Thievery at LiveLeaks.com
Stealing the work of another artist or writer is all too common on the Internet. The fact that "everybody" does it does not make it right, however, and in reality not "everybody" does it. Some of us have ethics and decency. Disclaimer: Now and then, I will use a graphic without giving attribution, but only when there is no attribution to be found. Whenever possible, credit and/or a link back to the source is given.
My good friend Big Fur Hat (not his real name) at iOwnTheWorld.com, is an exceptionally talented artist, especially in the area of Photoshopping. He gets ripped off frequently by talentless a-holes who use his art without attribution to him. It's not the first time, either: Another iOTW artist was ripped off by Star53. See "Still More Thievery at LiveLeaks.com."
Big Fur Hat wrote on June 20, 2011 about the latest case of intellectual and artistic theft, which was perpetrated on LiveLeaks.com by a contributor there who goes by the moniker of "Star53." Here's what he wrote about that on iOwnTheWorld.com, reproduced below in full:
Look what this scumbag did. Here is my original piece that appeared on iOwnTheWorld.
(NOTE: I'll pause here to say that at this point, Big Fur Hat posted Star53's stolen version. Star53 and/or LiveLeaks became aware of this, and removed the post.)
Here is what this f---tard did. Notice the shitty photoshop of this mongo. This talentless piece of excrement can’t even successfully take out the credit like a more adept scummy thief.
I am currently in talks with LiveLeaks. This is some crew. They suggest that a text link be placed underneath all the copyright infringements. This is a valid “solution” for these crooks. They don’t seem to understand that when somebody else takes the image or video from LiveLeak they are not going to take the text link with them. Star53 is ground zero on scumbaggery. He removed the credits. Letting his account survive at LiveLeaks is all I need to know about this organization. I will not stop my crusade until Star53′s account is removed.
Update: By the way. I am seeing all the comments left by the iOTW family. Thank you, thank you. It means the world to us. We will never forget that.
SOURCE: http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=80798
The iOTW family is truly just that: A family of friends. They literally saved my life last year, and that means the world to me. I will never forget that, and I consider any enemy of iOTW to be an enemy of mine. ALSO SEE: A MESSAGE to star53 on LiveLeaks.com from Mr. Pinko of iOwnTheWorld.com