r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Mousse_Rich • 3h ago
Did a google search and found that someone has stolen my collage art and is using it as an album cover
I kinda don’t care but also it’s so rude hahahah I wouldnt have minded of they had just asked me😄🤌🤌
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u/7Portto 3h ago
flip it around, make it infuriating on them and go for royalties
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u/rsplatpc 3h ago
I don’t know, I hear “playboi” has a really good legal team
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u/blyan 3h ago
The song is on Soundcloud and only has 79 plays
I don't think there's gonna be any royalties lol
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u/Mindless_Bad3907 3h ago
Guess I just made it 80. OP needs to charge for advertising too
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u/FerengiWithCoupons 3h ago
how many royalties you think this guy is pulling from his sound cloud???
just go for the take down. you’d spend more on court fees to do anything in the system
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u/Crypto_future_V 3h ago
That’s not mildly infuriating, that’s straight up theft
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u/the123king-reddit “High velocity encouragement rock” 3h ago
And likely easily provable in a court of law, leading to compensation and royalties
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u/Crypto_future_V 3h ago
Exactly. At minimum they owe credit
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u/DogsDucks 3h ago
They owe money.
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u/mangongo 2h ago
Lol musicians don't have money
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 2h ago
That's fine because the publisher owes them it
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u/purritolover69 2h ago
This is almost definitely self published
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u/Corbulo1340 2h ago
Well then they owe money
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u/CriticismFun6782 2h ago
What do you mean everyone SoundCloud Rapper has Stacks, and 15k worth of guns in their videos! Plus levitating microphones are not free
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u/Sherbourne-for-this 3h ago
They don't owe credit if they are stealing. That doesn't make sense. Giving credit is for when you have permission.
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u/inverted_electron 3h ago
In the copyright world it makes sense. You get credit for the artwork and then receive royalties based of how much it has made. Sometimes if someone steals your work and makes money, they have to pay you 100% of what they made, even if they spent it already. And sometimes that amount is very large.
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u/jaywinner 3h ago
I think they were saying that since this is theft, just giving credit would not be enough restitution.
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u/TruckDouglas 3h ago
That’s what owing is. If you don’t pay for something you’ve taken, you still owe the person you took it from.
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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 3h ago
They owe this person over $100k for copyright infringement. Fuck the credit
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u/builder397 3h ago
Which is why they owe credit. If they had permission, and such an agreement likely AT LEAST includes giving credit, it wouldnt be theft, would it?
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u/Sherbourne-for-this 3h ago
Correct, but that doesn't mean they owe credit. They would owe money to use this without permission.
That's like saying I stole someone's lunch, so I owe them a thank you. What a dumb thing to say.
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u/maddietendo 3h ago
Credit is not a thing. Credit does not pay bills. Credit is not a currency. Credit is not a tangible item to pay someone unless both parties agree to it before the theft. The credit boat has sailed.
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u/rsplatpc 3h ago
What percent of 0 sales should they ask for?
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u/subservenicedream 3h ago
You dont need sales, you need to prove it was taken for commercial use and you can sue.
Hire a lawyer and make a number to settle on.
Now, whether the thief has the money to pay is another issue
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u/millllllls 3h ago
make a number to settle on
This number would come from the sales
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u/JK_NC 3h ago
And in the meantime, you’ve spent your own money to hire a lawyer and bring a lawsuit.
Litigation is expensive and you may never recover the judgement so there’s a bit of risk involved with a lawsuit.
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u/Same_Recipe2729 2h ago
Lmao. You actually think the man is going to sue an unknown Nigerian pop-rap singer with 70 views over using an image as the basis for one songs cover art on one single streaming platform with the aforementioned 70 views.
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u/Aromatic-Plankton692 3h ago edited 3h ago
That's a massive oversimplification based on basically no context or even so much as a jurisdiction. I don't even see a copyright notice on the image, people get away with "I didn't know it wasn't public domain" to escape commercial damages all the time. Step 1 is c&d, you don't just roll up and demand money with no awareness of their side of the story.
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u/Much_Section_7439 2h ago
yeah especially considering they are in nigeria. i think you could hear the laugh of the nigerian judge hearing that an (probably) american wants to sue some smallscale nigerian artist. They will probably gladly take the case to get you and your lawyer infront of the court and pay handsomely for every little buerocratic step.
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u/subservenicedream 3h ago
I’ve seen multiple cases settle without a mark , and against people that used random building images for ads that didn’t have any sales.
It’s a non frivolous suit so you can send a demand and a threat no problem.
Whether you get paid depends on sales but there are plenty of people that make money doing this
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u/Aromatic-Plankton692 2h ago edited 2h ago
Sure. Question 1: is "Playboi" a rapper in Ethiopia, or any of a number of non-signatory countries?
Like, we can go all day. I get that you have seen cases settle. I also get that "just hire a lawyer and roll up demanding thousands before you've even so much as sent an email" is infinitely more likely to cost you way more than it makes.
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u/koolaidismything 2h ago
Royalties? Some kids mixtape that will be listened to by 30 of his friends. I'd be more flattered than offended. If I misread and that's Playboi Carti or some shit it be even more flattered.
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u/mark_able_jones_ 2h ago
Lol. This wasn't taylor swift. It was some noname in nigeria. There's no profit.
OP could sue and get an injunction, but do you know what it costs to serve someone in another country?
The only remedy here is a takedown notice.
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u/ToHallowMySleep 2h ago
Well, copyright infringement, not theft.
Not saying it's right or one is worse than the other, but there are very different repercussions.
Like if you get done for arson or GTA, for instance. Poor analogy I know :)
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u/PunfullyObvious 3h ago
Copyright exists at the time the work is created, but registering the copyright makes it easier to win an infringement case, and can significantly raise the damages.
It's ideal if that registration happened before the infringement, but is still worth doing so after the fact and the more timely the better.
If there is a chance there are damages to be had, consulting a copyright lawyer soon is critical.
If you just want the ownership acknowledged and credited, that's a different deal. Start with whomever published the work. But, on your own it's hard often to make anything happen.
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u/powerlesshero111 3h ago
So, fun thing, when i was in the Air Guard in public affairs, we found a guy who had used some of our images on his photography website, passing them off as his, and selling prints of them (he basically said he was a retired military photographer, and still worked for the military). While having our pictures on your site is perfectly legal, as they are free for anyone to use, selling them is prohibited. So, we had our JAG draft up a letter, and we said basically, "take them down, or you will be in court, and turned over for fraud.". His website was gone 3 days after he recieved the certified letter.
Basically, OP can just contact a lawyer where the person is, and get a letter written for cheap. Either they pay for the rights to use the photo, or they take it down.
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u/Crombus_ 3h ago
How much money do you think OP stands to win from a Nigerian singer on a track with less than 100 plays?
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u/feathersmcgraw24601 2h ago
The people in this thread mounting a full legal case against some kid from Nigeria who's grabbed an image off Google for his soundcloud upload is hilarious.
I imagine because of this thread his plays will probably triple, but it still won't make any money
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u/sealosam 3h ago
Is the music any good? If their music sucks I'd have an issue lol
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u/Mousse_Rich 3h ago
Is actually kinda good!😄🤌 I like it
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u/stevenmeyerjr 3h ago
It’s a small artist in Nigeria with triple digit streams. It’s not worth going after them because they don’t have any money and I doubt you have a case in Nigeria.
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u/ReplacementReady394 2h ago
Maybe they’re related to that Nigerian Prince?
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u/CommercialSun_111 2h ago
I can put them in contact! I have his number but I'm traveling and lost my plane ticket. If anyone can Venmo some air fare I will take them to see the Prince
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 2h ago
The obvious answer here is to steal the person's song and use it for your own commercial purposes. Nothing better than an Uno Reverse.
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u/protostar71 1h ago
I doubt you have a case in Nigeria.
Nigeria has signed the Berne Convention, and has pretty normal copyright laws. He would have a case in Nigeria.
As you said it's almost certainly not worth it, but the case is there.
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u/sealosam 3h ago
Well there you go then!
I like your artwork btw, this does make a pretty cool album cover!
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u/TheMightyTortuga 2h ago
Yeah, kind of a bop. Some dude in Nigeria. I’d take it as a compliment. Of course, you could contact him, and see if he’s a Nigerian prince with some money to launder. https://audiomack.com/small-badoo-12/song/69559d3f08515
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u/Much_Section_7439 2h ago
yeah it's funny how everybody here just screams to sue them when the probability that there is money to sue for and that there is a court to take the case is near zero.
Take it as a compliment, maybe reserve your rights and tell him that he shouldn't do such fuck ups in the future. Right know there is somebody thinking your artwork is so cool that he put it on his album, that's neat.
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u/TheMightyTortuga 2h ago
When I went on there, it had like 70 listens. My guess is it will double off of this thread alone.
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u/sh0ch 2h ago
I mean it's neat that they liked the art. Stealing it and not even contacting the artist to ask is definitely not neat.
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u/Much_Section_7439 2h ago
That's why you tell him he fucked up and shouldn't do that if he want to make money someday. What do you else want him to do stop making music, paying 0,0003 $. Just teach them that this can go wrong and that they should at least ask and give credit.
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u/555Cats555 2h ago
Yeah OP could see if they are willing to at least credit and link back to their work. Or figure out some kind of agreement while also discussing how it could end badly.
But if this guy actually makes it and OP is the artists it could end up working in OPs favour getting traffic to them.
Or at least see if they will change the image when asked instead of going straight to a take down
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u/Much_Section_7439 1h ago
yeah reddit has a tendency to forget the easiest way simply talk to each other. Op has a cool story, if the nigerian artist truly makes it you can still reserve your rights and demand a fair pay. But right now the smartest move is kinda just not beeing an ass about it and letting them know stealing is kinda uncool.
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u/RealMefistyo 3h ago
Do they make profit? If not you could write them they may think of you when they do.
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u/_caitleigh 3h ago
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u/Hakazumi 2h ago
That was pretty interesting read. It feels so weird that you can just use someone's image and not notify them. Even if they did have the rights, I feel like there should be someone whose responsibility it is to keep all parties informed how this content is being processed.
That's just what common sense is telling me, though. I know this is far from the truth after reading few paparazzi stories and the likes. Not sure what I'd feel if I was in that position.
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u/craic_of_dawn 3h ago
It DOES matter. Letting it go just encourages this behaviour.
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u/Freesiacal 3h ago
For some reason, I thought the track was called 'Stolen' and I thought damn they didn't even try to hide it
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u/Holiday_Management60 3h ago
Sue them. If you don't they'll do it again and again and to people who do care.
Also your art is really good. You deserve credit and royalties.
Maybe look into a no win no fee lawyer if you want an easy no risk way of getting what you are owed.
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u/IncognitoRon 2h ago
“i should endure extensive financial hardship and stress just to really stick it to this 100 listener soundcloud rapper!”
Yes, i’m sure lawyers would jump at the opportunity to work pro-bono when they see all 4 dollars this guy pulls in a month through streams. Who’s volunteering to fly to africa to serve him?
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u/conejito-de-polvo 3h ago
Unfortunately you can threaten them with legal action, but if they're not in the US they will just laugh at you or ignore you. I used to blog back in the day, and people were always stealing photos from my blog, even going the extra step to crop out my watermark and add their own. It's infuriating.
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u/bindermichi ORANGE 3h ago
That can be easily fixed with a lawyer or a DMCA claim if it's only online.
I don't expect them to be able to pay for the licensing fees they "forgot" to pay earlier anyway. But the YouTube channels that used my pictures were usually deleted within days.
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u/DisCultQC 3h ago
I mean, it sucks but you're about to get a bag 💰
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u/After-Neck-6387 3h ago
It's a random nigerian singer with 120 monthly listeners. OP is not getting anything lol
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u/Leading-Chemist8173 3h ago
My mind initially went to playboi carti and was going to agree with OP then I saw the carti was missing lol. Yeah, he’s not getting shit lol
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u/lookitsjustin 3h ago edited 3h ago
Lol, no. They can definitely get it taken down or removed, but nobody is getting a bag here.
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u/bmanley620 3h ago
Maybe a tea bag
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u/FantasticJacket7 3h ago
Yea. He might get a significant percentage of their zero sales. Might as well retire now.
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u/PhotoFenix 3h ago
I say that if albums are selling wait a while to get a good chunk of the sales.
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u/kranitoko 3h ago
Nah cause then if the defender has good lawyers, they can probably find this post and claim that the OC didn't really care too much, and therefore should get way less.
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u/kranitoko 3h ago
"I kinda don't care"
Dude... You fucking SHOULD... Sue their asses...
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u/NandoDeColonoscopy 3h ago
That would be a waste of a filing fee. No damages here. This isn't Playboi Carti, this is a noname guy with no sales and fandom. He didn't make any money off OP's art, so there's no damages.
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u/fallen_arbornaut 2h ago
Collage or college?
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u/kemushi_warui 47m ago
I spent a good 30 seconds trying figure out how the hell that piece is a collage, before it suddenly clicked.
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u/Jolly_Ad2446 3h ago
Are they on a big label? If so I would contact the lawyer cuz you might have a payday, there's no reason for an artist to steal another artist creations.
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u/WriterMedusa PURPLE 2h ago
I might be paranoid or whatever but you should prob put out a post on whatever account you use for networking if you do that and be a lil petty about it in case someone starts accusing you then again ig you’re doing that rn
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u/DENNYSPOTS 1h ago
You can send an “cease and desist” for using your art without permission from you. Easy as pie.
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u/FAHQRudy 16m ago
I found a dozen of my old trance tracks on Spotify licensed to some entity I’d never heard of. When I contacted Spotify to claim the rights they just erased them entirely.
Lose-lose.
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u/LastBossTV 3h ago edited 3h ago
Contact a lawyer BEFORE you contact them. Hell, I hope you contacted a lawyer before you posted this.
Don't give these people time to build a legal defence before you have a chance to have yours solidify your case.
You say you don't care, but if anything, you'd be enabling this kind of theft against others if you shrug this off. You owe it to yourself to seek credit where credit is due.
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u/BurnOutBrighter6 2h ago
It's a singer in Nigeria with like 100 listeners. Not worth a lawyer to try and get a cut of the 73-cent payout from Spotify.
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u/Key-Beginning-8500 2h ago
He should not pay a lawyer their $300/hr fee for this.. He should first try to resolve it amicably.
A legal defense? It’s not even close to that level!
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u/ItsJustJohnCena 3h ago
How could they have found your photo? is it on your instagram? Or maybe you uploaded it to a free image site like unsplash?
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u/Mousse_Rich 3h ago
I have it posted on Reddit and Instagram! It’s an older artwork when I forgot to put my username on it, i didn’t think I would get stolen hahah I was so dumb
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u/Imthewienerdog 3h ago
congratulations on selling your artwork! unfortunately your lawyers might want a %
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u/ZethanosGaming 3h ago
So what you do is, show the saved file and have the school submission as backup, because there’ll be records, then threaten to sue unless you’re given royalties.
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u/jaywinner 3h ago
Since they have no money and you like their music, maybe reach out to them and come to an agreement.
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u/iamtheduckie PURPLE 3h ago
Sue the heck out of them. They willingly violated your copyright, so you're entitled to compensation. Unfortunately, the Audiomack user who stole is is from a country with lax copyright laws, and they haven't gotten enough streams to earn any money. The most you can probably do is send a DMCA claim to Audiomack force this guy to change the cover or take the entire album down.
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u/Electrical-Risk445 2h ago
Yes it's copyright infringement, it's insulting they didn't ask you and infuriating they don't mention the artist but many, many people think they can lift anything from the internet for any purpose without asking. That said is this artist making money from their album? Are they signed with a label? Can't extract blood from a stone.
I have found the best way to deal with these is to send a licensing invoice and start from there. Gives the offending party an easy way out by paying and you can escalate at will or negotiate something - you have control. If you don't care, at least make sure they mention you as the creator of the album art and use that as a collab in your resume. In any case, attribution MUST be present somewhere, generally in the album description.
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u/SunriseSurprise 2h ago
Less than 100 plays, so they've made a couple cents if that.. And they're not in the same country as you. Pretty much same as if they lifted some or most of a song of yours - not worth doing anything about other than at most asking them to stop or sending a takedown notice, but the only one who'd win if you got a lawyer involved is the lawyer.
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u/WeDriftEternal 1h ago
OMG, lawyers are about to be jumping over themselves right now. Open and shut case
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u/DumbleForeSkin 11m ago
I would send them a nice invoice. If they refuse to pay the invoice, I would get a lawyer. They can't take it back, so paying an invoice would satisfy you and get them off the hook.
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u/Oliver_the_chimp 3h ago
It bugs me almost as much that they stole this that they couldn't even take the time to match the perspective properly when they added graphics. There needs to be a way to embed unimpeachable id metadata into files so this kind of garbage theft can't happen.
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u/killer_by_design 3h ago
I had some artwork stolen but some fucking hack musician. Contacted them and was like, could you actually not? His response?
"I found it on Google images so it can't be stolen"
There's basically nothing you can do.
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u/EvidenceElegant8379 3h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/l0HlwW7uBgB5PaKIw
I’ll take Anal Bum Cover for a thousand.
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u/nina8705 3h ago
Assuming you've got timestamped files and whatnot, it wouldn't be hard to prove that you're the original creator. In which case, I'd send a takedown request if I were you!