RIPPED ART TASK FORCE
written by: 1arcticfox
We are excited to announce the forming of a new team and site on DA called the RippedArtTaskForce (RATF)! After the recent discovery and exposure of 8,000 works of art ripped from DA artists due largely to the efforts of Deb

and several others

,

, and

, Deb thought, Thats it, if you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk, and decided to form a team of fellow artists committed to helping artists who have had art ripped. Anita, Deb, and Lauren has had more than one work of art ripped and used in various manners
without having been contacted for permission, so we are acutely aware of the issues involved and can relate to the frustration of all of the artists who have had art stolen, and not only just at DA!
Thus was born the RIPPED ART TASK FORCE, or (RATF) whose main purposes are to educate artists about copyright issues to make their work safer, provide information about methods of protecting art, and to assist the artists in their efforts to get their art removed from a site in whatever way we can. It was through the hard work of Deb and these other artists that the thief- who admitted to the 8,000 rips from DA - was pressured to take down the site containing 8,000 pieces of ripped DA art!
We all knew that when we came to DA there was risk in uploading art, as there is with all sites. Those of us who have already had art ripped are certainly not naïve about this! There is no absolute foolproof method yet, of preventing art theft, other than not to upload it
we know that! But we also believe that artists have the right (as supported by different copyright laws in different countries) to do whatever they can to help protect their art. There would be no copyright laws if everyone were happy to have their art stolen! We are also aware that dedicated thieves can work around most all current ways of protecting art, however we believe that there are measures that can make it more difficult for the would be thief to steal, since many of them will just move on to an easier target like some burglars that move on to an unlocked house, rather than risk breaking into one and getting caught. (Yes, we know people will still break into houses and people will still steal art.)
In addition, we are also too well aware that the RATF cannot police the entire internet but we are not willing to sit back and have DA be a free for all, for every thief that comes here to steal art and post it somewhere else for profit - or download it and use for unauthorized purposes, without giving credit to the artist and without getting their permission.
The Ripped Art Task Force feels strongly about educating people about what they can do to help protect their art and having a type of central clearing house here on DA, where people can come for information as to how to try to resolve their art theft issue. The RATF is an all volunteer group with Deb-DWALKER1047, Anita-1arcticfox, Lauren-laurengary and Dave-cmptrwhz, as administrators. We would like to extend an invitation to all artist's from every venue at DA to be part of our team. It is imperative that we have enough people to find and identify as much of the the stolen art as possible. If you wish to help in any way please let us hear from you at the RippedArtTaskForce site!
[link] Below is a list of our current volunteers and Admin staff. Look for the Task Force stamps below to identify one of our volunteers in your community (or others) and send your reports of rips to them!
ADMINISTRATORS
*1arcticfox
*DWALKER1047
*laurengary
=cmptrwhz
________________________________________ _____________________
INFORMATION AND EDUCATION SERVICES
*droz928
*Marsille
:dDuckofDeath
________________________________________ ____________________
RESEARCH SERVICES AND CORRESPONDENCE
*SethraLavode
*KainApophysis
=pantherwitch4982
________________________________________ _____________________
MONITORING AND INVESTIGATIONS
=Almoace
=milleniumsentry
*davidlee1965
=Illusio-5
________________________________________ _____________________
PROCEDURES-THEFT PREVENTION
*moofied1
________________________________________ _____________________
TRANSLATORS
~Re-d-D-ot(Dutch & French)
~no-reaction (Chinese simple and traditional)
________________________________________ _____________________
GRAPHICS
*MouseRunner
=LyinRyan
________________________________________ _____________________
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
=anjaleck
________________________________________ ______________________
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS
*im1happy
*Fraxa
=anjaleck
*live2b
*baba49
*beigebuddha
=setkeh
*ocelot99992003
=WrathOfNessis
=opinionatedelf
We are also delighted that Jonathan Bailey, author of Plagiarism Today [link] has offered his assistance to our team. His expertise on these issues is a valuable resource and his help is appreciated infinitely! Here are links to the two most recent articles used with his permission. [link] [link]
We are in the process of assembling our team and will be announcing its updated list of members soon, in an upcoming article. We cant stop internet art theft, but we would like to do whatever we can, to help make uploading art at DA
a little safer for artists
because we care! Thanks to all who have been so supportive during this process.
Devious Comments
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Together We can make a difference!!! Stop ripping by reporting it!
The similarities are so blatant that they can't possibly be coincidence in the "Silver Circle" that it would appear you've stolen from Microsoft.
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Proud Founder of the ~nosepickingcupholderfans club
Something Devious This Way Comes
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No need to thank me for every little thing.....I support sensible, reduced thanking.
Stop Art Theft
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Always remember to follow the Yellow Brick Road. It will lead you to OZ and the Emerald City, a very nice place to live. Trust me on this one, I live there.
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Do NOT
R.A.T.F. [link]
Game Soundtracks
Me on Flickr
I am the creator of the graphics including the one that you are accusing me of stealing from Microsoft.
Will you please take the time to check out
NOT THEFT in my scraps and you'll see that the graphic that you speak of is NOT stolen!
I invite anyone else to view the proof or challenge any other graphic that the RATF uses that I have created.
Thanks for your concern.
Ken Saunders
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Together We can make a difference!!! Stop ripping by reporting it!
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