Art theft by GameSpy

In the history of man, power has been used many times to take advantage of others. It has happened once again, and GameSpy is behind everything this time. They're one of the largest gaming sites out there, but unfortunately, they aren't a good role model any longer to the gaming community, as they have been proven to steal material of various respected artists to use as parts of their own network/community. Apparently, this doesn't seem to be the work of a single GameSpy employee either, quite a few people seem to be aware of this copyright infringement and utmost disrespect of artists.

Feel free to read the whole thing in this forum thread:

http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=35030


According to recent statistics, artists make up 1% or less of the human population. Injuring this fragile percentage of talented individuals is a severe crime, and cannot be justified by any means. To quote Ian Jones from the sijun forums; "I hope they crash and burn for it."

It's a shame and an atrocity, especially since I myself am also an artist. Gamespy needs to burn for this, in the courts.

Its was Tacox's fault

That is quite disappointing, I used to think of GameSpy as such a good network...

Its was Tacox's fault

That's humor for a nonhumorous situation.

Its was Tacox's fault That's humor for a nonhumorous situation.

It's a website, not like someone just dies or anything. lol

You never know, some gamers could be mourning.

The kind of gamers who buy 'powergloves' and attach rumble shakers to their dicks, yeah.

Exactley.

Means they need a life...

I dont know, I never liked gamespy but jeez. I dont think its that big of a deal. I mean I know when I made a website I was guilty for doing that. I mean I took Blizzard Pictures, cut the face of a ghost out and use it as a avatar. <~~~~ Look now I have a moving one, but the one I had before was still. I mean its not my work but Im still using it, its not that big of a deal. Sure if blizzard told me to take it off I would. I dont see why its such a big deal. If Artist truly wanted credit for their work or didn't want their work up there, tell them to take it off, they HAVE to listen. Jeez, if your THAT protective of your work you should of known that people do things like this and should keep it offline. But yeah I WILL admit however Gamespy DID make a mistake. I mean, if I were them I'd draw it myself or hire a staff member that can draw and let him make avatars. But whatever, I really dont think people should get worked up about this. Only time you should get worked up is if the artist tells gamespy to remove it but they refuse to, thats a WHOLE different story. Right now, those that wanted art removed, got them removed. Same thing goes with MP3's, Burn CDs etc. Who the hell gives you the right? No one, but your really not making a profit are you? Your just downloading the songs you love and putting it on CD. Of course now they stopped it but thats because the Artists complained and crap. Get the idea? Alright, good, now I hope people stop complaining about a small little picture on a forum page for some guy's favorite character if the artist never spoke to him about it.

Editted: Ah and let me just say this. This is just my opinion on how I feel. You dont have to agree with me, but I said what I felt. I mean, unless they themselves said "This work is OUR work, we made it and then cut out the avatars from it" then I dont feel there is any wrong in it.

It WASNT their work, and they had NO permission to take artwork from professionals and steal it. It's a federal CRIME mr. ghost. Ie: In lamen's term, the Gamespy Mods are Criminals.

Hey Tai! Did you make that avatar of yours? Really? Do you have all the proof you can back it up with? What if it was actually My work your using for the avatar? Oh no, your stealing my work! Im now sueing you for all the money you have. Dont use that avatar anymore. In fact, dont use anymore you find on the net since your actually stealing form someone. Hey Livewire, did you make Squall from FF8? No? Then stop using that avatar, its property of Square's designers. Stop it! Yeah I'll give up my ghost one also, but after all of you give up your own. Jeez...whats up with making such a big deal. You know what, Im so glad they did it now. Im hoping they do it again. Get it through your heads, if you put your damn art on the net, get ready to defend it. Its the INTERNET. I.N.T.E.R.N.E.T. INTERNET. Your work WILL be TAKEN and used. So if you see your artwork where you dont want it, tell them to take it off. Otherwise, they'll do what they feel. Until blizzard sends me a letter saying I can't use a Ghost as my avatar for a non-profit purpose, I'll use it on any forum I post in! Lets face it, not everyone is an Artist, people depend on you to draw their favorite characters. So all they do is cut the face and use as an Avatar for a website...omg. (Why the hell am I defending a site I dont even like?). ANYWAY, listen, from now on, you artist put on whatever site you put your pictures on that these pieces of art may not be used either for anything, not even avatars, may not be adjusted, may not be formatted, may not even be changed in size or editted in any way. And post that somewhere people can read it clearly and also post it on every picture. Also, do your normal artistic signature right on the face of every character picture you make. Yeah its a shame you have to do this, but do it or start browsing websites to tell them to take it off.

Are all the websites on that network down for everyone else too?

For the past couple of days I haven't been able to visit gamespy.com fileplanet.com or anything else owned by them...

You know what, Im so glad they did it now. I'm hoping they do it again. Get it through your heads, if you put your damn art on the net, get ready to defend it. It's the INTERNET. I.N.T.E.R.N.E.T. INTERNET. Your work WILL be TAKEN and used. So if you see your artwork where you dont want it, tell them to take it off. Otherwise, they'll do what they feel.

Okay, first off, you are horribly wrong. People CAN'T do what they want with copyrighted material. Warez are illegal as well, but individuals don't usually get a lawsuit on their tail as the amount of people with some kind of warez on their computers are too great for slow processes like that. Instead, the lawsuits are aimed for larger sources of trouble, such as those spreading the warez out on their website, sharing it to a large scale via Kazaa, selling CD's with warez and so on.

Now, while it would take Blizzard forever to sue every single individual who uses a starcraft, warcraft or diablo avatar or graphic ofr their site, they just won't. First off, it'd be too easy to hide all the edvidence by deleting it from one's computer. Secondly, it has a free comercial meaning so Blizzard gets more sales as samples of their work spread around the web.

Does that sound just the same as a large corporations stealing the work of respected artists, most WITH copyrighted materils? In fact, having a giant like GameSpy shrink and mutilate your precious work by turning it into a small avatar won't exactly work well for promoting the artists, especially as he gets no credits for his work whatsoever. Of course, if he did get credits but hadn't granted his permission to let GameSpy used the work, they'd be in trouble anyway. They just hoped no-one would find out, but now it happened, and they'll likely try to conceal the images now, claiming it was a mistake that some one of their ignorant mods added.

ANYWAY, listen, from now on, you artist put on whatever site you put your pictures on that these pieces of art may not be used either for anything, not even avatars, may not be adjusted, may not be formatted, may not even be changed in size or editted in any way. And post that somewhere people can read it clearly and also post it on every picture. Also, do your normal artistic signature right on the face of every character picture you make. Yeah its a shame you have to do this, but do it or start browsing websites to tell them to take it off.

Ever heard about digital watermarks? Besides, over here, there are laws that prevent you from stealing other people's work, despite a lack of signature and copyright.

Hey Tai! Did you make that avatar of yours? Really? Do you have all the proof you can back it up with? What if it was actually My work your using for the avatar? Oh no, your stealing my work! Im now sueing you for all the money you have. Dont use that avatar anymore. In fact, dont use anymore you find on the net since your actually stealing form someone. Hey Livewire, did you make Squall from FF8? No? Then stop using that avatar, its property of Square's designers. Stop it! Yeah I'll give up my ghost one also, but after all of you give up your own. Jeez...whats up with making such a big deal. You know what, Im so glad they did it now. Im hoping they do it again. Get it through your heads, if you put your damn art on the net, get ready to defend it. Its the INTERNET. I.N.T.E.R.N.E.T. INTERNET. Your work WILL be TAKEN and used. So if you see your artwork where you dont want it, tell them to take it off. Otherwise, they'll do what they feel. Until blizzard sends me a letter saying I can't use a Ghost as my avatar for a non-profit purpose, I'll use it on any forum I post in! Lets face it, not everyone is an Artist, people depend on you to draw their favorite characters. So all they do is cut the face and use as an Avatar for a website...omg. (Why the hell am I defending a site I dont even like?). ANYWAY, listen, from now on, you artist put on whatever site you put your pictures on that these pieces of art may not be used either for anything, not even avatars, may not be adjusted, may not be formatted, may not even be changed in size or editted in any way. And post that somewhere people can read it clearly and also post it on every picture. Also, do your normal artistic signature right on the face of every character picture you make. Yeah its a shame you have to do this, but do it or start browsing websites to tell them to take it off.

A licensed piece of public property is different then a private work of art, mr. know it all. Characters from famous, or well reknown - or even not well known - pieces of art that have been SOLD as such in a manga, magazine, comic, game, story, book, movie, series, tv, or film, are free to use by and for the public, as they not only promote the product and company, but increase their sales and their PR. Private works of art, ie: works that are NOT used for those purposes, and are personal expressions and intellectual holds and rights to their original artist, THAT is art theft and breaking the law. You need some re-education boy.

You're an evil little kid that needs a good spanking, with a spiked board made out of rusted steel nails.

Infact I'm willing to bet you have no talent in anything useful what so ever...

Oh yeah...Im an Evil little Kid...Im sure your into that Kinky spanking stuff eh? Anyway, honestly I really dont know why Im defending a site I dont like, its just that I feel it doesn't quite matter. Also, I dont care if its public, or private art, if its on the net, I consider it up for grabs if no one claims it. Call me evil then! Thats right, I am evil! And yes, if I see private arts of non-well known, I'll take those too and make avatars of it. Want to stop me? Go ahead, I can care less. Warning to all you artist, you make a work I like, and dont tag it up with 'non-stealing marks', Im going to make an avatar of it and I am going to CONTINUE to use it until you tell me to take it off. Im going to forget the existance of this thread. As for Gamespy, man I hate you, but I hope you continue to do what you did. Make avatars and only take them down when Artist say which arts are theirs, back up with proof and tell you to remove it.

Im so Evil Mwa ha ha ha! -.-; Anyway, off to more important threads.

Nobody answered my post =(

Does www.gamespy.com load up for you?

*edit*
It works now. However, for the past two days, I couldn't get fileplanet or gamespy to load.

Oh yeah...Im an Evil little Kid...Im sure your into that Kinky spanking stuff eh? Anyway, honestly I really dont know why Im defending a site I dont like, its just that I feel it doesn't quite matter. Also, I dont care if its public, or private art, if its on the net, I consider it up for grabs if no one claims it. Call me evil then! Thats right, I am evil! And yes, if I see private arts of non-well known, I'll take those too and make avatars of it. Want to stop me? Go ahead, I can care less. Warning to all you artist, you make a work I like, and dont tag it up with 'non-stealing marks', Im going to make an avatar of it and I am going to CONTINUE to use it until you tell me to take it off. Im going to forget the existance of this thread. As for Gamespy, man I hate you, but I hope you continue to do what you did. Make avatars and only take them down when Artist say which arts are theirs, back up with proof and tell you to remove it. Im so Evil Mwa ha ha ha! -.-; Anyway, off to more important threads.

They WERE marked with non stealing marks, they're called SIGNATURES.

And don't forget, they wouldn't HAVE avatars if there weren't artists to make them. So just shut up.

A licensed piece of public property is different then a private work of art, mr. know it all. Characters from famous, or well reknown - or even not well known - pieces of art that have been SOLD as such in a manga, magazine, comic, game, story, book, movie, series, tv, or film, are free to use by and for the public, as they not only promote the product and company, but increase their sales and their PR.

Actually, this statement is not true. If anything, published and licensed works of art (book covers, game boxes, TV/movies, game screen shots, etc ) are even MORE off limits than private works! Those images are copyrighted to the companies who published them. Technically speaking, all fan art is a violation of the original artists and the licensed publishers copyrights.

This truth was more than likely the catalyst for GameSpys' Avatars Inc site actually being pulled since they were in fact using licensed characters (from the likes of WotC, Disney, Square, Fox, MGM, etc) without permission from the respective studios who's works were swiped. The individual artists really couldn't afford to do anything more than complain, but those major companies have both the right and power to sue.

So even as artists (espcially as artists!), we should be mindful of where our own art is coming from. I personally won't do fan art anymore and i never use any other artists work without permission. In fact, my husband and i recently began a webpage for our FFXI linkshell and i wouldn't even let him use screenshots that we took from beta on our webpage until we got permission first.


Anyway, in response to this:

Only time you should get worked up is if the artist tells gamespy to remove it but they refuse to, thats a WHOLE different story.

It's only fair to point out that the artists DID ask them to remove the images, but Avatars Inc told the artists they had to hunt throught their 11,000+ avatars themselves to find whatever pieces needed to be removed and then gave no indication that they would not continue to "find" art on the internet (which meant the even after the works were removed, there were no guarantees that it wouldn't be put back up later). That, coupled with the rather apathetic (and at times even hateful) attitude they gave the artists who complained made the whole matter far worse than it ever needed to be.