Just Your Ordinary Housecat

well i have exciting news: World Anvil. 

here’s what you get for free: 

yeah. all of them. double what notebook.ai offers for pay. yeah baby.

With Net Neutrality on the verge of being axe I’m starting to really worry about my future here. This is important to me an probably any artist who uses the internet to gain a living. We need as many people voting against this as possible. 

 1.Go to This Link (They made it complicated to navigate their site and make it a chore to voice your opinion against them directly, so this takes you straight to the goods. )

2. Hit “express” on the right hand side 

3. Fill this out and hit Continue to review screen. Done!

Fill out this form and tell the FCC to save the Internet and maintain Net Neutrality! 

Even though the form is geared to US residents, you can still fill it out, but you will have to click on the box that says ‘international address’.

My blog:

I made a thing! I was thinking about this for a few days - because I realized that when I was young, I was also frustrated about being given the same advice over and over - without really knowing what it meant!!

Here’s 5 techniques which I have done before which have helped me grow as an artist, which are good for 5-minute warmups or just straight up challenges for your sketchbook! 

Obviously, these are not the ONLY techniques - they’re just the ones I find most fun! And maybe they’re not the most ‘correct’ ones out there, but it’s better than another comic about practicing more, right? 

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your continued support while I’m still in the process of figuring out this whole manufacturing thing/getting the Kickstarter together. (For those of you who are new, I am hoping to produce my popular Whale Shark Bag through a KS sometime this year!)

I’ve received more than one sample, so to show my thanks - I’m giving the extra one away!

WHAT YOU’LL RECEIVE! * 1 fully functional Whale Shark Bag (this item may have small differences from the final product that will be available later on through the Kickstarter, such as: fabric color, hardware type, etc)  HOW TO PARTICIPATE! * Reblog (up to once per day) for multiple entries. (Reblogs by giveaway-only blogs will not count.) * Follow my plush blog (plush-rumpus.tumblr.com) or twitter for an additional 5 entries!  Not only do you get extra entries, but you will be able to find updates regarding the upcoming Kickstarter, and I will share other whale shark goodies that you’ll be able to snag.

GIVEAWAY ENDS ON FEBUARY 3rd, 2017 at 12:00 AM EST. A randomly selected winner will be contacted by February 5th!

ADDITIONAL RULES! * You MUST have your askbox or messages open so you can be contacted in the event you are chosen. * You MUST respond within 24 hours of being notified (winner will be contacted by Feb. 5th). If you do not, I will move onto the next randomly selected winner. * You must be willing to share your shipping address. * GIVEAWAY IS OPEN INTERNATIONALLY, however… * SHIPPING WILL BE FREE WITHIN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of shipping overseas, potential winners from all other countries/regions will be responsible for paying shipping. Sorry! THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!

THINGS A PRESIDENT CANNOT DO:

Reverse any Supreme Court decision 

This includes Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage a constitutional right; Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which reaffirmed a woman’s right to choose first articulated in Roe v. Wade, another Supreme Court case. Grutter v. Bollinger, which instituted affirmative action, the entire body of Civil Rights case law, plus anything related to due process, including the right of minors to due process, your right to an attorney, Miranda rights, inadmissible evidence, etc.

(Even if Trump appoints the worst possible SC nominee, they still can’t reverse any of these decisions without a really significant case coming before the Court with new facts, and then they have to write an opinion stating how this case is different than that other case…it’s unlikely to happen.)

Write law or repeal any existing law

While traditionally, presidents have exerted influence on the legislative agenda (see, Obama’s role in advancing and promoting the Affordable Care Act) they cannot actually write or pass legislation. Bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions must be introduced in the House by a Representative.

Presidents cannot strike down law. Only Congress can repeal laws, and only the Supreme Court can strike them down as unconstitutional.

Presidential influence is just that—influence.

(And if—for example—you are hated by 95% of the party you joined last week, and burned all your goddamn bridges by insulting them at various points in your campaign…..they’re unlikely to partner with you in crafting legislation.)

Make any law or declaration that infringes in any way on the rights of the states

So in the US, most of the rights are reserved to the states. You name it, it’s a state-run power. Criminal procedure and law? States. Medicare and Medicaid? States. The definition of marriage? States. Insurance, health departments, housing, unemployment benefits, public education, all these are state programs. And the president cannot infringe on those powers given to the states.

(This is why down-ticket voting is so important, because Mike Pence as governor of Indiana had 800x the power he’s going to have as VP.)

Declare war.

This one is the most complicated, because with the advent of our “conflicts” in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. there has been a significant shift in the articulation of the war doctrine, and it is one of the least restricted of the president’s “restricted” powers. But, despite all that, a president still has no power to declare war.

Unilaterally appoint heads of administrative departments

Unilaterally make treaties with foreign nations

And they are getting even more strict when it comes to not using invoices for charging for Digital Goods.

Whatever Invoices make you uncomfortable or not, you gotta start using them if you want to keep your PayPal and your money. Changes starting this October 19th.

Honestly I don’t get why so many artists are so overwhelmed by invoices, takes just a few clicks to set up. 

And is not only “oh you have to use invoices because PayPal says so” if you don’t use invoices you’re putting yourself at risk of being scammed by an user abusing the buyer’s protection. 

Since PayPal ain’t got no idea of what those $50 you received were for, but the buyer is saying they didn’t got anything for the money, PayPal will just side with the buyer.

I’m seriously begging ppl, start using invoices. I’m tired of seeing ppl complain their paypal was banned, or is under investigation, or worse, the $100 they got for a very complicated commission, 3 months later get a refund issue. 

just

start

using

invoices

for your own sake. 

Here is how you use invoices because I can’t keep playing devil’d advocate, yes I would love to help you get your PayPal restored but just this last month I had to help three persons, and they were MORE than aware of this issues. 

Just protect yourself. 

Step 1. You login and click here

Step 2. You click create new Invoice. YOU NEVER CLICK REQUEST MONEY, unless you want to risk yourself to get scamer by buyer’s protection exploit and not only lose your money but your paypal account, and any future paypal linked to your irl name. 

Step 3 You follow this steps

1. Invoice for amount only

2. Ask your client for their PayPal email and put in that field

3. Add a vague description of what you’re doing, something like “Character Coloured with Background” is good enough, and if you need more than 1 character you can type in “2″ where it says amount, or just say “2 characters”.

Warning: don’t type in “Naruto rawing Sasuke”. That will get you banned. 

4. Click send. 

Optional steps. Create a template, doesn’t take more than 10 minutes and it will save you a lot of time for future invoices, you can even click on “items” right next to “create invoice” and add a list of services you offer such as “character sketch” “character flats” along with a price, so next time you invoice you just add to the invoice from your list of items and you saved yourself some more time. 

More importantly, you protect yourself from buyer’s protection exploit because if PayPal knows you’re doing digital goods, then you will be allowed that you did in fact created a digital good. 

Keep PayPal happy, as for right now there are no alternatives to this service, and this is the only source of income for many freelancers. 

As far as I know, even taking it to a professional, they won’t really be able to recover the files. I would call and ask about counterfeit drive recovery before putting down money.

By now you may have seen all the internet publicity around Tuesday Bassen’s and other independent artists’ works being ripped off by major fashion retailer, Zara. 

I have been dealing with a lot of copyright infringement over the past few years and it has been no fun at all. I have seen unauthorized copies of my work all over the place including on Amazon, Etsy, clip art sites, T-shirt vendors like Sunfrog and Teespring… and so far I have been successful in getting these images taken down fairly quickly.

A few months ago, a friend noticed this kid’s shirt at kohls.com 

The boston terrier images on the t-shirt are badly traced copies of my Boogie Doggie Language drawings. Small details like eyes and ears have been changed, bow ties and glasses have been added, and most of the images are flipped. (Examples below have been re-flipped to clarify the similarities)

According to my attorney, the legal team at Iconix (the parent company of Mudd) does not believe there is any copyright infringement. They are refusing to take any action or compensate me in any way without a lawsuit. If I want them to stop selling this t-shirt or to get any money back from their sales, I have to sue them.

Litigation may not be a big deal to a large company like Iconix/Mudd; but it would be ridiculously expensive for a solo artist like me. Costs could go up to $60K if the case goes all the way to trial.

I cannot claim statutory damages ($150K per infringing item) because my copyright registration was not completed within 3 months of when Doggie Language was first published. 

If I win the case, I will recoup revenue from Mudd’s sales and my attorney fees, but this may not be enough to cover all the other thousands of dollars worth of court fees including expert witness fees. I basically have to pay out of pocket if I want to sue. 

Many friends and supporters have suggested a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a lawsuit. I am very touched by the offer but I have to say I feel uncomfortable about taking money from other people. 

I already had in mind a crowdfunding campaign for my Dogs of The World book project later this year or next year, and if I were to request donations now to cover legal fees, I feel that I would be overimposing on people by asking for money twice and I don’t feel good about this. I would rather that people donate to my creative projects than fight this stupid expensive battle to prove that the copied images are mine.

Also - I worry about not raising enough money or not achieving the resolution that all my contributors are hoping for. Taking money from other people = extra pressure. 

I have not yet decided what I am going to do; these are just some of the concerns I have right now.

For now, this is HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1. Please SHARE this information. Tell people about this bootleg t-shirt at Kohl’s and Mudd’s response, and spread awareness about the larger issue of fashion retailers stealing and profiting from indie artists and getting away with it. Use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.

(my original tweet here and my facebook post here) 2. Boycott these companies. Write to these companies to let them know you will not buy from them. Pressure Kohl’s to sever their relationship with Mudd/Iconix.

Twitter - @kohls @muddstyle​ @iconix

https://www.iconixbrand.com/connect/

3. Buy directly from artists if you can. I am going to be making a similar Boston Terrier shirt available soon, for anyone who is interested.

4. If you are purchasing artwork online (like stock images, clip art etc), check the source carefully. I have seen copies of my artwork on sites like istockphoto and freepik and had to have them taken down.  If you are a vendor/designer who buys stock imagery from these sites, be aware that ANYONE can upload images to these licensing agencies/libraries and lie that the work is theirs. (yes, it sucks)

IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST or DESIGNER: 1. Learn from my mistakes. When you create new artwork, register your copyright within 90 days of publication.  You can do this online.

Without copyright registration you have no leverage in court, and an attorney is less likely to work on contingency. Here is an illustrated summary of how copyright registration protects you.

I did not know about the 90-day registration window and I don’t think many people do. If you registered within the 90 day period, and if your copyrights are violated, you can collect statutory damages in court ($150K per item)  regardless of whether the infringing party made any money from your work. If your copyright registration is too late (as mine was for Doggie Language), you can only recover their profits & your attorney’s fees - and this may or may not be enough to cover all other expensive court fees. If the infringing party can prove that they made no money from sales, then the artist gets nothing.

2. When you look to other artists’ works for inspiration (as we all do and this is normal), make sure that what you create is not a recognizable copy of what you are looking at. Tracing someone else’s work, changing colors or a few details here and there, or flipping the image 180 degrees is STILL plagiarism and copyright infringement. Another example is taking the “head” from someone’s drawing of a dog, and sticking it on a different body - this is STILL copyright infringement.

I want to say thank you again to everyone who is supporting me. There are times I find myself feeling depressed, insignificant, and powerless, and your passionate support really helps! Thank you for standing by me!

Also thank you to:

- Robynne Raye for her help and advice. Details about Robynne’s/Modern Dog’s copyright infringement case against Target and Disney HERE and HERE. They won!

- Megan Wilson for organizing this petition: https://www.change.org/p/mudd-stop-stealing-the-work-of-independent-artists  Please sign if you can.

- Lili

7/24/2016 UPDATE

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for the signatures, reposts and retweets! There is power and justice with social media group effort: Kohl’s has removed the shirt from their website!!! We have yet to check if the shirt has been removed from physical stores. No response from Mudd/Iconix, but this is a big step!

8/8/2016 UPDATE

Kohl’s now claims the shirt design is not infringement (their “design team” created it) and they are going to continue selling the shirt.

It appears that another item in the Kohl’s catalog has an unauthorized copy of my Boogie design on it. Sonoma is a Kohl’s in-house brand. These socks are selling in their stores and on their website.

This boston terrier is lifted from the SAME “Doggie Language” poster probably by their same in-house “designer”. And they are still denying copyright infringement and are refusing to stop selling these products! 

#boycottkohls

It can take a while but it files your work as YOUR WORK. It’s already a part of the post but do whatever you can to make it harder for those who try to steal your stuff.