On MTG Salvation you can discuss decks, strategies and rumors, and you can trade cards, or extend your knowledge about the Magic storyline. We also have a place to discuss Altered Cards, as many users enjoy applying their art skills to Magic cards. A small community on MTG Salvation, like we have so many more.
In April Wizards of the Coast have set some rules about using those cards on tournaments. They even showed several of them to illustrate the problems that might arise.
Quote from the article:
Of course, you could just ban all altered cards from your tournaments to limit the risks. But keep in mind that Magic is a game that has created a community around it. Most players just want to play with cards they like and have fun while playing. Altered cards are currently one of the ways to achieve this goal, just like foils and Japanese cards have been.
Of course, where there is love, there is hate. Just a few days we have received an email from fantasy artist Ed Beard Jr. Apparently, he doesn't like it when players have fun while playing. If you feel brave enough, you can read through several pages of his emails!
Please feel free to share your feelings with Ed Beard Jr. himself, you can reach him under [email]artofedbeard@comcast.net[/email]. At this time, we have no intention to remove any content.
I will be moderating this thread, so please watch yourself. Thank you!
From: "Art of Ed Beard Jr." <artofedbeard@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:42:54 -0400
Subject: Notice to remove content on mtgsalvations
To: MTG Salvation
This notice is a request to remove any and all references to Edward Beard Jr. from your mtgsalvation forum specifically pertaining to recent defamatory, threatening and slanderous language that has been posted and allowed to continue within this publically viewable website. This should include the posts by the member identified as fork203551
We have attached some of the defamatory posts in question.
After careful review of the chronological order and times in which these posts were made against Mr. Beard, we can conclude that there was ample time for your moderators to enforce your own etiquette rules and immediately delete the posts within a reasonable time frame.
As a result of your site's failure to remove the aforementioned posts, Mr. Beard has suffered a great deal of reputational and other damages and continues to suffer these willful attacks by your forum members without moderation and removal. Mr. Beard was also forced to address these verbal assaults via a member who contacted Mr. Beard and first made known the infringement activities. Mr. Beard is not a member of your forum at this time and did not engage in any communication to this group prior to these attacks.
Although Mr. Beard also did not authorize anyone to speak on his behalf prior to these attacks, we were however grateful that at least one of your forum members (fork203551), regretfully not your moderator, spoke up and contacted Mr. Beard.
These defamatory, threatening and slanderous public posts still remain on your forum as of today.
You can also be held willfully liable for aiding and abetting the criminal activity of copyright infringement, from allowing the discussion and exchange of sale of pirated or infringed upon intellectual properties that have been conducted within the altered card thread of the mtgsalvation website, if you do not establish guidelines to prohibit the exchange, sale, or discussion of sale of said cards. This responsibility is mandated by US copyright law and upheld by international agreements for conduct within the world wide web.
Although we do not wish to involve mtgsalvation in the legal proceedings that are being commenced with regarding the enforcement and protections afforded to the artists and copyright holders of the Magic the Gathering altered cards in question.
Your inaction to remove these posts will force us to seek injunctive relief and possible damages from your willful intent to allow defamatory, slanderous and threatening material to remain.
We appreciate your prompt cooperation in this matter. Please notify us when action is taken.
Sincerely,
Art of Ed Beard Jr / Edward P. Beard Jr.
Stephen M. Litwin ESQ.
[email]legal@edbeardjr.com[/email]
From: Art of Ed Beard Jr.
To: [email]copyrightagent@wizards.com[/email]
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 1:48 PM
Subject: Notice of infringment and sale of unauthorised product
Dear Legal Dept office of Copyright Agent,
This e-mail is to notify you of specific copyright infringement of derivative works created and sold for profit of the Magic the Gathering card product via the www, auction houses, be it online or otherwise, web based forums, retail dealers as well as any and all other market places.
It is also a request for Wizards of the Coast to post an official ruling and statement on the illegal act of selling derivative works made from their intellectual properties specifically as it pertains to derivative works and the product being offered for sale that is publically defined as "Altered art cards"
Although WOTC/Hasbro already does have plain and concise language on it's products and websites that strictly prohibit the use of cards or electronic content in this way. (see below) This act of selling these altered products continues to occur. The business of selling these cards has become a financially lucrative industry of violating the artists and WOTC/Hasbro's copyrights. I have received several e-mails from those who claim to make a reasonable living from the sale of these cards. In most cases over $15-$100 per card over the cost of the actual card. These are sold on Ebay and other trade markets.
I am requesting that you enforce the protections guaranteed in the artists' contracts pertaining to this component in addition to WOTC/Hasbro's rights. We as Intrinsic Rights Holders and Copyright holders in many cases have every right to litigate against those who alter our art which includes any and all types of extensions that connect to the original art as well as pursue them for blocking the proper credit and possibly confusing the public who may or may not be familiar with who the original artist is. I have seen these cards on Ebay and countless images all over the web. Confusion is a reality and contrary to the misinformed individuals who create these derivative works, or the publically accessible online groups that promote their sale, the rest of the world does not all play magic.
The standpoint from the original artists' perspective:
The first issue should be common knowledge among anyone who deals in licensing and intellectual properties. It is concluded and defined by US Copyright law (see below) that modifying, adding components to, manipulating in part or in whole, is strictly prohibited under US copyright law. Copyright law does not discriminate between hand modification or mechanical modification when "sold for profit or exchanged for goods or services". In other laymen terms, if you use someone else's intellectual property and modify it and re-sell it, it is a violation of the copyright holder's rights as well as the original creators "intrinsic rights". Intrinsic rights supersede even contractual rights in a court of law and have been successfully litigated by thousands of intellectual property owners and the illustrators/artists who create them. The case law on this subject is extensive. Many of the other originally commissioned Magic the Gathering card artists/illustrators and I have already began to pursue this position and have successfully shut down several sites or persons selling altered cards with our original art and intrinsic rights contained within them.
Intrinsic and Moral rights:
As for how this illegal reselling of derivative works pertains to the intrinsic copyrights as well as copyright in general to the images, we as commissioned freelance illustrators maintain the legal right to control how our artwork is reproduced and presented. The artist in his or her sole discretion determine if our intellectual properties might be damaged be it reputational or otherwise as a result of misrepresentation or possible confusion from another artist manipulating or adding on to an image.
In plain language: If an altered card is propagated across the www and there is no clear and conspicuous way that a person can identify which parts of the work were originally created as well as which parts have been added by another individual, possible confusion for reputations and proper credit can become an issue.
WOTC warranties to the artists in contract:
The second legal fact is specific to the contracts that we commissioned artists have with WOTC. My contract, as well as those artists who I have been speaking with on this subject, include language and intent which includes, but is not limited to, the following enforcement practices: (abridged) That WOTC/Hasbro will enforce and protect the copyright and integrity of the work it owns, that any unauthorized use of the work in part or in whole is strictly prohibited, that it will when reasonable and legal to do so, use all legal options available to pursue in order to enforce the copyright protections of it's brand and image integrity.
Furthermore many of the original artists and I have contracts that specifically guarantee that in the event a "non game related" or "alternative product" such as T-Shirts, backpacks and any derivative work that is produced or available for sale, we the original creators of the image shall be paid a percentage of all sales of said product. There is no language in our contracts that excludes hand painted or modified magic cards.
So not only is it illegal on all grounds and an affront and blatant thievery of someone else's creative works but it is also something that WOTC/Hasbro should be executing the appropriate restraining orders or notices to anyone who sells or advertises and or promotes such illegal activities. This includes the lawful owners and or registrant for the mtgsalvations forum who has allowed and even encouraged this segment of their forum. It would also include any Ebay sales or vendors who sell such derivative works and the websites who host them.. One such website is www.alteredcardsbylaura.com to which has been notified to remove the cards I created that she had for sale and since has complied with my request.
Here is the actual law as available from the Library of Congress copyright.gov website which defines what can and cannot be considered legal use of copyright:
How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else's work?
Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent. See Circular 14, Copyright Registration for Derivative Works.
From the US Copyright Office, Library of Congress Circular 14 Copyright Registration for Derivative Works
Who Can Prepare a Derivative Work?
Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. The owner is generally the author or someone who has obtained rights from the author. Anyone interested in a work who does not know the owner of copyright may search the records of the Copyright Office or ask the Office to conduct a search for an hourly fee. For further information, see Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work.
US Library of Congress: Copyright Law of the United States and related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code
One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code)
"Section 107" Fair use doctrine in no way remotely suggests that any modification of an existing intellectual visual property is fair use when produced or sold for profit.
Wizards of the Coast legal jargon contained within their website and some contracts with artists:
Pertaining to web based content:
You may not post, modify, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information belonging to others without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights. It is the policy of Wizards to terminate privileges of any User who repeatedly infringes the copyright rights of others upon receipt of proper notification to Wizards by the copyright owner or the copyright owner's legal agent.
Pertaining to any and all uses electronic or otherwise:
-Content for your personal, noncommercial use only; provided, that you preserve any copyright, trademark or other similar notices contained in or associated with such Site Content. Such license is subject to these TOU and does not include: (i) any resale or commercial use of the Site or any Site Content therein; (ii) the collection and use of any product or service listings, pictures or descriptions; (iii) the distribution (electronic or otherwise), public performance, or public display of any Site Content; (iv) modifying or otherwise making any derivative uses of the Site and Site Content, or any portion thereof;
Specific attributes of the violation of both WOTC/Hasbro's copyright and the original artists intrinsic and moral right and contractual rights:
The fact that in many cases the extensions and additional art both crosses over or connects to the original art area, creates the confusion for the viewer to not necessarily know where the original creator's art begins and ends. The additional issue is that these modifications also can and have obscured the required credit line contractually promised to the original artist. By the same token there would need to be a clear credit for that part which is additional art and by whom.
These are just some of the reason why many of us as original artists for Magic have issue with the modification as it pertains to reputation and assuring that every card or product that is produced under our contract and by WOTC/ Hasbro maintains the contractually agreed to credit line and integrity of the art.
I also have viewed Ebay listings that verify who is behind them and what art images have been used to create derivative works for sale of my fellow magic artists and of my work. I have had the chance to review all of the cards on the various websites such as alteredcardsbylaura.com (who received a legal notice to remove my art which was altered for sale - and has complied with removing cards with my illustrations) as well as the many individual cards that have been modified. I have been in contact with those original Magic artists whose works have been used for profit in this way.
Since the individuals involved in this illegal act, specifically posted on mtgsalvations.com "willfully proclaim" that they have every intention of continuing their infringement spree for profit, they have established a "willful intent to violate the copyrights. I am required to notify WOTC/Hasbro of this activity as well as inform them of their responsibilities to uphold their contractual obligation to maintaining the integrity of my work as well as pursuing those offenders for any and all monies received by said offenders.
This notification will most certainly be joined by my fellow artists who care to protect their hard earned reputations from being damaged among many other issues such as: the credit for original creation that is specifically guaranteed to each artist in our contracts. Some of the many more immediate options WOTC/Hasbro can execute should be sending a DMCA to each and every webhost and IP provider of the websites conducting advertisements and displaying any modifications to any portion of my original creations to which I maintain "intrinsic copyrights" and am the original creator of the work.
Just some of the butchering of the original works alone is grounds for deformation as many of these modifications change the esthetic look of my style of work and thus my reputation.
Adding insult to injury: Not only are these modifications in many cases blocking the appropriate illustrator credit as the original creator, but many of these are signed by the infringer in the place where the "actual" creators credit line would be.
The facts are that nether party can authorize anyone to alter the art which does include any art that is reasonably connected or extended from the art image area without both WOTC (as obtaining certain rights to the work) and the artists ( maintaining certain intrinsic and moral rights to the work) permission.
So for now until there is both artists and WOTC agreeing to allow any individual to modify cards for profit no one is doing this legally and action must be taken to prevent the sale of these derivative works. The nature of altering of cards should only be done by the artists who created the original unless he or she authorizes another to do it for them and their is an agreement between WOTC/Hasbro and the contracted artists.
I am not interested in seeking any such agreement.
As to the mtgsalvations website:
They have been notified and also asked to consider not condoning illegal copyright violation and sale of these cards by allowing an actual thread on the topic to continue. Any reference to the "sale for profit of these cards allowed on their website" is a kin to their willfully knowing and allowing members to discuss the sale of, offer for sale, or claim they will sell any illegal substance or illegal product. This is in fact stolen property regardless of the fact that it is "intellectual property". I would hope WOTC/Hasbro will desire to place mtgsalvations on notice as well.
In a related issue, a post that was made on this form by a member asserted that WOTC or in their mind a representative thereof invited as a guest an "altered card artist" as the stated, at a tournament and provided this individual with a table to exhibit their modifications to sell. They further claimed that this person was "flown in" at WOTC expense. Naturally I find this absurd since WOTC refused to pay airfare for their official artists attending WOTC sponsored tournaments several years ago. I experienced this directly as a guest artist at many tournaments. For the sake of confusion I would appreciate an official clarification. The members of the mtgsalvation have asserted that this act somehow validates that WOTC approves of this infringement and product for sale.
It is my hope and request that a statement is posted to the WOTC website on this matter, to the effect of the following:
WOTC strictly prohibits the re-sale of any of our products that have been altered or modified from their original form. This applies to the sale of any and all card or otherwise products where a non commissioned or non-contracted artist has manipulated, modified, added to or changes the visual look of the card as in the case of the term "altered art cards" used to describe a card modified or altered by hand or mechanical means.
Although WOTC/Hasbro has no legal position or action it is able to execute against the alteration of these cards if they are displayed, given as gifts or freely exchanged among collectors it is the recommendation of WOTC/Hasbro that you obtain permission from the original artists of the card as defined at the bottom of each card. These artists do maintain certain moral and intrinsic rights to the art and how it is presented and it is up to those original artists whether they will or will not be opposed to the altering of their art made visually available in the public's eye be the www trade shows or other public arenas.
I look forward to your response and to that end the action you will take to prevent these derivative works from being sold for profit in public marketplaces.
Sincerely,
Edward P. Beard Jr.
Illustrator with over 100 cards created for the Magic the Gathering Product.
Update 2009/09/12 11am:
From: [email]legal@edbeardjr.com[/email]
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:35:27 -0400
Subject: Confirming receipt of legal notice
To: MTG Salvation
Dear Registrant, owner, operator,
This notice it to verify the receipt of e-mail sent dated September 16, 2009 to the Registrant of www.mtgsalvation.com regarding defamatory and threatening posts that have been allowed to continue and are present on your forum directed at Art of Ed Beard / Edward P. Beard Jr. as itemized in e-mail provided earlier.
We request confirmation of receipt of notice and immediate action to be initiated in removal of said posts.
If you have not received the aforementioned notice please advise and we will re-send.
Copies of all notices have been forwarded to Wizards of the Coast as it pertains to the www.mtgsalvation.com promoting, distribution and permitting of unauthorized or un-licensed derivative works offered and promoted for sale by it's members
If you choose to ignore this notice you will be included in any legal action taken involving either individuals or corporate entities that will be served notice for the alleged derivative and copyright infringement.
I don't get what's the big deal... I mean, how is this different from FanArt and FanFiction? Also, altered cards have, usually, the signature of the artist that did the modification... how could someone possibly mistake the artist of the original with the artist of the altered art? And most people who see those altered art are, well, Magic players, who know that's an altered art...
I mean... really?
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( awesome signature made by the awesome ChibiSwan, thanks! )
I can't say I've ever been a fan of Mr.Beard. After reading through (well...I skimmed) I decided to do a search for all his cards. Not impressed at all. So many years of Magic under his belt...and the only two cards of note are the Psychotog and the my least favorite Birds of Paradise. His style is neither the crisp digital renderings of the modern era (Cavotta, Walker, etc) , nor is it that stylistic iconography of the past (Hoover, Guay, Maddocks, etc).
This whole saga just reeks of one man's attempt to hold back the sway of the digital era. If he were wise, he would have adopted the forums, and other forms of social networking to further benifit and promote his work. He would have had our support and he would have come out of classy.
Unfortunately, all I can do know is picture him yelling at kids to get off his lawn.
Mr. Beard's attorney: Free speech. I'd like you to read about it. I'm afraid anyone on these boards can say whatever they want about Ed Beard Jr...negative or positive.
I am no lawyer and have little experience with copyright acts and such, but I do not see the altering of cards as illegal. The original artist is receiving appropriate recognition for the base art, and one can even see the original artist's name online when searching for pieces of their work.
As for the cost of the card being increased, the cost is for the labor, materials and effort of the secondary artist extending the art of the card. I see it like a house; if the owner of the house wants to add an addition to the main story, buys the materials and builds it himself or contacts someone to do it, it is done. Where in that do we have the people who originally built the house and all previous owners suing because the current owner wants more out of their property? The owner is not taking credit for making the house him/herself, but adding a personal touch to it.
In my personal opinion, I have lost a lot of respect for Mr. Beard Jr. as an artist for such an opinion on altered cards, and will consider not using cards that could represent his art. I appreciated the works of Psychatog among others, but I cannot support such vastly differing opinions. As stated by cindy and hannes, it is a game, and the players are wanting to enjoy the game more. I have even heard of some collectors getting the original artist to modify the art personally (such as the Ron Spencer Sliver Queen and Terror alters) because the player supports the artist so much. It is so sad that someone would want to attack a group like that, especially one that has supported the artist for so long and purchasing products with that artist's name on it.
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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-C.S. Lewis
I wonder will it will sink into his head that the sooner he stops sending emails and acting like everything is a personal attack, the sooner his reputation will stop going down for being an insecure, arrogant, prick
I have a feeling that this sort of thing is probably impossible to really enforce. Unless WOTC wanted to scour the internet for every website capable of carrying out an online exchange, things like this can't possibly be completely stopped. Furthermore, no one that alters these cards is claiming to have produced the original art.
I guess I can see this from a legal standpoint being something that he would want to pursue, but I can't see a way for a solution to be implemented.
I'd like to see Wizard's official e-mail back to Beard. I have a feeling it will say something to the tone of "We can't/aren't going to do anything about it. Kindly screw off".
There -is- a difference between this and FanFiction, at the very least. FanFiction isn't normally sold for money, which, I gather, his altered cards are. FanArt is, especially at conventions, but apparently the owners don't care that much.
There -is- a difference between this and FanFiction, at the very least. FanFiction isn't normally sold for money, which, I gather, his altered cards are. FanArt is, especially at conventions, but apparently the owners don't care that much.
Just a comment.
Well, most FanFiction is godawful garbage .
Anyway, is it so wrong to at least recoup money from your time, effort, and materials put into altering a card? I think not. Making a little on top that hardly seems criminal.
Wow. So what "defamatory" posts is he talking about? I find it funny he takes offense to posts on an INTERNET FORUM. A heavily moderated one at that. *sigh*
Didn't something like this happen in the altered art thread a while back? I remember Amy Weber sent angry emails to CardKitty or someone else. After everyone calmed down and had some level headed communication, she actually upped and joined the forums to post on the thread semi regularly.
Wow. So what "defamatory" posts is he talking about? I find it funny he takes offense to posts on an INTERNET FORUM. A heavily moderated one at that. *sigh*
Didn't something like this happen in the altered art thread a while back? I remember Amy Weber sent angry emails to CardKitty or someone else. After everyone calmed down and had some level headed communication, she actually upped and joined the forums to post on the thread semi regularly.
I have no idea. I haven't seen any actual "mean" posts about him. I did send him an e-mail expressing my feelings towards him and his "art"...and I think everyone who has an opinion on this should.
I just want to take a moment to say thank you to Hannes for this statement, and for the approach being taken to this situation.
Where are my manners? Thank you, Hannes, for bringing this up in a professional way without blindly giving in to the artist. Way to stand for what is right and Magic.
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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-C.S. Lewis
Yes, of course, Thanks Hannes. Anyways, I also just shot off a short email to Mr. Beard Jr. I wonder if he'll reply. I see seds viewing this thread - can we get any info on what "defamatory" posts were made about Beard?
To complete the information for everyone, here is the original email the forum user fork203551/"Chris" received from Ed Beard after asking him for his opinion on altered cards:
Some of this vey similar to the opening post of this thread.
Greetings Chris,
I have returned from my annual show raising money for Make-A-Wish and read all communications between you and my webmaster while I was away.
I have received quite a few e-mails from faithful collectors of my art notifying me of the altered cards of mine and other originally contracted fellow Magic artists. Thanks to people like you, who have integrity and above all respect for the original creators/artists of these cards, we can appropriately take the necessary legal action available to enforce and protect our hard earned efforts and intellectual properties and reputations.
I have received several copies of posts from the mtgsalvations forum and quotes of especially egregious, completely bogus and inaccurate statements from the following screen name members
bigup, (yawg07- who I look forward to meeting next year at Origins so he can make good on his claim of kicking me, LOL), RanMn, Laura Lou AKA Laura Van Wie, and others.
I also have viewed Ebay listings that verify who is behind them and what art images have been used to create derivative works for sale of my fellow magic artists and of my work. Since I returned, I have had the chance to review all of the cards on the various websites such as alteredcardsbylaura.com as well as the many individual cards that have been modified. I have been in contact with those original Magic artists whose works have been used for profit in this way.
There are two major legal violation issues that will be acted upon to prevent this sort of thing from continuing. The first issue should be common knowledge among anyone who deals in licensing and intellectual properties. The reality is that modifying, adding components to, manipulating in part or in whole, is strictly prohibited under US copyright law. Copyright law does not discriminate between hand modification or mechanical modification when "sold for profit or exchanged for goods or services". In other laymen terms, if you use someone else's intellectual property and modify it and re-sell it, it is a violation of the copyright holder's rights as well as the original creators "intrinsic rights". Intrinsic rights supersede even contractual rights in a court of law and have been successfully litigated by thousands of intellectual property owners and the illustrators/artists who create them. The case law on this subject is extensive.
The second legal fact is specific to the contracts that we commissioned artists have with WOTC. My contract, as well as those artists who I have been speaking with on this subject, include language and intent which includes, but is not limited to, the following enforcement practices: (abridged) That WOTC/Hasbro will enforce and protect the copyright and integrity of the work it owns, that any unauthorized use of the work in part or in whole is strictly prohibited, that it will when reasonable and legal to do so, use all legal options available to pursue in order to enforce the copyright protections of it's brand and image integrity.
Furthermore many of the original artists and I have contracts that specifically guarantee that in the event a "non game related" or "alternative product" such as T-Shirts, backpacks and any derivative work that is produced or available for sale, we the original creators of the image shall be paid a percentage of all sales of said product. There is no language in our contracts that excludes hand painted or modified magic cards.
So not only is it illegal on all grounds and an affront and blatant thievery of someone else's creative works but it is also something that WOTC/Hasbro can easily be forced to litigate and execute the appropriate restraining order against anyone who sells or advertises and or promotes such illegal activities. This includes the lawful owners and or registrant for the mtgsalvations forum who has allowed and even encouraged this segment of their forum. It would also include any Ebay sales or vendors who sell such derivative works and the websites who host them..
Here is the actual law as available from the Library of Congress copyright.gov website for those morons who talked out their A**
How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else's work? Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent. See Circular 14, Copyright Registration for Derivative Works.
From the US Copyright Office, Library of Congress Circular 14 Copyright Registrationfor Derivative Works
Who Can Prepare a Derivative Work? Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare,or to authorize someone else to create, a new versionof that work. The owner is generally the author or someonewho has obtained rights from the author. Anyone interestedin a work who does not know the owner of copyright may search the records of the Copyright Office or ask the Office to conduct a search for an hourly fee. For further information,see Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Statusof a Work.US Library of Congress: Copyright Law of the United States and related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code)
Oh, and of course I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the uncultured swine, wannabe self proclaimed "altered card artists" who think bastardising another persons art and leeching profit off of other's hard earned work and success is protected under the Fair use doctrine, here is a news flash for you, "Section 107" in no way remotely suggests that any modification of an existing intellectual visual property is fair use when produced or sold for profit. Adding insult to injury: Not only are these modifications in many cases blocking the appropriate illustrator credit as the original creator, but many of these cards are signed by the infringer in the place where the "actual" creators credit line would be.
Since the individuals involved in this illegal act "willfully proclaim" that they have every intention of continuing their infringement spree for profit, I have no choice but to notify WOTC/Hasbro of this activity as well as inform them of their responsibilities to uphold their contractual obligation to maintaining the integrity of my work as well as pursuing those offenders for any and all monies received by said offenders. This notification will be joined by my fellow artists who care to protect their hard earned reputations from being damaged among many other issues such as: the credit for original creation that is specifically guaranteed to each artist in our contracts. Some of the many more immediate options I will pursue tomorrow will be sending a DMCA to each and every webhost and IP provider of the websites conducting advertisements and displaying any portion of my original creations to which I maintain "intrinsic copyrights" and am the original creator of the work.
We as the original creators have a plethora of legal avenues to pursue these (please pardon the lengthy list of adjectives I need to use encompass the type of person who makes money off of others hard earned labors): skells, (those in question may need to look that up) disrespectful, freeloading, thieving undesirables, who evidently don't have what it takes to be successful through their own creative concepts, abilities and works. There is also the easily litigated point of being reputationally defamed by the potential confusion to those who are not familiar with the original artists and or component that is not extended or modified art.
The sad part about wannabes like these is they ruin it for others, who in most cases I am happy to give permission to for certain uses of my works. those respectful and courteous people who "ask permission and give clear and appropriate credit to the original creator" usually are awarded the request. Of course those type of integrity filled people are few and far between.
This is by far not my fist rodeo Chris. Part of being successful is that there is always someone looking to leech off your efforts. It's a sad fact that my attorney and I have been pursuing and protecting my work and reputation for nearly 20 years because of these people. We have become quite savvy at shutting down anyone who is delusional enough to think otherwise. As with many of the unauthorized tattoo artists that use my work as flash or take commissions and make huge sums of money off my art and don't even credit me as the original artist, it's all the same.
Just some of the butchering of the original works alone is grounds for deformation, then add "for profit" on to the suit and it's all over.
I want to personally thank you for reaching out to me and bringing this to my attention. I am sorry that you have been treated with such disrespect on that forum, but considering the caliber of where these comments are coming from I wouldn't give it too much credence.
Thanks,
Ed
I also send him an email and will post its content + his reply later.
Yes, of course, Thanks Hannes. Anyways, I also just shot off a short email to Mr. Beard Jr. I wonder if he'll reply. I see seds viewing this thread - can we get any info on what "defamatory" posts were made about Beard?
I'm not sure, but I wouldn't doubt it was anything worse than stuff said on this thread.
He can't take name-calling, apparently.
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I wish we could show WoTC how much we don't like this approach from that guy and that we don't want more cards made by him. I mean, fans brought Guay back, maybe some people could help WoTC rethink its decision of hiring him to do some art?
Or worse, make him only do art for crap mythics. THAT would show him, yeah. (ok, that was a silly joke, never mind me...)
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100% of all EPB's cards that are altered are Tog and Birds. 95% of those alters are the DrT hair and more foliage around the birds. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Wow, I've never seen the altered art thread, but I have to say, this is all very petty. Unless people are writing death-threats over his art(which is pretty lame), I don't see the big deal in complaining about his art and retooling it to make it more appealing. While to some extent I disagree with selling the cards, overall I don't see it as a real big deal. He only gets money from WOTC, not our individual resale.
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Urza, would you say that he and his little troll friend 'chris' are very Petty?
Calling names isn't beneficial to any debate, no matter how strong one's personal opinions are.
As for the email, I'm interested in seeing how this unfolds - it almost seems like it's setting WotC up to choosing sides; a) Magic the Gathering artists or b) Magic the Gathering fans who create and play with Altered Cards.
Calling names isn't beneficial to any debate, no matter how strong one's personal opinions are.
As for the email, I'm interested in seeing how this unfolds - it almost seems like it's setting WotC up to choosing sides; a) Magic the Gathering artists or b) Magic the Gathering fans who create and play with Altered Cards.
Which one will win?
Keeping in mind that the only artist (and only artists named beside him) no longer create art for Magic, this doesn't seem like a toughie.
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I wish we could show WoTC how much we don't like this approach from that guy and that we don't want more cards made by him. I mean, fans brought Guay back, maybe some people could help WoTC rethink its decision of hiring him to do some art?
Or worse, make him only do art for crap mythics. THAT would show him, yeah. (ok, that was a silly joke, never mind me...)
Yeah, the last time I saw anything with him on it was this.
I have a feeling there are a lot of angry people on both sides of the table. It has been surreal watching the debate in the art forums.
Take your monoblack deck, then set aside 14 swamps. Add 4 Creeping Tar Pits, 4 Darkslick Shores, 4 Drowned Catacombs, and 2 Jwar isle Refuge and add 4 Jace, the Mindsculptors. Your monoblack deck is instantly better. Better yet, drop those refuges, throw in some islands and some mana leaks, and lo and behold, you're now playing a real deck. Congratulations. Welcome to the world of competitive M:TG.
Keeping in mind that the only artist (and only artists named beside him) no longer create art for Magic, this doesn't seem like a toughie.
I suppose
But if Ed somehow gains the ability to rally more recent and employed MTG Artists, and they decide to pick a bone with the Altered Art community, then I'm wondering who will win that titan showdown. I mean, WotC stands to lose something (what exactly, I don't know - money, fame, etc.) if their artists rebel, but then they also stand to lose a lot if their players rebel.
Mind you, the Altered art community isn't all that large, and there's way more players to fill the spots they leave.
This sort of limbo we're in because no one has received a definitive stance from Wizards makes me nervous
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In April Wizards of the Coast have set some rules about using those cards on tournaments. They even showed several of them to illustrate the problems that might arise.
Quote from the article:
Of course, where there is love, there is hate. Just a few days we have received an email from fantasy artist Ed Beard Jr. Apparently, he doesn't like it when players have fun while playing. If you feel brave enough, you can read through several pages of his emails!
Please feel free to share your feelings with Ed Beard Jr. himself, you can reach him under [email]artofedbeard@comcast.net[/email]. At this time, we have no intention to remove any content.
I will be moderating this thread, so please watch yourself. Thank you!
Update 2009/09/12 11am:
I mean... really?
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This whole saga just reeks of one man's attempt to hold back the sway of the digital era. If he were wise, he would have adopted the forums, and other forms of social networking to further benifit and promote his work. He would have had our support and he would have come out of classy.
Unfortunately, all I can do know is picture him yelling at kids to get off his lawn.
As for the cost of the card being increased, the cost is for the labor, materials and effort of the secondary artist extending the art of the card. I see it like a house; if the owner of the house wants to add an addition to the main story, buys the materials and builds it himself or contacts someone to do it, it is done. Where in that do we have the people who originally built the house and all previous owners suing because the current owner wants more out of their property? The owner is not taking credit for making the house him/herself, but adding a personal touch to it.
In my personal opinion, I have lost a lot of respect for Mr. Beard Jr. as an artist for such an opinion on altered cards, and will consider not using cards that could represent his art. I appreciated the works of Psychatog among others, but I cannot support such vastly differing opinions. As stated by cindy and hannes, it is a game, and the players are wanting to enjoy the game more. I have even heard of some collectors getting the original artist to modify the art personally (such as the Ron Spencer Sliver Queen and Terror alters) because the player supports the artist so much. It is so sad that someone would want to attack a group like that, especially one that has supported the artist for so long and purchasing products with that artist's name on it.
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I guess I can see this from a legal standpoint being something that he would want to pursue, but I can't see a way for a solution to be implemented.
Just a comment.
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Well, most FanFiction is godawful garbage .
Anyway, is it so wrong to at least recoup money from your time, effort, and materials put into altering a card? I think not. Making a little on top that hardly seems criminal.
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Didn't something like this happen in the altered art thread a while back? I remember Amy Weber sent angry emails to CardKitty or someone else. After everyone calmed down and had some level headed communication, she actually upped and joined the forums to post on the thread semi regularly.
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I have no idea. I haven't seen any actual "mean" posts about him. I did send him an e-mail expressing my feelings towards him and his "art"...and I think everyone who has an opinion on this should.
Where are my manners? Thank you, Hannes, for bringing this up in a professional way without blindly giving in to the artist. Way to stand for what is right and Magic.
-C.S. Lewis
EDH
Obzedat - Still Alive
Retired - Nicol Bolas
Modern: URStormUR|BRGW Jund BRGW|GWUB Gifts GWUB
Commander:XKarnX
Cubes: Level 1: Pauper
Some of this vey similar to the opening post of this thread.
I also send him an email and will post its content + his reply later.
My gallery of altered cards
I'm not sure, but I wouldn't doubt it was anything worse than stuff said on this thread.
He can't take name-calling, apparently.
Twitter
Or worse, make him only do art for crap mythics. THAT would show him, yeah. (ok, that was a silly joke, never mind me...)
( awesome signature made by the awesome ChibiSwan, thanks! )
My current deck:
WU Artifact AngelsWU - Thread - Statistics
Modern: URStormUR|BRGW Jund BRGW|GWUB Gifts GWUB
Commander:XKarnX
Cubes: Level 1: Pauper
WAnglesW
WUBRGThe BroodGRBUW
WUGAllymillGUW
Calling names isn't beneficial to any debate, no matter how strong one's personal opinions are.
As for the email, I'm interested in seeing how this unfolds - it almost seems like it's setting WotC up to choosing sides; a) Magic the Gathering artists or b) Magic the Gathering fans who create and play with Altered Cards.
Which one will win?
Keeping in mind that the only artist (and only artists named beside him) no longer create art for Magic, this doesn't seem like a toughie.
Twitter
Yeah, the last time I saw anything with him on it was this.
I have a feeling there are a lot of angry people on both sides of the table. It has been surreal watching the debate in the art forums.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
I suppose
But if Ed somehow gains the ability to rally more recent and employed MTG Artists, and they decide to pick a bone with the Altered Art community, then I'm wondering who will win that titan showdown. I mean, WotC stands to lose something (what exactly, I don't know - money, fame, etc.) if their artists rebel, but then they also stand to lose a lot if their players rebel.
Mind you, the Altered art community isn't all that large, and there's way more players to fill the spots they leave.
This sort of limbo we're in because no one has received a definitive stance from Wizards makes me nervous