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Rant #3

“Something You All Should Know: Stealing Is a Very Bad Thing.”

By iceangelmkx

June 8, 2006

 

As some of you may know, I recently received an email saying that someone had, without my permission, taken one of my original characters, Alex Walker, and claimed her as their own. The funny thing is that this person didn’t even attempt to change her looks and only changed her last name to Talker. They didn’t even try at all to make it less obvious that they actually stole this character from someone.

A part of me believes that this is fake, but if not, I promise that this person will be sorry when I find them. I already have a few friends ready to back me up once the time comes.

This particular situation has lead me to write the first rant article in over a year. I feel that I should explain better about stuff like this so that no one gets confused, especially after reading the news page on this site.

As you know, this site includes my works involving other media (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc). As much as I would like to own them, they are not my true property and it’s obvious that everyone should know that. However, we can use them in media such as art and fan fiction, unless the actual owner states that they do not want their characters or ideas used for anything. It is, however, encouraged to use a disclaimer at the beginning of each fic (though it doesn’t happen too often).

(One interesting thing I learned when I was in New York was that, in Japan, they’re actually flattered when you use their characters. That’s why you see a lot of fan-made mangas. However, here in the USA, you’re most likely to get a lawsuit. Now you know why Mortal Kombat is the only American media I’ll ever use on this site. X-Men and Ninja Turtles have been bought by companies in Japan at some time or another).

Anyhow, I just wanted to make that clear. Now to move on to the real stuff;

Yes, there are coincidences. There is going to be someone out there who’s going to have the same personality or same name as your original character. There’s going to be someone who will give the same tournament name as you (it happened to me) and are going to have the same fic idea as you (but most likely with a different concept…and that happened to me too…). However, if you do come across someone who seems to have the same idea as you, confront them and ask about it. Don’t let them stomp on you by having them use your character or idea to their advantage. They’re your characters and ideas and yours alone.

My advice is that when you create your characters and fanfics, date them right away! That way, if someone does pull a fast one, you have proof of when they were created and show that the ideas belong to you. FanFiction.Net themselves always state under each fic when you published your fic. Use that as proof as well.

Now, this one is for those in the pixel art community;

Never, EVER take anyone’s pixel art, base, etc and claim them as your own. You may only adopt dolls (as long as you give credit). However, in my website, no adopting is allowed. This is because none of the bases belong to me and I don’t want to get in trouble. Do NOT steal any of the dolls as your own. Not only will you hear it from me, but you’ll also hear it from the base creators…and they can get quite angry depending on the maker.

I am starting to finally come out with my own bases. Here, you may take them, make your doll, and put them on your site…ALWAYS give credit by linking my website to the doll or providing my website somewhere on your site. DO NOT claim the bases as your own. That’s also another way of stealing and I won’t be very happy then either.

Remember; everything except non-original characters and bases of other artists is copyrighted on this site, as stated at every bottom of the page. This includes Fanfictions, articles, bloopers, all art, and even my own pen name and site name. Don’t ever steal anything from here. Trust me…no matter how long it takes, you WILL be found.

© iceangelmkx

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