Home General Discussion

Looking for opinions!

1
polycounter lvl 16
Offline / Send Message
javi polycounter lvl 16
Hey all!

Recently I've found out somebody has been using my own work in their portfolio. Last year I worked on a contract with a company dealing with modeling realistic sections of machinery. I ended up leaving that company a few months later, and took with me a copy of the work I did, the last thing I worked on.

I ended up rendering it out, and placing it on my website. Jump forward to a few days ago, somebody else that worked there asked me if they could use those images in their website, since after I left they had worked on my model further.

I told him, that the images I have are of the work I did. He replied back asking me once again. I replied back telling him that they were mine. I found out, a minute later after visiting his site, that he had in fact already placed the images on his website, and cropped my name out of the images, and resizing them.

Here is the work on his page:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/455805/Case/1.png

Here is the 3 images in question, as they appear on his site:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/455805/Case/2.png

Here are the images on my page:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/455805/Case/mypage.png

And here's those 3 images put together:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/455805/Case/3.png

Now I've asked him to take it down or remove it. I haven't had a reply in well over 24hrs. So I am posting it here, asking for your advice. Any more questions feel free to ask away. He is a polycounter btw.

Replies

  • Yozora
    Offline / Send Message
    Yozora polycounter lvl 11
    24 hours may be too soon, I'd suggest taking down those links (but keep your question) and wait a week before you start making his name look bad. Not trying to defend his actions but just giving him the benefit of doubt - maybe there was some miscommunication between your emails.

    I'm sure he's gonna take them down before everyone here starts flaming him... unless his side of the story is more convincing. I mean he had the decency to ask you for permission in the first place so he can't be that bad. Either way it isn't fair to start jumping on him so soon.
  • javi
    Offline / Send Message
    javi polycounter lvl 16
    okay, I changed the image that showed his name.

    edit: removed the projects he worked on!
  • Yozora
    Offline / Send Message
    Yozora polycounter lvl 11
    Anyone could google the project in that page and find out who he is, and probably a bunch of people can even recognize the portfolio. Just show the last 3 images for now (or none, the question is still valid without needing "proof").
  • aniceto
    Offline / Send Message
    aniceto polycounter lvl 18
    yeah, its probably a bit too soon to say.
    In my experience they usually drop the images without a peep once they've received a straightforward email.
    sometimes they don't respond or remove your artwork, and in those cases I have no idea what to do :s
    This guy has had my character on his site for a few months now http://poly-dimension.com/portfolio.html :<
  • crazyfingers
    Offline / Send Message
    crazyfingers polycounter lvl 10
    They want to use the images that you worked on that doesn't include their own touchups to the model? That sounds really sketchy to me. If they worked on it, improved it, why don't they post those screens?

    There's a bit up in the air, so we should try to withhold judgment, but it does sound kinda shadey. If they're a polycounter, great, they can come here and clear it up ;)
  • Spatz
    Offline / Send Message
    Spatz polycounter lvl 13
    i think he should remove the work from his page ...i think you can´t take a model change 10% and post it as your work...no go!
  • Michael Knubben
    yeah, since you say he's a polycounter: Dude, not cool. Take those down.
    This sort of thing can happen by accident, but this is clearly not one of those cases.

    I've got firsthand experience with not being able to take any of your stuff with you, and it sucks, but this isn't the solution.

    edit: Oh, hahaha. Now that I know who it is: Good luck man.
  • JO420
    Offline / Send Message
    JO420 polycounter lvl 18
    Its funny,someone thought i was being silly for putting a slight watermark with my name on my work.
  • Michael Knubben
    Aniceto: Well, what you can do is to post his name in this thread, so people googling him can find this. Like this: Genadi Dimov is a thief who stole my 3d art for use in his portfolio.

    tadaa!
  • ScoobyDoofus
    Offline / Send Message
    ScoobyDoofus polycounter lvl 19
    ivaj wrote: »
    I told him, that the images I have are of the work I did. He replied back asking me once again. I replied back telling him that they were mine. I found out, a minute later after visiting his site, that he had in fact already placed the images on his website, and cropped my name out of the images, and resizing them.

    My humble opinion:
    This is the part that is damning for the Polycounter in question.
    This guy, apparently, isn't even making his own renders...
    He just TOOK the renders from Ivaj's site, cropped them to remove his name.

    If he worked on these models, he should be able to render what he did, or make new renders of his own and post those. That might be acceptable or even open to debate. Taking somebody else's renders? That is theft. Plain and simple. That speaks volumes! This guy clearly knows what he's doing is probably wrong and is still not correcting it.

    I say its time for the torches and pitchforks.
  • hobodactyl
    Offline / Send Message
    hobodactyl polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, sounds like your e-mails were pretty clear, and ScoobyDoofus is right on the money. There's a point where you stop giving people the benefit of the doubt :P
  • IEatApples
    aniceto wrote: »
    This guy has had my character on his site for a few months now http://poly-dimension.com/portfolio.html :<

    See I always thought this stealing of peoples work has usually just been kids to 'pretend' their good. But these two people mentioned here appear to be professionals (of sorts) with jobs or looking for a job. Is this quite commonplace in the industry? Are companies easily able to spot these people (other than through art tests)? Just curious if people are actually getting jobs by placing someone elses work on their website.
  • Del
    Offline / Send Message
    Del polycounter lvl 9
    ~ This is bullshit. I'd go into a rage if I saw my work on someone else's site. That's You that put the hours of work in. Not him.

    IsItPitchforkTimeYet?
  • whats_true
    Offline / Send Message
    whats_true polycounter lvl 15
    Email his HR at his job and tell them about what he did. That ought to do something ;]
  • Eric Chadwick
    Best thing to do IMHO is to send a DMCA notice to his ISP.
    http://rising.blackstar.com/how-to-send-a-dmca-takedown-notice.html

    First though, give the guy a 24 hour notice that you'll be doing this, to give him the chance to remedy the situation. If no response, follow through.
  • javi
    Offline / Send Message
    javi polycounter lvl 16
    Well, I'm glad a lot of you agree with me. He also didn't bother to change the file names, as they infact are the original file names with a 1 added after the number. Anyways, that might just be reading too much into it. Anyways, I thought I'd show you the message he sent me.

    facebook.png

    By the time I sent my reply on April 7th he had already placed it on the web. I don't know how long he had already had it up previously, but its seriously okay that he did it.

    Also something else that bugs me is how he credits the images:
    *Objects depicted in all three images were made by me with exception of engine deck/cowlings created by other members of the graphics team.
    That engine deck and cowlings, are what I did, and is the only thing he is showing. He takes credit for it, then goes ahead and gives credit to somebody else. Makes no sense.
  • Slum
    Offline / Send Message
    Slum polycounter lvl 18
    Lol, fantastic censoring job with that. I wonder who it could be!

    EDIT: Ok, something useful. Beyond the images, he goes as far as posting this under them in his folio site:

    "*Objects depicted in all three images were made by me with exception of engine deck/cowlings created by other members of the graphics team."
  • Axios
    Offline / Send Message
    Axios polycounter lvl 10
    Slum wrote: »
    Lol, fantastic censoring job with that. I wonder who it could be!

    Especially on the very top line
  • boyluya
    Offline / Send Message
    boyluya polycounter lvl 10
    Hmmm, who's that pokemon? Seriously, what he did is clearly theft.. Btw, his avatar looks so familiar.:poly124:
  • leslievdb
    Offline / Send Message
    leslievdb polycounter lvl 15
    XD the censoring on that image ...
  • Krynn72
    Are you kidding with that censoring? You seriously can't read his blurry name?

    Anyways, he should take it down. You seem to be entirely justified in asking him to do so, based on what you've told us.
  • bbob
  • Cyrael
    Offline / Send Message
    Cyrael polycounter lvl 10
    thats f*ed up (the thievery - not the censoring job) honestly after putting hours and hours into my own work I couldn't bring myself to claim someone elses work as my own.. i would be too ashamed.. I'm proud of my work no matter how bad/good it comes out.
  • Slum
    Offline / Send Message
    Slum polycounter lvl 18
    As far as I'm concerned, this scenario is equivalent to posting an image of the Mona Lisa on your portfolio, and saying it was created by you - with the justification that because you painted your own version of it later, you somehow retroactively created the original. This logic boggles any sensible mind.
  • vcortis
    Offline / Send Message
    vcortis polycounter lvl 9
    The way I see it he needs to give full credit to you or take it down. If he wants to say he worked on it then he needs NEW renders showing what he did. If he e-mailed HR at the company maybe he could get a hold of it.

    Otherwise you're just being a complete dick... I'd be completely infuriated if someone used my work with out asking and getting my approval, or took credit for my work. Disgusting.
  • whats_true
    Offline / Send Message
    whats_true polycounter lvl 15
    It says **************

    You fail at blurry.
  • crazyfool
    Offline / Send Message
    crazyfool polycounter lvl 13
    thats really bad, and I thought I had it bad with people copy and pasting my 'about me' and 'resume' word for word. you know who you are lol

    I think its pitchfork time!!!!!

    edit; google, very strange that its coming from a really good artist, Ive not seen it come from a professional level before, normally its some kid pretending hes good not someone in the industry. that short sentence under the images is priceless, I didnt do engine cowling or engine deck, image names cowlings_021.jpg, engine_deck_021.jpg, engine_deck_011.jpg. WHAT DID YOU DO????????
  • Yozora
    Offline / Send Message
    Yozora polycounter lvl 11
    Based on that conversation, it still could be miscommunication. Its possible he has not read your 2 latest replies and only went off with your single reply.

    You spent 4 days to reply to his last message so I don't know why you don't give him at least 4 days to respond.

    Its possible that he's just very confused as to who did what. The fact that he contacted you about it shows he has good intentions... but made a couple of really stupid mistakes, such as somehow assuming you was ok with it.

    I guess he just wants pics to go with each project he worked on. And he said he can't make any of his own images because he doesnt have access to that work - these images by Javi are apparently the only images of this project that he can find.

    But yes I agree that when he reads your messages and/or this thread, he should take them down. And if he doesn't, then he truly deserves to be flamed.
  • adam
    Offline / Send Message
    adam polycounter lvl 19
    ivaj - Good on you to call this person out, Polycounter or not. You gave notice, it was cordial, concise, and polite.

    That said, that was a horrible edit on the conversation you had with this person so I removed the image from your post until you can properly mask this person out.
  • Canadian Ink
    Offline / Send Message
    Canadian Ink polycounter lvl 12
    If the offending individual is within driving distance then tell them to take the images down or you'll want to talk about it in person...If they refuse then find out where they live and go confront them in person. Theaving douchebags are pretty quick to change their tune when your on their doorstep.
  • Progg
    Offline / Send Message
    Progg polycounter lvl 11
    I wouldn't dare threaten any action in person. This could easily be misconstrued as a physical threat. I think you handled it the best way... although we all know who the person is now.. :P If it isn't down by the end of the day I would follow Eric's advice and issue a DMCA to the ISP of his site.
  • javi
    Offline / Send Message
    javi polycounter lvl 16
    adam wrote: »
    ivaj - Good on you to call this person out, Polycounter or not. You gave notice, it was cordial, concise, and polite.

    That said, that was a horrible edit on the conversation you had with this person so I removed the image from your post until you can properly mask this person out.
    fair enough adam, I fixed it.

    @progg: yeah I'm never gonna do that, but I will see what I can get the isp to do if he doesn't take it down soon. It shall be 48hrs soon enough.

    @Yozora: I understand what your saying, however even if he didn't understand me, I left it pretty clear that I made those images. If he just assumed I was okay with it, he still should have waited for a confirmation, instead of doing this.

    @crazyfool: yeah its very sketchy.
  • dippingsauce
    do you all really think ivaj didn't do that bad blurring on purpose? the guy straight jacked his images, cropped the watermarks and claimed the work as his. getting his name out there should serve as a warning in case any of the other images on his site aren't completely his.
  • ElysiumGX
    Offline / Send Message
    ElysiumGX polycounter lvl 18
    HAHAHAHAHAHA!! *cough cough* HAHAHA!!!!

    yay?

    oh that guy makes me giggle.
  • Michael Knubben
    I knew Ely would be in here soon enough, cackling like a madman.
  • Canadian Ink
    Offline / Send Message
    Canadian Ink polycounter lvl 12
    Progg wrote: »
    I wouldn't dare threaten any action in person. This could easily be misconstrued as a physical threat.

    If someone stole my art which i put long hours and and my heart and soul into, you better believe they will catch a beating son! :poly124:
  • ElysiumGX
    Offline / Send Message
    ElysiumGX polycounter lvl 18
    MightyPea wrote: »
    I knew Ely would be in here soon enough.

    I'm sorry. News of this weirdo's exploits always seems to find its way to me, even though I've had him on my ignore list for I don't know how long. Otherwise, I never would have guessed the topic of this thread.
  • SHEPEIRO
    Offline / Send Message
    SHEPEIRO polycounter lvl 17
    man im trying to figure which polycountinknob this is... too many possiblities so many portfolios to check though....
    ;-)
  • StephenVyas
    Offline / Send Message
    StephenVyas polycounter lvl 18
    Let me get this straight...He does work revamping or adding on to an old asset, and yet asks for previous pictures of the model that doesn't show any of his work???

    And then.. .. posts them on his website, even though the original artist was not okay with it?!

    Does this happen a lot to modelers? - This is freagin beyond my understanding.
  • rooster
    Offline / Send Message
    rooster mod
    still quite easy to figure out with a little google :)
    sounds like an epic case of laziness to me, and some serious fuzzy logic. Lets not burn him at the stake just yet, we all make stupid mistakes sometimes. He just needs to get the message that this was indeed a stupid mistake and it's not ok to do
  • Cyrael
    Offline / Send Message
    Cyrael polycounter lvl 10
    I just find it strange that he's clearly seen this thread and chose not to respond...
  • aniceto
    Offline / Send Message
    aniceto polycounter lvl 18
    MightyPea wrote: »
    Aniceto: Well, what you can do is to post his name in this thread, so people googling him can find this. Like this: Genadi Dimov is a thief who stole my 3d art for use in his portfolio.

    tadaa!

    good idea!
  • javi
    Offline / Send Message
    javi polycounter lvl 16
    Hey all!

    Well I have an update, it seems that **** ***** is looking for me to take down the images along with him in some sort of "truce". I already told him no, and that he has to take down the images.

    facebook-2.png

    Thoughts?
  • Progg
    Offline / Send Message
    Progg polycounter lvl 11
    LOL... "I stole your work.." "You threaten me?" "Ok... we'll both pretend no one made the work."

    Priceless.
  • Cyrael
    Offline / Send Message
    Cyrael polycounter lvl 10
    haha my favorite line is "i'm not looking to take credit for ALL the work done in the images." THATS BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T DO IT!

    of course you shouldn't take credit for it silly.
  • PolyHertz
    Online / Send Message
    PolyHertz polycount lvl 666
    From the info provided, your in the right and they're in the wrong on this one. Do what you think necessary to get them taken down from his site. If he continues to refuse I see no problem in letting everyone know who he is so that potential employers that visit this site are aware of his plagiarism.
  • Fuse
    Offline / Send Message
    Fuse polycounter lvl 18
    I've seen this happen more often than I would have expected.

    At a certain point it's not worth the braincells to try to combat it or stress over it. Just like padding your resume, padding your portfolio with plagiarized work wont really get an artist far in this industry.
  • StephenVyas
    Offline / Send Message
    StephenVyas polycounter lvl 18
    lol !!! The first line had me crackin' up

    "I didn't mean to lift the images.. .. "
  • Japhir
    Offline / Send Message
    Japhir polycounter lvl 16
    yay I found him with google! :p.

    that's a really weird situation, especially since the guy makes marvelous high poly work himself.
  • Eric Chadwick
    ... or does he? :poly141:
1
Sign In or Register to comment.