Maddy,

LOL

I didn't see the characters. I guess I wouldn't have been able to email her! I went back and yep, they're there! Duh!

Thanks for the information.

I have looked at almost her entire collection, and I have more links for art from people I recognize. I haven't seen any of mine. It seems she only tends to rip off art that is the right size for screensavers. Or maybe she changed them to be the right size; can't say. But I usually use a very different aspect ratio. Maybe that's why. Or maybe she doesn't like my art. ;)

It has to be up to the artist how to react. I have decided to start putting my URL on my art (I'll re-upload to do that) so that if she does take anything, people will at least know where to find the artist. Personally, I wouldn't mind the free advertising if I liked the web site, but I don't. It's full of all kinds of things I don't want to be associated with.

Maybe it's time these dumb clucks realized that they'd be better off inviting people to post, rather than just stealing. It seems like a favorites list in a way, but the problem is, it IS on a site which we may have chosen not to post on, and that's about the way I see it. I am very careful where I post art.

I was having a discussion with my husband earlier. It seems that there is some big movie company suing Google. I don't remember who it was, but it's over YouTube. People who have their ear to the ground have said that when a small amount of stuff gets circulated, it actually increases sales. Some artists have put free songs on their site for that reason. He said if the movie company wins, it will destroy the internet. On the other hand, if the movie company loses, it will definitely have a chilling effect on presenting our art on the internet. We will have to make some choices. We can go around fighting this battle until the cows come home, but I don't think we are going to put a stop to it. That's my take on it, anyway. I don't think what the Russians are doing will hurt sales. Aim for a different market. I try to sell art to hang on the wall. It's too much work for them to market my art, so they're not going to bother. So the best thing to do is take advantage of it by putting your URL on your work. Get the free publicity. It sticks in my craw, but the more time I waste on this, the less time I have to do something productive.

Just some random thoughts.

Pat