So for the past month, WotC's lawyers have been trying to censor some of the work I've been providing the MTG community. Which amounts to some sketches and improvs through the popular image sharing site known as Tumblr.
I don't know about you guys, but when a company goes after fan art created by actual fans of their product, it becomes incredibly awkward. It becomes more awkward when they threaten to use the DMCA against you, unless you censor things they tell you to.
More recently this week, their lawyers sent me a wonderful PDF outlining how childish I am for hiding in a "cloak of anonymity" and that I'm doing parodies completely wrong and various other legal threats concerning fan art.
Now to make it clear so not to get things mixed up about what I've been doing:
- All sketch requests are free
- I haven't received a single dime for a request or donation
- I haven't sold any pieces of artwork through Tumblr
- There are no ads on my blog. I receive ZERO revenue
- I have not claimed to be a WotC employee or contracted artist
- I haven't mislead anyone to think I'm affiliated with WotC
- I actually play the game and enjoy the lore (the good ones anyway).
- Almost all requests are done in a comedic tone or cute matter
I've inserted the original message sent to me below and for whatever reason Photobucket does go out, you can easily find my tumblr through google's search engine.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cartoonist, Writer, Storyboard Artist & Graphic Designer!
You can catch some of my work at TOKYOPOP & on the Playboy Channel! Don't miss Celebrity Sex Tales!
'Tis a sad day to see WotC treating fan artists with such inquisitorial zeal. From what I've seen on your deviantart link, to me, it seems your work is very much a parody of art from MtG and that I do not understand how your work is seen as copyright infringement. Also, it's weird that they call your art sexually suggestive when you can look at: Hero of Bladehold Basandra, Battle Seraph Liliana of the Veil Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Anything with skimpily dressed, near naked, busty boobed art should be considered sexually suggestive if they really cared about such a thing.
I also find it a bit low of them to call you out for hiding behind a "cloak of anonymity," and I think it's slightly comical that they feel the need to instigate you by saying things like "if what you are doing is truly legal."
Knee slapper comedy here, I hope things turn out for the best.
They are correct in stating that unauthorized reproduction of any work is copyright infringement. Your stuff isn't reproduction though. It's much closer to parody. You wouldn't even have to get a lawyer to fight this for you. Any serious law student could win this case. I hope someone from Wizards reads this and knows that they're not only in the wrong, but that this is very poor form on their part.
I read your Tumblr blog a bit, and the first thing that came in mind when I saw your drawings is : parodism, which is a form of criticism by the way (these lawyers didn't properly listen in school, it seems), and, clearly stated in their stupid letter, allowed by copyright laws.
They can go f*** themselves. You aren't even profiting from this, why would they attack your work?
"Used in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied" is exactly what your illustrations are. I'm not even in law school and I have more sense than these idiots.
Commissions generally has a transaction or an exchange of some sort, which there are none. People put in their request of the fandom they love and I just improv it. No catch, no money. Everyone is well aware that I'm not affiliated with WotC, nor do I claim to be.
Almost all of the art requests are incomplete works, sketches or things I doodle while waiting in line at the grocery store.
Cartoonist, Writer, Storyboard Artist & Graphic Designer!
You can catch some of my work at TOKYOPOP & on the Playboy Channel! Don't miss Celebrity Sex Tales!
This kind of stuff happens all the time. WOTC and others like them are banking on the fact that lowly starving artists will not be able to afford a quality defense. In most cases they are right. By virtue of them being "big enough to afford it" they are often allowed to throw their weight around regardless of the legal precedent. Unless you have the cash or the connections to fight it they will eventually squash you. Sucks.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I draw custom playmats! My Etsy Page here!
Find me on FaceBook here!
Find me on eBay here! Commission Status: Taking a few here and there
Honestly, at this point, is it even worth it? They're harassing you over legal parody, trying to get you to reveal your name, (likely so they can send a C&D) and just out and out making your life harder.
You've got the talent and sense of humor to truly do your own thing. Forget their characters and do something of your own. Do you really think your fans will walk away because you're not using WoTC characters? I don't think they will.
you should 'parody' this letter with a drawing of a planeswalker or two doing the 'really? really?' sketch from weekend update on saturday night live. Really WOTC? Really?
Im an Intellectual Property laywer. If you're interested in actually responding and engaging with the issues, PM me. I wouldn't listen to the peanut gallery here though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Im an Intellectual Property laywer. If you're interested in actually responding and engaging with the issues, PM me. I wouldn't listen to the peanut gallery here though.
You're from Australia. The IP laws differ from country to country.
You're from Australia. The IP laws differ from country to country.
Sigh. Do you think I would offer to help if I didn't study comparative intellectual property?
These forums are the worst some times. Your response to someone offering to help, after that person states they work in the field, is to immediately explain to them something incredibly basic than everyone in the field would know. Good work, you must be a pleasure to deal with day to day.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Sigh. Do you think I would offer to help if I didn't study comparative intellectual property?
These forums are the worst some times. Your response to someone offering to help, after that person states they work in the field, is to immediately explain to them something incredibly basic than everyone in the field would know. Good work, you must be a pleasure to deal with day to day.
Your first reply was basically: "I'm the only one with anything intelligent to say here so ignore the rest of these clowns"
Are you surprised at the lack of respect in the replies that followed?
To be clear: Thank you for offering legitimate assistance.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I draw custom playmats! My Etsy Page here!
Find me on FaceBook here!
Find me on eBay here! Commission Status: Taking a few here and there
Im not even sure how you want me to answer, but I suppose that is because unlike most of the posters here, I wouldn't dare offer an uninformed opinion on the issues. If I came off as condescending, it is because I was quite concerned that the OP might actually take some of the statements of opinion offered as advice, which would be significantly to his/her detriment. While I could have phrased it better, I still see no justification for the silliness of the comment that followed.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
You're from Australia. The IP laws differ from country to country.
Amazing. You don't think he would know that?
But I would agree, Polish. Look into some professional advice on this and ignore 90% of what you see here. Though I do think you should drum up support.
Commissions generally has a transaction or an exchange of some sort, which there are none. People put in their request of the fandom they love and I just improv it. No catch, no money. Everyone is well aware that I'm not affiliated with WotC, nor do I claim to be.
Almost all of the art requests are incomplete works, sketches or things I doodle while waiting in line at the grocery store.
That's clear in your OP. I'm not suggesting you made money from this. But people posting in response to your art that they would commission you or what not could attract unwanted attention from WOTC.
What was with the comment in the letter about art of a sexual nature. I looked at your works and I didn't see anything "sexual"
Basically they are saying that your sexually intense parody are hurting the commercial value of the brand (which is targetted for 13+)
But i don't think that you have a big enough impact and audience to do that.
I would seek legal advices if they become more serious.
In Reno v. ACLU, the Supreme Court stated that the Internet is a
“major platform of speech.”
The importance of the Internet as a forum for
speech has increased in the time since the Court’s opinion. In light of the
the Lenz court’s decision that
copyright holders are required to consider fair use before issuing a
takedown notice is supported by the equitable concerns posed by the
DMCA
Im not even sure how you want me to answer, but I suppose that is because unlike most of the posters here, I wouldn't dare offer an uninformed opinion on the issues. If I came off as condescending, it is because I was quite concerned that the OP might actually take some of the statements of opinion offered as advice, which would be significantly to his/her detriment. While I could have phrased it better, I still see no justification for the silliness of the comment that followed.
I didn't offer an uninformed opinion, but I love your response to my comment. It's not that I wouldn't have thought you'd know, but I've found that often people don't take such simple things into account when offering their assistance. I don't know about Australians, but most Americans, when seeing comments on a forum, instantly assume that whoever is posting is also from America. I didn't mean any offense, unlike you, I just meant to ensure that whatever help you'd be offering would be accurately offered.
To be fair, it was uninformed. A lawyer is offering legal assistance to a person and you assumed that the lawyer was unaware that he and said person are in different countries. Plus, your comment only said that the laws differ from country to country which implies that that's the information you think he didn't know.
I didn't offer an uninformed opinion, but I love your response to my comment. It's not that I wouldn't have thought you'd know, but I've found that often people don't take such simple things into account when offering their assistance. I don't know about Australians, but most Americans, when seeing comments on a forum, instantly assume that whoever is posting is also from America. I didn't mean any offense, unlike you, I just meant to ensure that whatever help you'd be offering would be accurately offered.
So your justification was that you assumed I was ignorant and that your assumption was acceptable despite being founded on no working knowledge of Australians. Thank you for assuming I am stupid. It seems that you don't understand how fundamental a knowledge of comparative intellectual property is in my work. I can see how your opinion was very informed.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
ok we get it-you are a lawyer-geez-news flash, that doesnt make you better then any of us here by getting into a pissing contest. you were rude first (much what i would expect from a lawyer) calling us the "peanut gallery." im sure you have this in australia, but here in the states there is a nice little word and its called and appreciated to be a little bit...."humble" at times..maybe you skipped that course in law school:) According the MTGS Rules, Trolling is not allowed. Infraction issued. -Galspanic
Jeez, the internets. So much misunderstandings. We actually pretty much are the peanut gallery here (since we don't have any professional knowledge). But isn't this whole discussion completely off topic anyway?
@Topic: I too think that it's silly of wizards to basically go after their own promoters, but well, who knows what they are thinking. I hope you get out of this though Tamales. I like your fanart quite a bit.
ok we get it-you are a lawyer-geez-news flash, that doesnt make you better then any of us here by getting into a pissing contest. you were rude first (much what i would expect from a lawyer) calling us the "peanut gallery." im sure you have this in australia, but here in the states there is a nice little word and its called and appreciated to be a little bit...."humble" at times..maybe you skipped that course in law school:)
It isn't a course and I wasn't boasting. I think you are just looking to let you biases play out, just as the other poster was very obviously trying to look clever. The branding of the commentors as the 'peanut gallery' is appropriate given that they were engaged with the offering of legal advice without an appropriate familiarity with the issues. Would you rather me have just lectured them on being responsible?
Additonally, I wasn't rude first. The assumption that someone who works in IP Law dosn't understand the impact of jurisdiction is very rude ~ it implies I don't actually understand my job. That he then backed that up with a blanket statement that he assumes all Australians are ignorant doesn't help.
I don't see you taking issue with these attributes of his comment, so I believe you are just letting your own feeling of insecurity play out.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
ok we get it-you are a lawyer-geez-news flash, that doesnt make you better then any of us here by getting into a pissing contest. you were rude first (much what i would expect from a lawyer) calling us the "peanut gallery." im sure you have this in australia, but here in the states there is a nice little word and its called and appreciated to be a little bit...."humble" at times..maybe you skipped that course in law school:)
Actually, because he/she is a lawyer he is better...better at analyzing the issues and giving advice than the rest of the peanut gallery here who are not IP lawyers.
Unqualified individuals should not be offering legal advice. If you don't like being called unqualified, go through law school and pass a licensing exam.
Really, Bristol's post #17 should have just ended this thread, so I'll echo what was said: seek professional advice.
I don't know about you guys, but when a company goes after fan art created by actual fans of their product, it becomes incredibly awkward. It becomes more awkward when they threaten to use the DMCA against you, unless you censor things they tell you to.
More recently this week, their lawyers sent me a wonderful PDF outlining how childish I am for hiding in a "cloak of anonymity" and that I'm doing parodies completely wrong and various other legal threats concerning fan art.
Now to make it clear so not to get things mixed up about what I've been doing:
- All sketch requests are free
- I haven't received a single dime for a request or donation
- I haven't sold any pieces of artwork through Tumblr
- There are no ads on my blog. I receive ZERO revenue
- I have not claimed to be a WotC employee or contracted artist
- I haven't mislead anyone to think I'm affiliated with WotC
- I actually play the game and enjoy the lore (the good ones anyway).
- Almost all requests are done in a comedic tone or cute matter
I've inserted the original message sent to me below and for whatever reason Photobucket does go out, you can easily find my tumblr through google's search engine.
You can catch some of my work at TOKYOPOP & on the Playboy Channel! Don't miss Celebrity Sex Tales!
PolishTamales.com
Graphical Contributor to LegitMTG.com & Comic Contributor to ManaDeprived.com
Hero of Bladehold
Basandra, Battle Seraph
Liliana of the Veil
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Anything with skimpily dressed, near naked, busty boobed art should be considered sexually suggestive if they really cared about such a thing.
I also find it a bit low of them to call you out for hiding behind a "cloak of anonymity," and I think it's slightly comical that they feel the need to instigate you by saying things like "if what you are doing is truly legal."
Knee slapper comedy here, I hope things turn out for the best.
Don't forget about Vitalizing Cascade if you want to bring up suggestive cards.
My art blog
Claims:
The kicker variant in WWK will be "Kicker without a kicked effect." - proven wrong Jan 2010 : 2 wrongs
Decks:
:symu::symb: Bloodchief Ascension - Modern
:symb::symr: Rakdos, the Defiler - EDH
:symu::symb::symw: Sharuum the Hegemon - EDH
:symw::symu::symb: Zur the Enchanter - EDH
They can go f*** themselves. You aren't even profiting from this, why would they attack your work?
"Used in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied" is exactly what your illustrations are. I'm not even in law school and I have more sense than these idiots.
Don't forget Gwendlyn Di Corci, or Earthbind, which are sexually suggestive and borderline explicit.
Almost all of the art requests are incomplete works, sketches or things I doodle while waiting in line at the grocery store.
You can catch some of my work at TOKYOPOP & on the Playboy Channel! Don't miss Celebrity Sex Tales!
PolishTamales.com
Graphical Contributor to LegitMTG.com & Comic Contributor to ManaDeprived.com
My Etsy Page here!
Find me on FaceBook here!
Find me on eBay here!
Commission Status: Taking a few here and there
You've got the talent and sense of humor to truly do your own thing. Forget their characters and do something of your own. Do you really think your fans will walk away because you're not using WoTC characters? I don't think they will.
http://supervillainous.spiderforest.com
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
You're from Australia. The IP laws differ from country to country.
My art blog
Claims:
The kicker variant in WWK will be "Kicker without a kicked effect." - proven wrong Jan 2010 : 2 wrongs
Decks:
:symu::symb: Bloodchief Ascension - Modern
:symb::symr: Rakdos, the Defiler - EDH
:symu::symb::symw: Sharuum the Hegemon - EDH
:symw::symu::symb: Zur the Enchanter - EDH
Sigh. Do you think I would offer to help if I didn't study comparative intellectual property?
These forums are the worst some times. Your response to someone offering to help, after that person states they work in the field, is to immediately explain to them something incredibly basic than everyone in the field would know. Good work, you must be a pleasure to deal with day to day.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Your first reply was basically: "I'm the only one with anything intelligent to say here so ignore the rest of these clowns"
Are you surprised at the lack of respect in the replies that followed?
To be clear: Thank you for offering legitimate assistance.
My Etsy Page here!
Find me on FaceBook here!
Find me on eBay here!
Commission Status: Taking a few here and there
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Amazing. You don't think he would know that?
But I would agree, Polish. Look into some professional advice on this and ignore 90% of what you see here. Though I do think you should drum up support.
RRR Buy some of my art! Prints! RRR
That's clear in your OP. I'm not suggesting you made money from this. But people posting in response to your art that they would commission you or what not could attract unwanted attention from WOTC.
What was with the comment in the letter about art of a sexual nature. I looked at your works and I didn't see anything "sexual"
But i don't think that you have a big enough impact and audience to do that.
I would seek legal advices if they become more serious.
I didn't offer an uninformed opinion, but I love your response to my comment. It's not that I wouldn't have thought you'd know, but I've found that often people don't take such simple things into account when offering their assistance. I don't know about Australians, but most Americans, when seeing comments on a forum, instantly assume that whoever is posting is also from America. I didn't mean any offense, unlike you, I just meant to ensure that whatever help you'd be offering would be accurately offered.
My art blog
Claims:
The kicker variant in WWK will be "Kicker without a kicked effect." - proven wrong Jan 2010 : 2 wrongs
Decks:
:symu::symb: Bloodchief Ascension - Modern
:symb::symr: Rakdos, the Defiler - EDH
:symu::symb::symw: Sharuum the Hegemon - EDH
:symw::symu::symb: Zur the Enchanter - EDH
To be fair, it was uninformed. A lawyer is offering legal assistance to a person and you assumed that the lawyer was unaware that he and said person are in different countries. Plus, your comment only said that the laws differ from country to country which implies that that's the information you think he didn't know.
RRR Buy some of my art! Prints! RRR
So your justification was that you assumed I was ignorant and that your assumption was acceptable despite being founded on no working knowledge of Australians. Thank you for assuming I am stupid. It seems that you don't understand how fundamental a knowledge of comparative intellectual property is in my work. I can see how your opinion was very informed.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
According the MTGS Rules, Trolling is not allowed. Infraction issued. -Galspanic
@Topic: I too think that it's silly of wizards to basically go after their own promoters, but well, who knows what they are thinking. I hope you get out of this though Tamales. I like your fanart quite a bit.
It isn't a course and I wasn't boasting. I think you are just looking to let you biases play out, just as the other poster was very obviously trying to look clever. The branding of the commentors as the 'peanut gallery' is appropriate given that they were engaged with the offering of legal advice without an appropriate familiarity with the issues. Would you rather me have just lectured them on being responsible?
Additonally, I wasn't rude first. The assumption that someone who works in IP Law dosn't understand the impact of jurisdiction is very rude ~ it implies I don't actually understand my job. That he then backed that up with a blanket statement that he assumes all Australians are ignorant doesn't help.
I don't see you taking issue with these attributes of his comment, so I believe you are just letting your own feeling of insecurity play out.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Actually, because he/she is a lawyer he is better...better at analyzing the issues and giving advice than the rest of the peanut gallery here who are not IP lawyers.
Unqualified individuals should not be offering legal advice. If you don't like being called unqualified, go through law school and pass a licensing exam.
Really, Bristol's post #17 should have just ended this thread, so I'll echo what was said: seek professional advice.
Check out my Blog: CommanderAlters
Visit me on Facebook
See my available alters Here
Sale: Magic Collection and Heroclix