Collectors and Artists... Beware!!!

Yesterday I was checking out my auctions and made a search for "Danita art" on ebay... and what did I find? The listings of the paintings I'm offering... and an "Oil reproduction" of one of my Frida Collages from a seller on China!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! I knew there's a lot of piracy on ebay but I didn't know that artists were robbed like that! I already contacted ebay and the seller and they removed the auction, but please if you're a collector of my work remember that I only sell my work through ebay with the id "danita.art", on etsy "etsy.danitaart.com" and on the Pfatt Marketplace. I'm also working with another site right now but is not finished yet so I'll make the announcement when it's officially open. And if you're an artist, it wouldn't hurt if you make a search of your own art. I saw another ebay artist work there being offered as a Frida print too. I've seen her on ebay but I'm not sure who she is... Anyway, better be safe. The funny part was that he's only selling work from BIG artists... (Klimt, Diego Rivera, Monet, Van Gogh) and is writing their biographies in the descriptions... and that seller knows so little about what he's doing that he put my work with Frida's biography as if it were one of her self portraits! At first it was a hoot... but then I got angry and reported it. Artists, look up your art, and report any suspicious activity!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hello! Hello Danita!
I just tagged your blog!
If you want to play along take a look at this link:
http://elsita.typepad.com/elsita/2007/11/i-have-been-tag.html
Seria divertido!
Elsita :)
catboxartstudio said…
Thanks Danita for this post! A very similar situation happened to me on Ebay as well not too long ago (where I used to sell my original art). I still search for Frida items on Ebay and when I did, I found my art reproduced on tacky looking light switch covers and little magnets. Needless to say, I was furious and reported it to Ebay and then went after the seller. Everything worked out fine in the end, but, to this day, I still do the search and hope I don't find my art made into other things. I'm glad you caught this! Keep up with fabulous art work!!
Bonjour Danita! Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your great comments! Any kind of art will always draw the same kind of problems... People do not understand the concept of copyright and do not get that using someone else's image is against the law. Even when someone buys an original, you the artist keep the copyrights to it, the buyer is not supposed to reproduce or use it for other purposes. I have been on eBay for a long time, not selling my art though, and I have seen more than my share of strange happenings. I recently read about this painter 'zazafooky' on eBay who sold MANY, MANY paintings to the same buyer who always paid her well enough. Well, one day the same buyer decided to sell on eBay the collection of paintings she had acquired from 'zazafooky' but she changed the signature on the paintings and offered them as she had painted them herself. When 'zazafooky' learned about this through another of her buyers, she got pissed off, contacted this person who was selling her art under a different name and they got in a fight over it. Zaza took a lawyer, sent the papers to the thief and took it pretty seriously. Well, sure enough, the thief cancelled her painting auctions. But what she did after is sell about 50 paintings by Zaza stating in the auction that they were zaza's paintings, but to make sure she was selling, she offered them at a real low price. So, for a while, Zaza was in competition on eBay against herself and this was not good for her business... Strange story, but a real one. I get sick of all this 'I will do what I want to do' stuff going on all the time, this I do not care attitude. But I had to smile reading that this jerk thought your paintings were done by Frida herself! Great story! But let's all be on the lookout! Take care, LuLu
suze said…
I have been dealing with this for years. I used to make and sell dolls that I designed myself and people would copy them and sell them at the same show! One person had the booth right next to me! And the really nervy people stand in front of you while sketching your work! Two ladies told me they were buying the doll to take apart and make a pattern, so I started making patterns of the dolls and teaching classes. I guess you could say I caved.
noodle and lou said…
Hi Danita! What a terrible story. Thanks for the info and I'm so glad you were able to take care of it quickly.

I just adore your new dolls. You have such a gift for creating them! xox..jenn
Iside said…
Ay Danita!!!!
que chocante que debio haber sido eso!! ya me imagino!! al mismo tiempo med aun poco de risa,p orque no puedo imaginar a esta persona haciendo estas cosas tan inconcebibles, osea!!! ya la gente se inventa de tod verdad!!
bueno espero no tengas mas episodios copmo este y tengas tu arte muy al seguro de copias y estafadores....
un abrazo!!!
Danita said…
Wow! Seems like it wasn't that bad. Poor Zazza!!! That's the worst case I've heard! And also you Suze, I can't believe that people actually stood in front of you to sketch your own designs!!!! I feel lucky they only took one image and remove it as soon as I contact them :)

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