Equine Transformation Project - VOTING CLOSED

[lillylove90]

@Cherry

I don't understand... Why should they be changed for copyright reasons?

tracing, heavily referencing - however you want to call, to put it simply, art theft. you can argue they aren't traced, and i'm not demonizing equi or saying she had bad intentions when creating the lines, but the thing is that there is some strong evidence that suggests art theft.
cs could get in trouble if things escalate and/or the owner of the photos finds the website, and although i wouldn't count on the site being shut down, the images could very easily simply be deleted leaving us with nothing.

Oh- I undertsnad now. :3 Thank you so much.

[nickjr]

@Cherry

I don't understand... Why should they be changed for copyright reasons?

tracing, heavily referencing - however you want to call, to put it simply, art theft. you can argue they aren't traced, and i'm not demonizing equi or saying she had bad intentions when creating the lines, but the thing is that there is some strong evidence that suggests art theft.
cs could get in trouble if things escalate and/or the owner of the photos finds the website, and although i wouldn't count on the site being shut down, the images could very easily simply be deleted leaving us with nothing.

Very true. And I'm going to bring up the DMCA factor again to show why it's true; hope people don't mind:

[snip]

[snip]
CS wouldn't be shut down over the lines, but what could very easily happen if a copyright claim was made is that every single pet on the lines in question would have to be immediately deleted. No line change, no replacements, just zap so all you'd have is an error box in place of a pet. This could happen even if the lines weren't traced and simply resembled the photo, as with the grey horse photo, if they had enough evidence of "see, these people say it's traced and it looks close enough to me, so I'm pressing the suit and filing a DMCA on it".

Another site I go on had a DMCA complaint filed. The artists had 24 hours to replace the image, or worse legal stuff could happen (I can't remember the details since it's been... a year or so, I think). So yeah, the DMCA thing could easily lead to the loss of a whole bunch of images without warning.

Just throwing that out there. ^_^

*jumping to this DMCA debate as I'm on the same site with nickjr*

[snip]

DMCA complaints can be found on ANY grounds. On the other site, the picture (an avatar dress) in question, looked nothing alike yet the artists were still forced to change it. That being said, they still took inspiration from the original design and take inspiration from images of clothing for items they release now. The way DMCA complaints operate heavily favors the person who files the complaint.

[RavenclawHobbit]

I beg to differ.
I honestly don't think the quality of remakes will be a 'matter of opinion'. Not when there is an original to compare it to. It's pretty easy to tell if a design is well copied or not by how much it resembles the original.
Not every single line art of equi's is traced, try to remember that.

I mean, if it's an obviously terrible conversion, it won't be a matter of opinion, but I'm just saying not everyone is guaranteed to love the new designs, or the old ones. Sort of like some people (such as myself) don't really care for equi's lines, while others have been complaining that they will miss them terribly. And although I'm aware that not all equi's lines were traced/accidentally referenced/whatever we're calling it, I just don't think it's right for CS to leave the ones that were traced in use. Not only is there the danger of legal trouble if the rightful owner of the photo complains, but it's just bad form for a website that so strongly promotes artistic integrity.

[soupalicious]

The one Achilles heel of the plan to switch between linearts, as perfect as it may seem, is that the dodgy linearts are still in use.

It's quite a complicated little situation. I will be sad to see the equimagine linearts go but I think that's far preferable to the risk. And even if there was no risk about copyright holders getting angry, I think that on a moral level, there has been some wrongdoing, so it's time to fix that wrongdoing instead of letting it slide.

We all make mistakes. What separates the good from the bad is what we DO with those mistakes. We can either accept it and be unapologetic for our wrongdoing, or we can seek to make it right. I think switching the linearts help to make it right. c:

This! I think it would be sending a very disturbing message if we kept using equi linearts. It will just send the message of 'Art theft is wrong, and you'll be punished if your caught- but in this case art theft is a-okay and nothing will be done about it.'

[I am Pinkie Pie]

http://harpalyce.tumblr.com/post/456085 ... re-are-the

The foal is obviously traced.

People need to realize that this is art theft and it was blatantly traced off, not just "aww i like this lineart, why would you even change anyways?!"[/quote]

This could have just been a refference. Or the foal could have just plopped it's self down on the ground and everyone's saying it's a trace. Just like I said. You can't acctually proove that this is a trace, can you?

[RavenclawHobbit]

http://harpalyce.tumblr.com/post/45608572531/here-are-some-quick-comparisons-and-here-are-the

The foal is obviously traced.

People need to realize that this is art theft and it was blatantly traced off, not just "aww i like this lineart, why would you even change anyways?!"

This could have just been a refference. Or the foal could have just plopped it's self down on the ground and everyone's saying it's a trace. Just like I said. You can't acctually proove that this is a trace, can you?

[/quote]

Unfortunately, there is too much of a coincidence for it to be a mere similarity in pose. Particularly on the last three, the lines are nearly exact, even the muscle lines, mane and tail, angle, head position...etc. It is enough to prove that, intentionally or not, they were indeed stolen.

Heavy referencing is still a form of art theft There's a whole thread about that in the "Share your art" forum if you're curious.

[Resin]

The one Achilles heel of the plan to switch between linearts, as perfect as it may seem, is that the dodgy linearts are still in use.

It's quite a complicated little situation. I will be sad to see the equimagine linearts go but I think that's far preferable to the risk. And even if there was no risk about copyright holders getting angry, I think that on a moral level, there has been some wrongdoing, so it's time to fix that wrongdoing instead of letting it slide.

We all make mistakes. What separates the good from the bad is what we DO with those mistakes. We can either accept it and be unapologetic for our wrongdoing, or we can seek to make it right. I think switching the linearts help to make it right. c:

This! I think it would be sending a very disturbing message if we kept using equi linearts. It will just send the message of 'Art theft is wrong, and you'll be punished if your caught- but in this case art theft is a-okay and nothing will be done about it.'

I feel the same, which is why I fully support the change.

[Joe Kerr]

I personally prefer the older pony lineart, and the older PPS horse lineart, but the new Draft lineart is absolutely stunning. I also really like the unicorns the way they are. It's a challenge to dress them, yes, but that adds to the fun! Whatever you choose, I'll be supportive. I enjoy both quite a bit.


~M.G

[Demisle]

@Demisle: I noticed all complaints favor the person who files them also. That's why my dad has full custody because he filed a complaint against my mom to dss and they wouldn't believe a word I said. why interview me if I have no say in the first place?

Hmm...that's a totally different issue than copyright laws, sorry XD. I'm not an expert in how custody works and I won't try to apply what limited knowledge I have of it onto your situation.

It IS however, a trend with DMCA claims and that I know for certain. DMCA claims function with a basic template evident in how Youtube copyright claims do. Complaint gets filed, it gets pursued and unless you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you did NOT trace/rip/what have you images from. Between small groups such as individual photographers or rpg websites, there isn't much of a battle to be had. Either you win the complaint is false or you lose and have to follow the wishes of the group that filed the claim. The odds naturally get stacked against the defendant.

That's not to say though, defendants haven't won DMCA suits.When the big dogs come out to play, it's always a legal battle.

The issue of what happens if a plaintiff wins a DMCA claim is a whole other issue though. That, I think, is what the crux of the matter is in this case. The potential consequences could be serious and the site could, as someone had mentioned earlier, have to remove all the pets with no redraws. It could also just be a redraw of the lines in a certain amount of time and change to the site. Because this consequence is unknown, it makes lineart changing seem to be the course of action to take, to avoid bad repercussions.

[Kat.]

I personally prefer the older pony lineart, and the older PPS horse lineart, but the new Draft lineart is absolutely stunning. I also really like the unicorns the way they are. It's a challenge to dress them, yes, but that adds to the fun! Whatever you choose, I'll be supportive. I enjoy both quite a bit.


~M.G

this is exactly how I feel. honestly, sorry, but I could care less if we kept the old draft lines (the new lines are simply gorgeous, BTW), but I really like my spiffy collection of equimagine ponies/horses, and it's actually been a hoard of mine for a while. especially that second pony, its face is just so cute <3