I googled myself the other day, as I was telling a new coworker that a bunch of my images are floating around the internet on wallpaper sites. I think we were talking about artwork being stolen on the internet. At least in most cases my artwork seems to be credited, so if anything at least it's getting my name out there even if it wasn't approved by me...
Anyway, in doing so I came across a couple sites where my work had been featured, including bobbyrock's blog (here's his
[link] on deviantart). He's also mentioned my name is his awesome Mustang vector - easy enough to find being the most popular DA auto vector of all time!
I feel very honoured to be the source of inspiration for so many, as well as helped to nurture such amazing talent out there, if only passively.
Kinda makes me feel like I should get back to it, to see if I can still compete with everyone now that it's been a year or so since I really submitted anything vector. Hopefully I can post something sometime soon - I have a BMW M3 3/4 finished from a couple years ago... It's actually of the "concept" version of the current M3 - it's THAT old.
Once I heard such a thought that “anything, the owner uploads on the net doesn’t belong him anymore” I guess it’s a fact (
I’m just curious, do you do anything if you find your works are so shamlessly used or even sold without any notification of you?
But most of the stuff I've seen comes to me via eagle-eyed DA people who know my work. Who knows what else is out there... Thank God for people on DA...
Watermarking always helps though. People who steal are usually lazy, and can't be bothered to take the time to remove watermarks (or do so with any skill if they try).
Then again, we'll probably come across the same problems that stopped us from vectoring in the first place. I'm not sure about you, but for me it was a lack of time/motivation.