less beautiful' .. but breaks the flow of my eye and becomes the final resting spot.. a distraction from the beauty.
Reply
:iconjlb2043:
:no: I'm so sorry to hear about this.
Reply
:iconincredi:
*incredi May 16, 2006   Photographer
I've had nothing stolen from my own photograpy (to my knowledge, at least) but I know it happens a lot...
Sorry it happened to you and Bernie...:hug:
Reply
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