Do webcomics get stolen?

[Luminosophy]

I suppose this is a weird question but It just occurred to me that there's tons of theft in the general illustration and art world online. (People removing watermakers + signatures then claiming it's theirs.) But I'm new to the webcomic world and I've never heard of it happen with a comic before. Does it happen all that often, or at all? If so, what are common methods authors use to protect their work?

By theft I don't just mean tracing over the artwork either, I mean removing the author's credit and stealing the comic wholesale, posting it to their own sites.

[foervraengd]

Comic strips can easily end up being edited and used without credit and source. One of my friends had their comic strips reposted several times on tumblr. And others where edited to change the original joke/message in the dialogue. Basically if your comic strip is funny enough ppl will reuse it as a meme. An example is the strip "On Fire" from the comic Gunshow which is currently known as the "This is fine" meme. Also the "Hark! A Vagrant" comics by Beatonna have been reposted and spread unsourced a lot.

Basically if your content is very funny and can potentially become a meme online, then it's possible ppl will repost it unsourced and edited.
I've yet to find episodic comics end up like this tho, usually ppl would only crop out a part of a panel and use it as their icon or reaction image on tumblr.
This is all I know about the subject at least.

[keii4ii]

I've yet to find episodic comics end up like this tho

Fairly recently, a porn comic site popped up. You had to pay for the porn, but the non-porn ones were free to view. And ALL of the comics on the site were stolen -- mine included (mine was one of the free non-porn ones). Pretty sure even the site layout/coding was stolen...

And yes, my comic is a story comic.

It doesn't seem to happen a lot, though. Like you said, uncredited spreading of gag-a-day strips are a lot more common. Fortunately, gag-a-day comics can put a watermark/URL in the corner without it getting too distracting. Can't really do that with story comics, though...

[getsuart]

It happened recently for some webcomics, they were just stolen and roughly translated in another language iirc. It was a website platform who stole it from the authors.
The platform closed a little bit after, I think? I couldn't get into there so I think it closed.

So, what can you do against it besides report it? Get people to complain with you XD
Seriously, it's really hard to protect your work on the internet, but you should get into your country rights. For example, I released a paper version of my comic and I sent one copy at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (the biggest library here), and my work is protected by the laws. I can prove that I'm the author by showing the psd files, the dates of the files, etc...

You can also leave a signature at the end of each apges if you want. Some creators do it. You'll always leave a trace on your work, and if people reupload it, there may still be your name on it.
There's also your friends who can warn you about those kind of problems too, or even fans. Or you can check on google image if a page is used somewhere, etc, etc...
There isn't one big solution that can erase every problems for protecting your work, but at least you can try your best to do it!

[foervraengd]

That really sucks, I'm so sorry that happened to your work.
And yeah the best temporary "protection" is watermarks. I've been mostly known for some tutorials I make every now and then, and that stuff is reposted a lot as well. So nowadays I watermark basically every single sketch and doodle I upload to my blog or twitter. Sure it looks ugly but that's what ppl have to deal with if they treat my stuff like a single-use plastic fork.

[joannekwan]

I've had it happen before to a little fan comic I did. Some Russian site took a bunch of comics and art from the fandom and reposted them. They didn't bother to remove my signature and just stamped their own watermark next to it. I felt ambiguous since I was glad I made something people wanted to steal, and it didn't bother me as much since it was a fan comic, but I still didn't like it. Never knew what happened to the site.

[panistheman]

I have come across this comic I did reuploaded on imgur and posted to reddit and funnyjunk (with "funnyjunk" logo added).

[Zanreo]

Someone once uploaded several of my strips to 9gag/memebase/ect. While I don't think they took credit for it themselves (didn't actually see the post myself - I don't really visit those sites myself - but heard it from a friend months after) they didn't link back to me either, and that's what made me leave my url on any comics after that.

[scythe]

It happens and is probably much more common than any of us think. Sometimes it's an ignorant mistakes, sometimes it's malicious (those make my blood boil), but either way, there's just not much any of us can do other than not creating in the first place. That is, unless you're super rich and can afford to litigate. Sure, try watermarks or site links, but they're so damn easy to remove. I think we just have to come to terms with the fact that in today's digital age, anything you create can be stolen just as easily as it can be viewed.

[Luminosophy]

Totally. I ended up adopting fairly lenient terms of use with my art/ comics, to the point of people being allowed to trace it even if they wanted to. Provided the end result was still a new creation, not just a lazy re-colour or something. Personally I'm still going to leave my url watermark on my art to at least prevent lazy theft (printing) or lazy reblogging.

[Luminosophy]

Man I'm sorry to hear that. Sometimes I can't get over the sheer laziness of thieves who just put a new signature next to an existing one.

[mariusthered]

i once went for an interview for an in house artist at a newspaper they asked me to leave them samples of my work for consideration. I got the work back with a letter saying sorry the job has been filled ........ months later the same paper published cartoons that had been redraw and reworded but based on my jokes I've never trusted a member of the press since. but somethings are just things you have to learn the hard way.

[tableflipstudios]

I did come across these things. Like icons we use for the comic strip, I found out later on that they used it as a profile pic on Whatsapp or LINE.
I do tell friends that if they share something, they should try to find out who it is by when there aren't any credits. Or not to take out watermarks by accident, etc.

Most of the time, people actually take off watermarks and signatures by accident. - Grim

[jessicasurline]

Art piracy is a sad thing. If anyone did end up stealing my work and posting it elsewhere, I honestly think I would be flattered and happy to have free advertising. But that is only because I do traditional so if I had to take them to court it would be a blatant, open and shut case.

[ToonDoctor]

Something that rarely gets mentioned in a place like Tapastic is fan comic. When it's unauthorized, that too is stealing, even if you toiled away, even if it's only to practice, even, if you make no money from it, it's still stealing.

I know this is not a popular thing to write here, but many people who worry about their work being "stolen"" frequently create fan comics that they push online about other people's work and sem to have a double standard and think that it is harmless.

[thorbjornlyk]

hchano's webcomic Dream*Scar was posted both here and on webtoons by someone posing as her.

[mccjohn295]

A fan comic is creating something new and original however is it not. If someone isn't making money off that content aren't they just further promoting the original piece of work

[keii4ii]

free advertising

Does it still count as free advertising if no one knows that the stolen art was done by you? Or worse, that it was stolen in the first place?

fan comic

Illegal, yes. Unethical? Not in my book, unless the creator has made it clear they don't want you doing it. There are many creators who tolerate it, or even support it for various reasons. Some even support it with money, i.e. THEY BUY the fan merch of their own characters!

It's not a double standard because I'm applying the same criterion to both cases: "is the creator/ would the creator be cool with this?" If someone posts someone else's art without permission, and the artist is cool with it, then that's their business. Same with fan work; if the creator is cool with it, then no one has the right to condemn the fan artists (except the license holders, when applicable).

[ToonDoctor]

@mccjohn295 @keii4ii the key here is authorization. If the artist got an authorization from the creators or corporation that owns the property then, yes, it's fine. But assuming that the creator or the corporation that owns the property is fine with fan comics is wrong.

The case you seem to hint at is about the fellow Tapastic creator allowing another to do a comic or an illustration of their comics in full knowledge. These kinds of cases are outliers in the world of fan comics.

Most people who do fan comics don't ask. Most of the fan comics we see are copied from manga from overseas. We just know that the kid in their basement in Colorado did not contact the mangaka in Osaka, Japan, before making their rip off comics.

I'll have to agree to disagree on your other claims. Piracy is piracy. Stealing comics is stealing comics, no mater how you want to justify it. Fan comics that are not authorized fall in this category.

[ToonDoctor]

Legally, if you read copyrights laws carefully, if you create a Batman comic without any agreement from DC Comics, the comic legally belongs to DC Comics, not you. Copyrights laws are clear about "derivative" work. There is no ambiguity. You may argue that the comic is yours, but the courts in many countries have ruled the contrary over and over again in more than enough cases.

The only exception in at least Canada and the US is for parody. Parody is protected under copyrights.