Fleen: The Awkward Christmas Dinner Of Our Obligation To Existence » Todd Goldman Stealing From Liz Greenfield Too?

Todd Goldman Stealing From Liz Greenfield Too?

You be the judge: Goldman. Greenfield. And Todd? Talking trash about Kelly is one thing, screwin’ with America (by way of Holland)’s Webcomics Sweetheart will get you set on fire in certain corners of the interwebs. Angry mobs, please form an orderly line to the right.

And the great thing is, even if Todd-o can be shown to have not ripped off Greenfield (say, this image shows a clear history of having been produced back before Stuff Sucks started), it doesn’t matter. The default assumption on everybody’s part now is that whatever Goldman “produces” is stolen from somebody with talent and vision. He’ll pretty much never be able to claim original authorship on anything again. That sound you hear is a petard gettin’ hoisted.

Well, I think it is definitely true that amidst the webcomic community, everyone and their cat is going to assume that everything this guy does is motivated by his cold, black heart.

We just need to make sure that sentiment hits everywhere that matters – the public buying his shirts, the galleries displaying his art, the companies affiliated with his store. That’s where he’ll be hit where it hurts.

I think you may be getting over zealous there, Gary. Stick with what we know for certain.

The William G: Failing to Detect Sarcasm on the Internet Since 1998

I feel so left out. Why can’t he rip ME off? I have access to media!

I have an idea. Call me crazy, but… what if we just go steal Goldman?

You mean cuz she has Stuff Sucks and a fish, and he has “this sucks” and a fish? The fish aren’t in the same style at all. It’s too hard a case to prove.

The other accusations about the dead-looking girl and of course the new cat one are much much easier to show copying.

William. Spencer. Read Gary’s post again. Very carefully! Don’t skip any words, no matter how hard they are.

We’ll get through this together.

[…] This has already been covered elsewhere, but just in case there’s somebody who follows the TAC blog, who doesn’t read Fleen, Something Awful or Journalista, well, here you go. It appears that one of those “up and coming” street-cred-arrific t-shirt artists and gallery darlings has ripped off the Keenspot comic Purple Pussy — and maybe other webcartoonists, too. Don’t expect this one to die down quietly — it shouldn’t, at any rate. I’m all for recontextualizing, “appropriating,” and fair use, but those things only work when a). the original is well-known enough to serve as a cultural landmark, and/or b). the copy provides commentary on the original, or allows us to see something about it — or about its subject — in a new light. Like Kathy Acker’s “Great Expectations,” say. Or Gary Larson doing the Mona Lisa as a weiner dog. This, on the other hand, appears to be simple thievery for the sake of monetary gain. Let’s all hope that Dave Kelly gets his day in court, and takes the guy down. That is all. […]

Paul, I read the same post you did, every word, and I’m STILL not picking up a tone any more or less sarcastic than the one Gary usually uses. And since this was followed up with another, more serious case of plagiarism, I’m inclined to take him at his word.

Can I say how awesome it is to know that people on the internet are quantifying my sarcasm? Seriously. I’m grinning right now.

For the record, the 2nd paragraph above is meant to be the one taken completely seriously; the 1st only 73% so.

(say, this image shows a clear history of having been produced back before Stuff Sucks started)

I’d say this aside, effectively undercutting the entire rest of the post by pointing out that the accusation is essentially baseless, pretty well establishes the sarcastic tone of the piece, no?

You know, if we follow Goldman’s own methods, a person could concievably steal – ur, um, “appropriate” his car and reinterpret it through spraypaint, baseball bats, and cinderblocks. That individual would only be reinterpreting the work of established car thieves, and could claim that it’s original art.

Really, if you want to hurt him at his galleries, people just need to wear shirts SHOWING the comparisons between his “art” and the originals he swiped from. Show up en masse at the galleries. Just put “Todd Stole This” underneath the image. It would get the idea across.

Iâ€™d say this aside, effectively undercutting the entire rest of the post by pointing out that the accusation is essentially baseless, pretty well establishes the sarcastic tone of the piece, no?

He didn’t point out the accusation was baseless, he said it didn’t matter whether it was baseless or not. Those are two different things.

We can go back and forth on this some more, but bottom line: regular readers are getting confused about whether to take this one seriously– which probably indicates that casual readers would be even more confused. And since this issue is actually kind of important, Gary might want to take that into account and clear things up. My two cents.

Man, I am way late to this party…as I’ve been travelling, and just now heard about this.

But let me make an honest-to-God offer: if someone will mail me the Keenspot comic, I’ll gladly take it over to the LA gallery that’s showing Goldman’s work. I’ll even take along a severely pissed off Kris Straub — two web cartoonists for the price of one!

…The printed/dated/copyright work will carry more weight in a gallery owner’s mind than if I were to just print out a webpage. Sadly, I don’t have a copy — hence the request.

If anyone has it, and wants to mail it along, send it to:
Dave Kellett
Sheldon Comics
PO Box 881195
Los Angeles, CA 90009

[…] Gary Promoted from the comments thread so that it’s visible. From Dave Kellett, friend of the oppressed: Man, I am way late to this partyâ€¦as Iâ€™ve been travelling, and just now heard about this. […]

Just spotted another Goldman design ripped off illustrator Chip Wass:
bad kitty vs chippie kitty.
(it’s an animated gif on the wassco site, so I’ve done a side by side comparison here.

To my mind there’s no doubt this is the same image, but has he changed it just enough to make it ‘original’? Is it worth contacting Wass about this?

Geez, you guys, we’re all on the same side here! If you’re really concerned about this issue, I urge you to undertake some real action, like Dave Kellett. Posting your opinions on the internet will only get you so far*. (*Not very far)

A prescandal article in the Las Vegas Sun has this interesting bit:

Gesturing toward a cartoon portrait of a friendly soap bar that reads, “Don’t Forget to Wash Your Butt,” Goldman says, “I’m just giving a shout out to the soaps of the world.

Interesting because it sounds a lot like this.

Even more interesting is that Goldman had apparently contacted designer Jess Fink about designing shirts for him before creating the painting.

That said, I have not been able to find an image of Goldman’s painting, so cannot prove that it’s copies from the shirt. However, just in idea, it sounds really similar.

Anyone able to grab a pic of this from the gallery?

*copied

Actually he got the goldfish from clipart.com. :)

See http://www.miketyndall.com/todd_goldman/
“This Sucks”

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Todd Goldman Stealing From Liz Greenfield Too?

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