I've already posted about this on deviantART and CNN iReport, but I wanted to spread the word even more.
deviantART ------> http://juor.deviantart.com/journal/43415948/
iReport ------> http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-654673
Text for those who don't want to leave the Escapist:
Chad Lieberman has been stealing art from dozens of DA artists and selling it as his own. His sites have been shut down but he's unresponsive to the artists he stole from. A class action lawsuit appears to be in the works but due to the cost, and the notoriously empty bank accounts of artists not to mention the vast distances between everyone he stole from, it's turning out to be a struggle.
I wanted mostly to share this, but do any other members have ideas about what could be done, both to hold him responsible as well as spread the word about this?
What do you think should happen?
Personally I want to see every penny go to the artists and everyone who bought a piece informed of it's origin and given the chance to return it, at a refund out of pocket for Chad. Plus I think he should be required to reimburse the artists for court costs and any other damages.
EDIT:
Fixed the links to the iReport and deviantART.
deviantART ------> http://juor.deviantart.com/journal/43415948/
iReport ------> http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-654673
Text for those who don't want to leave the Escapist:
This has been circulating on deviantART as a major issue this last week. For anyone not familar with the site, it's a community where artists can upload their works to share and comment on one another.
Recently Chad Lieberman, the nephew of the politician Joseph Lieberman, was interviewed for the sfchronicle site and shown posing with art he claimed was his own. Most of the art, however, wasn't his but was actually lifted from the artists of deviantART.
This art was for sale on his site art4love.com which has now been taken down for copyright infringement, as has the site markyourspot.com, which replaced art4love almost immediately with the same stolen content.
He was selling copies of the pictures for thousands of dollars each, some of which had been personal pieces done by artists and never sold. In addition it has been found that a book he published titled Creative Warriors Walk Alone is actually a plagiarized version of The Business Side of Creativity by Cameron Foote.
So far little headway has been made other than the removal of the sites. Chad has made no response.
Hopefully this extreme case of plagiarism and art theft being brought to the attention of people outside the deviantART community can help connect others whose art has been stolen and bring justice to those who have been so gravely wronged.
Sources:
http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/MASSIVE-COPYRIGHT-INFRINGEMENT-253771563
http://gene-ash.deviantart.com/art/Art4life-com-stolen-art-253359597
http://news.deviantart.com/article/158845/
http://sflchronicle.com/news/entertainment/2010/05/love-conquers-all-chad-lieberman-tells-trees-how-to-succeed-in-multimedia-art/
http://sflchronicle.com/chronic-featured/chronic-art/2011/08/chad-love-lieberman-art-thief/
Recently Chad Lieberman, the nephew of the politician Joseph Lieberman, was interviewed for the sfchronicle site and shown posing with art he claimed was his own. Most of the art, however, wasn't his but was actually lifted from the artists of deviantART.
This art was for sale on his site art4love.com which has now been taken down for copyright infringement, as has the site markyourspot.com, which replaced art4love almost immediately with the same stolen content.
He was selling copies of the pictures for thousands of dollars each, some of which had been personal pieces done by artists and never sold. In addition it has been found that a book he published titled Creative Warriors Walk Alone is actually a plagiarized version of The Business Side of Creativity by Cameron Foote.
So far little headway has been made other than the removal of the sites. Chad has made no response.
Hopefully this extreme case of plagiarism and art theft being brought to the attention of people outside the deviantART community can help connect others whose art has been stolen and bring justice to those who have been so gravely wronged.
Sources:
http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/MASSIVE-COPYRIGHT-INFRINGEMENT-253771563
http://gene-ash.deviantart.com/art/Art4life-com-stolen-art-253359597
http://news.deviantart.com/article/158845/
http://sflchronicle.com/news/entertainment/2010/05/love-conquers-all-chad-lieberman-tells-trees-how-to-succeed-in-multimedia-art/
http://sflchronicle.com/chronic-featured/chronic-art/2011/08/chad-love-lieberman-art-thief/
Chad Lieberman has been stealing art from dozens of DA artists and selling it as his own. His sites have been shut down but he's unresponsive to the artists he stole from. A class action lawsuit appears to be in the works but due to the cost, and the notoriously empty bank accounts of artists not to mention the vast distances between everyone he stole from, it's turning out to be a struggle.
I wanted mostly to share this, but do any other members have ideas about what could be done, both to hold him responsible as well as spread the word about this?
What do you think should happen?
Personally I want to see every penny go to the artists and everyone who bought a piece informed of it's origin and given the chance to return it, at a refund out of pocket for Chad. Plus I think he should be required to reimburse the artists for court costs and any other damages.
EDIT:
Fixed the links to the iReport and deviantART.
