Animation Source Forums

has anyone else noticed how some people seem to try and put on airs and just jump to conclusions when it comes to their characters and whatnot, and alleged 'character theft'...? 9.9

The situation usually plays out like this; somebody posts a picture of their character, or even a batch of adoptables, and it has a pretty simple design... for this example, we'll just say it's a black wolf with blue eyes. So they post this picture, and not more than a few posts later, someone jumps in and says "Your character looks a lot like mine! I want you to change it!" or something to that effect. And the original poster may be confused, and rightly so - they definitely didn't copy anyone else! "I'm sorry, I'm not so sure what/who you're talking about, will you post a link to it?" ... "Right here: [link] See? They look EXACTLY like my character Black-ebony-soul-paws-wolf-face. I want you to change yours!" Both characters are solid black wolves... blue eyes... nothing else to distinguish them.

...whut. -Both- designs are incredibly simple, they could be thought of by a toddler being raised by ants on the moon. Not to say simple designs are bad, and that's certainly not all there is to a character, but seriously - you can't draw something like that and expect there to be NO lookalikes, and a solid colored wolf with a certain eye/nose/pawpad/whatever color can NOT be "copyrighted to you" exclusively.

What it seems like to me is that people are quick to assume theft because it's something of self-validation to them. "I'm so good at making characters, anything that looks anything like mine must be a ripoff... (I hope)...my story/characters are finally widespread, people love me! 8D " If no one tries to steal anything from you, you must be a bad or boring artist, right? No! Be happy people respect you enough not to do something underhanded, and likewise if they ask you permission to use something, be HONORED to be someone's inspiration. If they don't ask permission, still be a little flattered and be polite asking them to change something or credit you, and ONLY IF YOU REALLY HAVE A REASON TO DO SO. -NOT- BECAUSE THEY LOOK A LOT LIKE YOUR BALTO RECOLOR, BECAUSE CHANCES ARE THAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT BALTO, TOO, NOT YOUR CHARACTER. A line-for-line identical drawing/pose with the same various markings and/or accessories or somesuch, sure, I'd be suspicious... but otherwise... no.

There's very little that hasn't been done over 1000 times already, and if it hasn't, it probably doesn't look too pretty anyway (can you imagine a neon-colored bassett/greyhound/duck hybrid?). And there's other things that can set a character apart from others even more than just a coat pattern or breed - how about their personality? How they interact w/ others? Their history? Hobbies? There's plenty to draw from.

I just feel like people need to stop assuming things like this and causing unnecessary trouble... that's all, really :/ Sorry if this rant offends anyone or seems uncalled for, but it's just something I wanted to get out there in its own separate thread for everyone to see...

If it's a personal pet peeve I have the same one.

It really does get tiring listening to people argue over who stole who's character when infact both characters designs are incredibly simple, like having not markings and just a solid colour.
Or the Balto/Jenna/Aleu/Steele/etc. clones. They all look like Balto/Jenna/Aleu/Steele - not the other person's character. >.<

When creating a character, it's better to use unique designs and colours so that it's less likely someone will think up the same design without seeing yours first.
Then make a character page for them and create a new and interesting story/history/personality for your character and as far as possible, use your own art instead of lineart.

That way it's even less likely someone would just coincidentally make a character looking the same with the same story/history/personality. THEN you'd have a good reason to claim someone stole them.

It's best to make very, diffrent designs, a very simple design can be copyed millions of times with out meaning to "Copy" a certain character.
And like UK-Ban cat said, the personality is very important too.

Heh, I do agree w/ you in a large respect, Star_Fire, but the point of my topic was not that people have been stealing designs and aren't being original, but that people THINK they're being stolen from, when it's really just a very common fur pattern or somesuch

Otherwise, thanks for the support guys, glad I'm not the only one who noticed this kind of thing... and I agree w/ UK's suggestion about character creation, too

I agree with you entirely. I think that something a LOT of people overlook when creating a character is markings of REAL dogs. Honestly, if you have your own pet dog, you should a make a character that resembles him/her. They shall be honoured XD and even if you don't have a dog, I'm sure you have a friend/friends who do? If not (ZOMG) there are thousands of dog pictures on this internet... you know Balto markings aren't the only markings in the world...

I've noticed too many people are eager to call character theft.

I'm not going to say "OMFG YOU STOLE SPECTRAL DIE DIE DIE" if they have a white wolf with a cream belly. Common colors. If they had a rainbow marking on a leg and mismatched eyes I'd be suspicious.

I've had Dean ripped off. The proof? Same color, same design, gender change, and feminized version of the name "Dean". THAT'S theft.

Refer to my rant on red-faced pup ripoffs.