So….I’ll try to sum up what’s happening here. In 2008, I designed and modeled a robot girl for a college assignment. I posted them on DeviantArt as I always do, and since then I’ve gotten quite a few people asking if they can model it as well. I always tell them sure, as long as I’m credited with the design. I failed to put my name/info on the image though, so it has been spread around the internet and some people have modeled it without my permission (just for the record you don’t have to sign something for it to be protected by copyright). They usually find out who made it later and gladly credit me. So I don’t mind!

Until someone tries to sell it.

Fast forward from 2008 to now. I find out that someone has been selling a model of my design on Turbosquid since March of this year, and it has made thousands of dollars in profit. I’m naturally very upset about this, so I report the infringement to Turbosquid. At first they seemed fairly courteous, but then I wake up today and find them basically asking me to let him keep selling the model as long as he credits me. Are you kidding? After making thousands of dollars? Note that Turbosquid takes a 60% commission of profits by default, so they likely made even more money than the seller did from my design.

They tried to appeal to pity by talking about how hard he worked on creating the model from my design. HI! I DID THAT TOO!

I just can’t believe Turbosquid is taking the side of the infringer and trying to ignore the fact that they both made thousands of dollars off my IP without my permission. The minimum amount of money made is $2,481.00. I base that on how many reviews the model had, which you can only do if you buy it. However, this doesn’t include any purchases made that weren’t given reviews.

I think it goes without saying that the profits belong to me. It is not right for a guy in another country to steal my design and make thousands from it while I struggle to make ends meet. I have never made a penny off of that character design. To think that Turbosquid considers it fair for me to make nothing off my design while they made thousands is just unbelievable.

PLEASE reblog this. I am an amateur artist. I am not famous. I spent $130,000 to go to art college and haven’t found a full-time job since. My only job is the freelance I do from home. I am not Disney. I can’t afford to have my designs stolen for profit. I am hopeful that with enough exposure of this, Turbosquid will suddenly find the ethics they dropped on the floor somewhere. If this can happen to me, it can happen to you.

6 months ago  /  11,429 notes