Seems Odd

[LS-Jebus]

I had something like this happen to me years ago. Its why I only post lower resolution versions on the internet, or higher res if its an unfinished project. I also had someone steal my mini essay from a debate forum and post it on another one as his own creation. In both cases it got resolved though. The former ended with an apology, the latter ended with me sending a message to a friend who was a moderator for the other forum at the time.

It sucks that sharing maps with a community can lead to this. May Sten-ret'ni be with y'all.

[tilt]

I personally have no problems with people using my maps, rather I'm pleased and flattered if they do (and I know a lot inhere share my sentiment) - but I do want them to "follow the letter of the law" and credit me.
AND ... if you are looking at what rpgforum does to our maps, its breaking the CC on several accounts
1. They don't credit ... bad enough
2. They use the maps for commercial purposes, how you ask?... they have ads on their site and are using, amongst other things, our maps to pull in the crowd. Thats a commercial purpose.

[Jaxilon]

So has anyone heard anything back from these guys or are we going to have to point wotc at them?

[Gamerprinter]

So has anyone heard anything back from these guys or are we going to have to point wotc at them?

I did that already, I called WotC on the telephone. My concern was more for Mike Schley, than WotC itself, but I couldn't get a hold of Mike, so I called WotC Customer Support and reported the site, and the specific instances of their maps in that site's World Map section.

GP

[whtknt]

From a personal standpoint (as my work isn't worth stealing), "borrowing" materials is not uncommon, particularly when it comes to fantasy materials. I can list at least a dozen sites off the top of my head that display artwork from professionals and call them "tributes." Some give due credit, others blatantly claim it as their own, thinking that no one will catch them. Myself, I have used bits and pieces (often modified) of professional art work in my personal sites, but I always try to get permission, give due credit to the originator and will remove it if asked.

I like the idea behind the site, as it puts a lot of good artwork in one place. On the other hand, if you are going to do this kind of thing, common courtesy (not to mention common sense) dictates that you get permission where possible and if you have made all reasonable efforts at communicating with the artist but failed, give credit. In the Digital Age, copyrights seem to have been "forgotten" by many folks. Some don't care, or cannot afford to take legal action, but others, such as Wizards, can and will do so.

[OldGuy]

I used to have a pretty lax view about things I considered to be "victimless" theft. I was even overjoyed when I found a site, many years ago, that uploaded the full text and images from numerous books (including every dnd book and module imaginable). Then I ran across a plea from Virginia Heinlein, asking that people please stop posting her late husband's books as those revenues were now her sole means of support and that the free copies were drastically affecting her dwindling income. That changed my views considerably.

Granted, that's a bit different but imagine the following:

You walk into an office about to start an interview for your dream job. Fully confident in your abilities, you proudly display your portfolio. After flipping through the artwork, the interviewer says "What are you trying to pull? These aren't yours. I've seen them on the internet under another name."

If the images were first seen by the interviewer on another site and credited to another name, the real artist will have to prove they are really his. But if the interviewer thinks they aren't he may simply show the artist the door, never voicing his suspicions and never giving him the opportunity to prove they are his. And never calling him back.

I urge anyone who has had their work stolen and posted under another name to contact the perpetrator and ask that the work be removed from their site, or at the very listed properly credited. Not only do you protect your own work, you let them know that they can't continue unnoticed and unchallenged. You may very well protect another artist from the situation described above.

< Places soapbox back in the laundry room >

[su_liam]

Personally, the greatest annoyance is that no one is stealing any of my stuff. Maybe folks are intimidated by my fleet of powerful lawyers...?

[whtknt]

It's worth noting that there are also a few works specifically labeled as belonging to ProFantasy, as well.

[Jaxilon]

I don't think anyone here would care so long as credit was given to the artist who did the piece. It does seem like a good site but if they failed to respond to the efforts made to contact them it would seem it's not important enough in their mind and THAT is something puts me off. Maybe they are just slow and something will be worked out as soon as they realize it?

I'm just one of those old-fashioned folks who has a value system that triggers when I see stuff like this and I want it fixed even though nothing of mine is there (haha, like they would want my one piece anyway). It's the principle of the thing for me and I know this kind of stuff has to effect some of you who are more prolific and have been at it for a while.

I hope this comes to a good conclusion for everyone but the world can be an unjust place and sometimes I just have to let it go. Sometimes having a sense of justice sucks but I wouldn't want to be without it.

[torstan]

It depends on the license of the piece. Some of the pieces on there are commercial copyrighted works. All three of mine (that I've found) are CC licensed, so it's less of an issue. However if one of the maps I've done for publication turned up there, then I could get in trouble with the company - which is not really what I'm after.

Their direct contact seems to be down so I've posted directly to their forums with a complaint. I'll let you know how I get on.