To make a long story short-

A couple months ago, June 23, 2012- I found/discovered/was told about an obvious infringement of my work--more in fact, a direct copy derivative, in the form of an 8' x 12' mural in public display in a community local to me.

I formulated a strategy and have started to document the case. I'll be updating the info as events and correspondence progress. If anyone would like to follow along over the coming months the page(s) may be found at:

http://aeve.com/1ssc/

I would appreciate reading any comments from my fellow dgrinners and smuggmuggers in this thread.

-w

Wow! What a frustrating process. Good luck!

Originally Posted by MMcClainPhoto Wow! What a frustrating process. Good luck!

Thank you--piece by piece.

Here's a link demonstrating ... something or other about the character of these people.

http://www.mainstreetmurals.com/msm-.../mural-ded.pdf

Not even the least mention or credit of where the image originated from.

I'm still updating the page ... tune in.

http://aeve.com/1ssc/

Sure seems like the mural program expenses bought a lot of "paint"....

Could the civil suit route jeopardize their non-profit status? Seems reasonable they would have to disclose that, then combined with a bit of publicity (ie: social media) regarding the blatant theft of works of art they present, their revenues might drop significantly. And it's interesting the 'artist' is the VP of the organization. As a Board Member of the gallery, is the artist shielded by the entity, or can she be held directly liable?




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Originally Posted by M38A1 Sure seems like the mural program expenses bought a lot of "paint".... Could the civil suit route jeopardize their non-profit status? Seems reasonable they would have to disclose that, then combined with a bit of publicity (ie: social media) regarding the blatant theft of works of art they present, their revenues might drop significantly. And it's interesting the 'artist' is the VP of the organization. As a Board Member of the gallery, is the artist shielded by the entity, or can she be held directly liable? .

IMO both of them could be held directly liable. The coordinator/president for not getting the proper image authorization and the painter for not declaring an interested persons status. They both have their little fistful of dollars. Being members of the organization would probably work against them.

I've seen that mural, didn't realize it was A) based on one of your images, and B) ripped off from one of your images.

I imagine their grantors would be fairly pissed at them, I 'know' people at the Community Fund.....

This was probably just pure incompetance and ignorance, Barstow is, well, an odd mix. Many people in Barstow have no idea what lurks in their own backyard, unless they need to dump their trash in the Waterman hills without paying disposal fees, and it probably never occured to the mural artist that she could go out and seek her own inspiration. They'll probably plead for forgiveness till it snows in Barstow again and consider that if they've painted over it, then they are absolved of further responsibility.

I have to admit Barstow is diverse, and I have some very good friends in the area--the thing is, is that Barstow is in the United States and copyright statutes still apply. I suppose ignorance is a defense, albeit a poor one. At least the initial babble I heard about this being 'fair use' and my permission wasn't required to make this mural has been cleared off the table.

You know what would have been really cool? If you'd agreed that they could keep the mural as long as they added the photo credit to it.

"Mural based on an original photograph by Walter Feller, www.walterfeller.com". Man, what free advertising that could have been.

Actually, that was part of the solution I suggested in the initial invoice.

Wow. Even the clouds in the upper left have been copied to a T. An artist couldn't have even made up her own clouds? A real artist could. A thief just copies. Good luck with your case.

Thank you David. I've been using the word "painter" in mixed company. ;-)

I received a call from an attorney today pleading to negotiate terms to where I would stop posting "information" on the internet. In nearly the same breath this attorney asked what my side of the story was? Funny, how not only has my right to control my creative work been run over, but now there's an attempt by the same person to control what I say, what I write--my side of the story. I told the attorney to put what they had to say in writing and send it to me.

You might be interested in this Flicker site ("Steve Barstow"):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/5873265814/

Still up from 14 months ago

Originally Posted by AceCo55 You might be interested in this Flicker site ("Steve Barstow"): http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/5873265814/ Still up from 14 months ago

And from the above page, right side it's apparently in other places as well on Flickr:

This photo also appears in

• Main Street Murals Surrey Tours-June... (Set: 5)
• Barstow California (Group: 736)
• Canon PowerShot SX10 IS (Group: 36,086)
• Murals and Mosaics (Group: 36,360)

What's also interesting is, her painting/your image is STILL posted on her site and no credit given.
http://mysite.verizon.net/resqzb41/id4.html

Her 'tag' line is: I'LL PAINT ANYTHING THAT WILL HOLD STILL ! Maybe it should read I'LL PAINT ANYTHING THAT WILL HOLD STILL INCLUDING PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS OF OTHERS!




For grins, you might ping the musical group to see if their work is being used without permission. Take a look at this image she says is her next project to be located at TX BBQ 208 Main St.
http://mysite.verizon.net/resqzb41/2006.01.01_arch.html



Now, look at the google image results. See anything that looks the same?
https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sb...h=798&biw=1608


I'd put heavy money on the fact that ALL her work follows this pattern...



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Originally Posted by David_S85 Wow. Even the clouds in the upper left have been copied to a T. An artist couldn't have even made up her own clouds? A real artist could. A thief just copies. Good luck with your case.

Having been recently watching the appendix dvds from the extended dvd set of 'The fellowship of the Ring' and seeing what Alan Lee / John Howe created for PJ ... she's got a real cheek.

(btw I particularly liked the bit where PJ asked AL for a 'pic of a staircase' ... one line in the script (iirc) and what he was presented with :) )

Best of luck with this.

pp

Thank you Ace, Scott.

"Barstow Steve" is close to the group as well as all community events from what I can tell, and it's through his photos that helped me place the date of the public display of the work.

I'll find out probably later today if the Kill Henry Sugar cover photo is on the Texas BBQ wall. I have emailed the group to try to find the photographer.

I'm not surprised that the coordinator sold out the 'painter' as being an amateur and put all the blame on her in the first heartbeat:
http://aeve.com/1ssc/1-msm-07-30-12.html

I'm pretty sure that it's Barstow Steve's flickr page where in July of this year they had an official ribbon cutting for the latest mural, Wildlife, where the images are obviously from a professional source.

Thank you PP. Until now the subject has just been the coordinator--seems like it is time to rope-in the artist.

Originally Posted by wfeller I received a call from an attorney today pleading to negotiate terms to where I would stop posting "information" on the internet. In nearly the same breath this attorney asked what my side of the story was?

That attorney has a massive reading problem then. I'd add that part to the story too (on the internet).

Originally Posted by David_S85 That attorney has a massive reading problem then. I'd add that part to the story too (on the internet).

:-)

I'd like to find out who the original photographers were on the most recent mural:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/7502789858/

(Note the signature of the "Master Artist" on the lower left in the credits several shots into the set)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/7515073774/


There isn't a a mural on the Texas BBQ, but there is one across from the building- I haven't verified whether or not it is the DVD photo cover. I have found the licensor, if it is in fact that image.

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Originally Posted by AceCo55 You might be interested in this Flicker site ("Steve Barstow"): http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/5873265814/ Still up from 14 months ago

Originally Posted by wfeller :-) I'd like to find out who the original photographers were on the most recent mural: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/7502789858/ (Note the signature of the "Master Artist" on the lower left in the credits several shots into the set) http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/7515073774/ There isn't a a mural on the Texas BBQ, but there is one across from the building- I haven't verified whether or not it is the DVD photo cover. I have found the licensor, if it is in fact that image. -

I don't have the impression the BBQ one has been done yet based on her website comments. Just above the picture she posted it says "Planned for the side of the TX BBQ 208 E. Main St"

You might consider checking with the bbq place to see if a date/time has been scheduled for the installation?

And I found this on MSM's site indicating Kathy Fierro as part of the "team" representing Main St. Murals. Not that the skatepark project is your work, but this sure seems to show a strong connection between MSM and the artist.
(Source: http://www.mainstreetmurals.com/skatepark.htm)
"A mural dedication will kick off the days activities to celebrate the talented local artists who have worked under the guidance of Main St Murals team; master muralists David Brockhurst, Kathy Fierro and President Jane Laraman-Brockhurst.

Google Images is a good resource for stuff like this. You can provide the URL or upload a copy of the image for comparison/searching. That's how I found the above match.

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