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Disney have stolen my artwork

katiewoodger.tumblr.com

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Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#91

Post by tibbon »

speeder wrote: post #3
darxius wrote: post #2

I wonder what license the image was released under. While this could have been deliberate by Disney, I doubt they would use a (seemingly) very popular design on production material. Then again, things like this have happened.

Many times that I knew some sort of stuff like this happened, it was because one specific worker, KNEW that he was doing wrong, but did it wrong anyway to take the credit, and hope his bosses would not find out. This also apply when the "worker" is a boss, but working for a client, he do it in a lazy manner hoping his client won't notice... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbaland_plagiarism_controvers...

Whoa, I'm really shocked that the case essentially lost there several times. That's.... terrible. One of them because they "failed to register copyright in the US" according to the Wikipedia. I was under the impression that there was no real need to register under US copyright law as its an automatic right.

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#92

Post by leephillips »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #78
leephillips wrote: post #62

So far "the internet" seems to be on this artist's side, apparently because her work was stolen by a corporation. Recent history suggests, however, that if Andy Baio[0] or Shepard Fairey[1] had ripped her off, she would be excoriated for asserting her rights and lectured about the wonders of remix culture. [0] http://lee-phillips.org/music/whoIsTheDick/ [1] http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/08/entertainment/la-et-…

So, you think we should all grab our pitchforks and torches and go get her? What are you getting at?

That we "should"? No, I'm basically on her side, although I think GuiA, in a comment above, has a good point that this particular case is murky. What I was attempting to get at is that the sympathies of the internet mob seem to depend not on the merits of any particular copyright case, but on who is doing the copying. Sorry if this wasn't obvious.

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#93

Post by gregcohn »

austenallred wrote: post #17

I have worked with Disney's intellectual property teams in the past, and I'm blown away that this slipped under the radar. They are very up-tight about protecting their own IP and the brand of their princesses. If this were somebody selling a T-Shirt on eBay I would say, "Don't worry about it," but this is Disney. They know better. Their entire business model is based on intellectual property. Time to lawyer up.

The first thing that occurred to me is that the Disney artists (or contractors) probably came across the image on Tumblr or Pinterest or some similar social image-sharing network, stripped entirely of its original attribution.

It's entirely plausible that someone would have thought it was a Disney-owned image originally, and in circulation in violation of copyright.

If that's true, it's not an excuse for using someone else's work without permission, but it would be a sad and ironic commentary on the sharing and re-mixing economy.

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#94

Post by knowtheory »

GuiA wrote: post #73
leephillips wrote: post #62

So far "the internet" seems to be on this artist's side, apparently because her work was stolen by a corporation. Recent history suggests, however, that if Andy Baio[0] or Shepard Fairey[1] had ripped her off, she would be excoriated for asserting her rights and lectured about the wonders of remix culture. [0] http://lee-phillips.org/music/whoIsTheDick/ [1] http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/08/entertainment/la-et-…

Well, while Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" is now a "public domain" character, the depiction of her with a blue dress, white belt, and blonde hair with a black bow in it was very much created by Disney. In this case, the artist herself is remixing a visual design elaborated by Disney. So, yeah. It's murky, and the remix argument goes both ways.

> the depiction of her with a blue dress, white belt, and blonde hair with a black bow in it was very much created by Disney.

How do you figure? Have you seen the original illustrations? Because they depict Alice in essentially the same getup that Disney stylized with their own art style. However the character design (which is what we'd call it now) is essentially John Tenniel's original design:

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice2a.html

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#95

Post by clarkevans »

stevewilhelm wrote: post #58
jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how one prices out a worldwide license like this. Obviously if she put the prices at $1000/use, neither would Disney pay it nor would she recover that much from a court. But it's worth more than $0.01/use as well.

I would guess the fair price would be: 1) typical licence for image on a global website, and 2) some percentage of sales of that particular bag. I concur with others that have suggested just contacting Disney's Consumer Products division directly. I am sure they would want to fairly compensate the artist for her work. They will also want to reprimand the company from which they sourced the bag. https://www.disneycons…

Why would a fair price be relevant? I assume that statutory damages for copyright infringement would be far, far more than a fair price for the work if negotiated up-front. In other words, a retrospective license to cure infringement should probably be a bit "unfair".

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#96

Post by astrodust »

xsmasher wrote: post #4

The cosmetics bag looks like a straightforward copyright violation. The second example, where no artwork was copied but there may have been some influence, is more complicated. How do you prove the inspiration came from the "stolen" art, and not Disney's own film or the original story? http://www.cornel1801.com/disney/Alice-Wonderland-Painting-R...

Alice in Wonderland the story is in the public domain. Specific renditions may be copyrighted.

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#97

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #29
cjbprime wrote: post #6

> I’m so mad because I have no chance at getting Disney to do anything about it. For such a straightforward violation, I don't see why there's any call for pessimism. Send them an invoice for a worldwide license, follow it up with a lawyer letter (find someone willing to do no-win-no-fee if you want) once the invoice is overdue.

I wonder how one prices out a worldwide license like this. Obviously if she put the prices at $1000/use, neither would Disney pay it nor would she recover that much from a court. But it's worth more than $0.01/use as well.

Some subscribe to the view that infringement is stealing, and that when you're caught stealing you shouldn't be afforded an opportunity to simply pay the fair market price.

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#98

Post by GuiA »

cromulent wrote: post #88
GuiA wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, while Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" is now a "public domain" character, the depiction of her with a blue dress, white belt, and blonde hair with a black bow in it was very much created by Disney. In this case, the artist herself is remixing a visual design elaborated by Disney. So, yeah. It's murky, and the remix argument goes both ways.

The similarities are much more than "blue dress, white belt, and blonde hair with a black bow in it". In any case, Disney did not "very much create" that image. Here's Tenniels from 1866. http://www.goldmarkart.com/it-can-t-go-straight-you-know-if-... Blonde hair, white belt, black bow? Looks that way to me. Blue apron? Not very derivative.

Ha, good point (and same to the other post making the same remark below). I wasn't fully aware of Tenniels' drawings.

One could argue it makes the situation a little more clear cut then.

Re: Disney have stolen my artwork

#99

Post by nknighthb »

jerf wrote: post #51
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #40

Further proof that large media companies don't actually care about intellectual property. They care about their property. Whether it is Disney stealing lions[1] or Fox stealing songs[2], their concern for your property is non-existent, but they are willing to throw you in jail if you think about using theirs. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimba_the_White_Lion 2. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jonathan-coulto…

Let's give Disney qua Disney (as opposed to one artist somewhere, which is all we know for sure at this point) some time to respond before we unleash the mob. Past history certainly gives a non-zero probability that Disney will just try to throw their weight around, but let's give them the chance to do the right thing before we bury them. It makes the moral outrage that much more moral.

> Let's give Disney [...] some time to respond

Why should anyone give Disney more leeway than Disney gives natural persons they accuse of copyright infringement?

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