Mangaforadult.com appears to be monetising some Tapastic comics

[zelkats]

EDIT/UPDATE 2 (2015/8/19): Oy vey, they're back.

EDIT/UPDATE (2015/8/5): the offending website is now down all thanks to the Tapasticans who get stuff done! Keep looking out for sites similar to this because unfortunately, they can pop back up like stubborn zits

I got a little worried (paranoid) when a reader said that they found a website that sells a physical copy of my comic Undying Happiness. So, I did some digging. I didn't find what I was looking for but I found this NSFW website called Mangaforadults.com and it had some comics from Tapastic.

They include Strays, Time Gate: Reaper, Kings Folly, Samurai Genji, Heart of Keol, Hey Sister!, The Devil Who Couldn't Fly, Homosexience, Merancori, Michelin Star, Jack the American Ghost, Fox & Willow, Undying Happiness and probably a few others I have missed. I don't know about you guys but I certainly didn't give them my permission to publish my comic there O_o;;

Some pages of the comics require a membership and "coins" to be read. I don't know how much a coin costs because in all honesty, I'm reluctant to sign up on this site just to know.

It's my first time dealing with something like this and I don't want to make any rash decision so, what would you guys do?

[infectedbloodcomics]

This really sucks! It's also quite hilarious, since at least one of those comics is really nothing for adults. I guess the authors should send the owner/s of this website an email stating they do not have their consent to monetize off of free comics they don't own and to either take the comics down or pay the authors. It does happen, alas, and I heard similar cases that have been dealt with by doing what I explained above. You should also be nice and tell the authors directly, if you can/you haven't already done so. For example, @keii4ii => They're ripping off Heart of Keol, apparently. (I don't know the other comics)

[ratique]

Oh boy, Kings Folly is on it as well. I hate it when people do that.

But yes, it will probably be on the individual artist for now. I am against bullying, but I would not mind sending a mob of fans over there to leave comments on the website and force it to pull down a little more of their stolen art.

We need to notify the authors, since most of the ones you listed are not active on the forums. I will send a quick message to some of the authors, feel free to do the same.

Edit: I sent a link to this forum post to the creators of Kings Folly and Strays, now I unfortunately have to get ready for work. Get the word out to the rest!

[PotooGryphon]

Let's tag some of these creators that are on the forums to get their attention. @keii4ii @UzukiCheverie are the only two I could find here, it'd be a good idea to private message the rest of artists to let them know.

If that were me in that situation, I'd first try contacting the site and give them a courtesy message that they're infringing on my copyrighted material by posting it to their site without my permission, and ask them to take it down to avoid further legal action.

If they refused or ignored my message I'd dig deep and find out who exactly is running the site and have a lawyer send a cease and desist letter.

Tapastic can't do much in this situation, I don't think, since they do not retain any rights over the comics freely published on their site. It's up to the artists to fight for the protection of their own work.

[Doubtcent]

I'm kinda happy I'm not popular yet. Sheesh that site was garbage. @.@ I'm going to rinse out my eyes.

[infectedbloodcomics]

I'm even happier I don't do manga I bet anything that remotely looks like manga may end up there.

[Jelw]

Might be a good idea if someone could pin this topic so that more people can check for their comics

[infectedbloodcomics]

Yeah, @zelkats, maybe ask directly one of the mods?

[zelkats]

Okay, I've sent private messages to the creators of:

Homo Sexience
MeRanCori
Fisheye Placebo
Soul to Call
Fox & Willow
Hey Sister!
Holy Alice
Michelin Star
Jack, The American Ghost
Subway Line 1
Samurai Genji

Let us know if we've missed anyone else. D:

@michaelson ,is it okay if this topic gets pinned?

[Kenn]

It could be possible to get the FB removed by reporting it? https://www.facebook.com/mangaforadult

Edit: Guys who have series on there might want to read through this to see if they can have the FB removed by proxy as their site is stealing the property (instead of the FB page itself)

PPS: Is there anything Tapastic Staff could do to assist? I guess it's an issue that's directly and indirectly an issue for Tapastic so I could understand why if you'd want to step back..

[whispwill]

Thanks for letting me know someone's been stealing my comic, this is ridiculous...

[fulldurcaoser]

hello! I don't use to be on forums, but Zelkats told me about this.

what would be the best thing to do? do we authors send an email to the site?
it's the first time something like that happened to me, so I don't know what to do

[infectedbloodcomics]

Read my reply above, please

[fulldurcaoser]

yes, I already did that, but I don't know if just an email will make them remove the comics :S

[infectedbloodcomics]

Did you give them a deadline, as in, immediately? I would give them a day to comply and then threaten them with an email from your lawyer.

[PotooGryphon]

If that were me in that situation, I'd first try contacting the site and give them a courtesy message that they're infringing on my copyrighted material by posting it to their site without my permission, and ask them to take it down to avoid further legal action.

If they refused or ignored my message I'd dig deep and find out who exactly is running the site and have a lawyer send a cease and desist letter.

Tapastic can't do much in this situation, I don't think, since they do not retain any rights over the comics freely published on their site. It's up to the artists to fight for the protection of their own work.

If they ignore or refuse your email, I recommend seeing a lawyer and sending the site a cease and desist letter.

[DynamoToon]

Oh no this is actually pretty serious. Can't someone get some higher ups to deal with this stuff? Like some of the staff or something? What if they start taking even more comics? WHAT IF THEY TAKE MINE!?!? Dude seriously I'm paranoid, any one of use could be next.

[infectedbloodcomics]

I think Tapastic higher ups can't do anything, because they don't own the copyrights to any of our comics.

[VermillionWorks]

Yikes! At the moment, I seem to have lucked out in not having my comic used at this place (as far as I can tell... >__>;;) but this is really serious and disturbing. I hope these a-holes comply, and fast.

[PotooGryphon]

I don't think the Tapastic staff can really do much to help out. They don't hold any copyrights on the comics stolen.

The most the Tapastic staff can do is look into making the Tapastic site a more secure place and finding ways to detour people from stealing artwork.

For the artists, it's always a good idea to add some sort of watermark or copyright on your comic. That's a simple easy way to dissuade some from stealing.