For Surely Someday...

new-lightbulb-in-town

((So because I wanted to here’s some miscellaneous facts about Lb!!))

- Refuses to leave the freezer section of a store without drawing a smiley face on at least one of the doors

- Very easily distracted. (“Ooh look there’s a butterfly!!” “Oh, nice” “… What were we talking about again??”)

- Cannot eat a peep without feeling extremely guilty afterwards

- Always has a nice conversations with spiders before letting them back outside. She calls them ‘house guests’.

- Has a billion pictures saved of sunsets/skies she found pretty

- Just likes taking pictures in general! Half the reason why she keeps her phone on her all the time

- Once her and Tea Bag tried to play through Monopoly. They both fell asleep on the floor.

- Gets really into shows/anything else she likes

- Since Tea Bag has been more interested in games recently, Lightbulb has liked to play games along with him!

- Lightbulb either sleeps way too much or not at all. No inbetween.

- Sends the weirdest texts to people at 3 in the morning. Why is she even u

- Loves to sing and dance along to songs she likes! Always done in privacy, she’s too embarrassed to do it in front of others.

- May or may not have had caught the kitchen on fire multiple times while attempting to cook.

- If there’s a chalkboard or any other thing you’re allowed to draw on in a store, you bet Lightbulb’s going to be doodling on it.

- Once when she was bored she cut small squares out from graphing paper. She now has a lot of paper squares and no idea what to do with them.

- She has a scrapbook where she keeps various things she likes! She wrote “Lightbulb’s Scrapbook” on the front with glitter. Hearts included.

- Sleeps with two stuffed animals, Blueberry and Red! (Red was given to her by Jar!)

kiraraneko

**THIS is what I have been dealing with on a constant basis for the past six months.**

In December 2017 I was first notified of my [Yin Yang Rats] design being sold unauthorized on the website AliExpress. I wrote a [Journal] at the beginning of the year explaining how difficult and time-consuming it was to remove. Unfortunately, my battle was not over as I have been chasing down thefted and altered versions of my design across the internet ever since.

I cannot even put into words how frustrating and disheartening this kind of thing is. This design is very special to me and I created it with everyone who loves rats in mind. It is an absolute disgrace to my artwork and an insult to me as an artist to see my work stolen, altered and slapped onto products without a second thought as to who made it or what it represents. Instead of being able to create new art, I’ve had to spend all my time and energy in hunting this theft down, writing DMCA Takedown notices, and corresponding with various legal departments. I am absolutely exhausted. My motivation to draw is lost. I’ve had to spend so much energy just to defend myself and the fight is far from over.

Recently, things took an even worse turn. One of the places listed here - MerchVibes on Etsy - submitted a counter-claim to my report of copyright infringement. The only way to proceed is with a court order. I am completely and utterly lost. My art has been stolen, altered, and sold without my permission and now I have to go to court if I want anything to be done about it. I’m looking to register this artwork with a copyright, but since it’s happening after the infringement, I don’t know how much good it will do. I’m also looking into what to do about getting a lawyer, despite having absolutely no money to afford one and no idea who to trust. It’s an utter mess I don’t even have the energy to elaborate on.

I am not the only artist that these places have stolen from. PLEASE let artists know if you recognize their art being used without permission:

- AliExpress
- MyMerchandise on Amazon
- MerchVibes on Etsy
- TeeChip
- TeeSpring
- Octoprintz

I know it is unfair to put the burden of fact-checking on the consumer. You should be able to trust that the products you buy are legitimate. Unfortunately that is far from the truth of things. Please, please scrutinize companies - especially those online - before you buy products with artwork on them. Be suspicious if the store has a wide and conflicting range of art styles and images. Most of these places are even too lazy to crop off the signatures and copyrights of the artists. And please god if you are a tattoo artist or looking to get a tattoo, it is SO easy to ask the artist for permission or even commission a custom one! I put my artwork online so that I can make a living, NOT so you can steal it!

This is legitimately the kind of thing that destroys artists like me. I am losing profits, I am losing time, I am losing motivation and I am losing the will to even create and share my work. I do not get reimbursed for any of these things. I do not get exposure. This problem does not go away. I do not get to “win” anything. I will probably be dealing with this for the rest of my artistic career.
If I want to continue to put up a fight against intellectual property theft, it is likely going to get expensive. I don’t want to resort to begging, but if anyone would like to help support me and the continued creation of my artwork, please consider donating via [Paypal] or [Ko-fi], or making a purchase from my [Etsy], [RedBubble], or [TeePublic] stores.
Thank you ♥

seedydemigod

They have stolen your intellectual property and you absolutely have grounds to look into seeking legal aid. Though I believe the tattoo is transformative and therefore fair use? Adding this screenshot of an article I found because though it’s info you probably have by now, it’s of interest to artists in similar situations: