Stolen Art?

I'm a bit of a lurker, so I'm not sure which single-digit post of mine this will be, but here goes. I apologize in advance if this ends up being in the wrong forum, thread, etc., but considering the artists in question are both known BE artists, I felt it was relevant.

I dislike pointing fingers, bashing, or speading theories about stolen art or ignored credit to certain artists when references are used, but this case is really too blatant for me to hold back. Now, I'm not one to care if you use a reference for art, or get ideas from other people... as long as you give credit where credit is due. Which isn't the case here.

The artist in question:
http://powerman2000.deviantart.com/a...samus-91729020
Posted July 14th, 2008

The questionably ripped off art:
http://zelda308.deviantart.com/art/o...After-73999295
Posted January 6th, 2008

Like I said, it's almost a blatant copy in figure and position, with just slight changes in terms of the face used and details of the curvature. I enjoy both artists, but this kind of struck me as a bit over the line.

Now, I made sure to check posts and comments to see if Zelda308 was given any sort of credit, and failed to see anything pointing towards their site, that he used the work as a reference or anything. This disturbs me a bit because artwork, no matter what the audience it is applied to, is partly physical talent, but even more a talent of the imagination. I won't rant much more or try and feed anything else about this, but if you look down to the second set of comments being left, powerman2000 has some... ironic things to say about this whole situation.

Also, if you haven't seen either artist's works before, then there's something new for you to check out. As I said, I enjoy their works, but right now am a bit in question about the latter.

Zelda308: http://zelda308.deviantart.com/

powerman2000: http://powerman2000.deviantart.com/

- If you're wondering why I didn't bring this up on the artist's site, I didn't want it to get deleted in an effort to cover it up, but also didn't want to create unnecessary drama for either artist that could cause problems on DA. This is more for a discussion mainly within the Forum rather than an attack on either artist.

[Bestarred]

Well, in the comments to that same image, powerman2000 rails against people who color his art before he does, especially without permission, stating that it's pretty much theft.

The obvious answer is to at least send a note through dA. Nothing overt, just politely ask about his knowledge of the earlier picture. It's not like he traced it (thank gods; I don't want to hear about THAT mess again this quickly), so it's still possible, if not probable, that this wasn't intentional.

[SoylentOrange]

I don't think this qualifies at all, really. It's certainly not traced, and it's barely enough to qualify as a pose copy; consider the arm placement and the different dimension (Zelda308's is much bulkier than samus).

I think this is a non-issue and nobody needs to send anyone notes.

[Kyutetsuki]

No. This isn't theft. It could -possibly- go as "inspired by", but it's definately not traced and the difference is just too large to fling loose accusations. Just look at the hands, the ways the knees point, and the difference in how the artists draw the bulging flesh.

Blaming someone for art theft is a serious accusation, nothing you do on a whim.
And you can't claim ownership of a pose.

I apologize if I went too far, then. If you'd like me to contact a moderator to have this thread deleted, I will do so. Just felt it was something that needed attention.

[elmo]

could just possibly be a coinsidence .., but doubt that, the pose is just proboly enspired just as kyutetsuki said

[crazyazn]

you know you could delete this thread yourself....

[spongebathe83]

Originally Posted by SoylentOrange

I don't think this qualifies at all, really. It's certainly not traced, and it's barely enough to qualify as a pose copy; consider the arm placement and the different dimension (Zelda308's is much bulkier than samus).

I think this is a non-issue and nobody needs to send anyone notes.

Agreed. Its similar but tracing is copying and this ain't traced. I do the same thing since I'm fairly new to art'n'stuff

[PrBlahBlahtson]

Originally Posted by crazyazn

you know you could delete this thread yourself....

Our ability to delete posts was revoked due to a shadowy character.

As far as the art, that's a fairly generic pose that's been used a number of times by many other artists. If it was a case of tracing I would say there's a problem, but really... not seeing even a hint of theft there, sorry. Maybe he saw the pose and liked it, but as I said, neither of them would be the first one to do it.

[elmo]

Originally Posted by PrBlahBlahtson

Our ability to delete posts was revoked due to a shadowy character.

what happend to have that privilage taken away from us?

[Metatron]

I think difference is great enough in the pieces that they can be deemed separate yes basic shape does seem similar but thats not enough to say that its a rippoff

[PyroWildcat]

Originally Posted by PrBlahBlahtson

Our ability to delete posts was revoked due to a shadowy character.

Ah see wut yew did thar.