You are right, it is a use of my Grapple and Inferno design, they are my FanArt in Devianart.






Transformers by Albertx77 on DeviantArt

It would have been a detail to ask for authorization, since I am the author of the illustrations.

 

didn't the lil formers guy have this same complaint?

 

oh man that's a bummer. i hope this gets sorted out to favour you, should you place a complaint against them.

 

That's extremely unfortunate but not at all surprising. Unless they decide to do the right thing by you of their own impulse, there's an overwhelming likelihood that nothing will come of your protests. While you created the images, they're of unlicensed characters being used by a company most likely incorporated in China. Next time you might want to include a watermark somewhere. Beautiful work, btw.

 

MFT Stole a design? I'm shocked... shocked I say!

 

 

That really sucks, man. But, like @caudex said, not surprising. Profiting from the creativity of other people is pretty much MFT's MO. And to repeat another point of @caudex -- really lovely artwork. I hope you can work something out with MFT. Get an art credit at least.

 

That sucks man! Sorry they didn't ask...
Hope something gets worked out...

Fixed that for you...  

 

@Redinferno77 there's a user here - @ifif1229 - who has some ties with MFT, maybe you could request him to get you in touch with MFT to settle this one out.

 

i think you could just message them directly on their weibo account. if i am ot remembering wrong the last time this happened they ended up sending the guy free swag as in bots

 

I'm not saying they're right to do it but they're a KO company. If they're ok with stealing the designs for their figures from DX9 and MST, they're not going to apologize for stealing your artwork and China's laws that allow them to KO the figures aren't going to do anything for you. As others have said, if you want to prevent this kind of thing, watermarks are the way to go. Personally, if I had this happen, I'd just be flattered that they considered my artwork worth stealing.

 

@Redinferno77 , I say just contact MFT and let them know about the art/design that they used was yours and ask/demand how they will make it "right' in your behalf. I remember reading something somewhere about the same situation that you had. The guy complained about the use of his art and in return, the company offered to give him the figure for free as a form of payment. Lets put it this way, at the end, he had a big smile on his face.

 

I wish you the best of luck resolving your conflict.

I'd just like to add that I love your style of art.  

 

Maybe ask for free toys for life?

 

Why, did they have permission to use the likeness of those characters for commercial purposes? If not, sorry, move along.

 

I should have put a smiley face on there. He likely doesn't have a recourse because China.. but here's hoping he gets something back

 

I had a discussion with my wife on this subject and we couldn't see eye to eye on it at all. Can somebody please explain to me what the big deal it? I'm not trying to be insensitive - I get that @Redinferno77 is upset and I sympathize - but I honestly can't wrap my head around it.

The way I see it, he published artwork which is freely viewable and even downloadable on the internet. He wasn't making any money of said artwork (unless indirectly through people liking it and hiring him for commissions) and certainly wasn't selling it as box art. A toy company steals it and puts it on their boxes which is wrong because they're not paying him for it but he hasn't actually lost anything, right? He still has the artwork and it's still on his Deviantart page. Everything he had before, he still has. I just don't understand what there is to be upset about. And I'm saying this as an artist who posts on the internet without using watermarks (though I will admit to not being the greatest artist nor a particularly prolific one - I doubt anybody would ever be interested in stealing my artwork, let alone hire me for it). The only result is that more people will see and possibly enjoy the artwork. I mean they won't know whose it is but I never look for artists' names when I see a work of art that I like: I just enjoy the artwork.

Again, I realize this probably comes across as insensitive and that is not my intention. Given that it seems like literally the entire world disagrees with me on this one, I accept that I'm almost certainly wrong in my view, which is why I'm asking for an explanation. It could be that I'll never get it (I mean I don't get it now despite it seeming to be obvious, so there's a good chance there's no hope for me). I will add that I play by the rules - if I do a derivative artwork, I always make sure I have permission first and I link back to the source, but I just don't think I'd be all that offended if my work was stolen. Maybe if they tried to claim it as their own work but I dunno.

 

Are there still people out there that think mft DONT steal people’s designs and art?

 

It's uncertain if he's lost anything. What if he wanted to sell it Hasbro or a 3P, and now they would be like, "Naw, dawg. That was already on that KO box." The future marketability of his artwork could be diluted.

You would probably be upset if someone stole a pic of you and your wife and used it to market boner pills.

 

He should've at least been credited, if not receive a free copy of each figure out of it. That would've been the decent thing to do in a grey area like this (art of unlicensed characters on an unlicensed reproduction of an unlicensed toy). Come on, it would've cost them $20. Their business plan of making thousands of these things can't break over $20 here and there, can it?

 

Just because its on the Internet doesn't exactly make it free. Plus why do MFT deserve to profit from using his image when he gets nothing out of it. Even the tired old excuse as exposure for payment is crap because the artist isn't even listed.