06/12/2017
I'm sad to inform that one of my fanart was stolen and sold around the net. My fanart "Einstein Draws Rick" was completed October, 2016 and shared through various social media platforms and art gallery sites. My initial intent was to advertise my skills in hopes to get the attention of potential employers. At that time I was an active job hunter. I also enjoyed making fanart and sharing it with my fellow artists was something I normally did. I recently found out that it was stolen when I googled my fanart to check weather it gained popularity in the last few months. I was so surprised to find it in the "Shopping" section. It popped up in Teespring, Spreadshirt, Lees Krazy Tees and other tshirt company sites. It appears that the main culprit is a tshirt company based on Florida called Dramapatrol. They've been selling my artwork on their shirts in eBay since February 2017. I don't know if they're the ones who uploaded it in Teespring and Spreadshirt but they surely are the ones who contacted me in Behance (portfolio website) asking to purchase my design. I politely declined since I don't own the rights to Rick and Morty characters and thus cannot sell it. But it certainly did not stop them and stole my design anyway.
Please, if you're a big fan of Rick and Morty and see this design in shops do not purchase it. I'm flattered that people want to buy it. It means a lot from a struggling artist. But above all it makes me very sad that someone else is taking credit for my hard work. It also makes me unmotivated to create more fanart 😔. Please do not purchase since this will only encourage infringers like them to continue this practice. Its ethically wrong and affects fan artists like me.
I have since then taken this design off art galleries and social media platforms. If you see more floating around, kindly report it or message me. Thank you for your attention.
