Gary this is the best title / image combo EVER on Fleen!

By Ryan on 04.11.07 11:27 am

I’ll have to check, but I’m fairly sure I have a spare copy I can send along. Wouldn’t be mailed much before tomorrow, though.

By Liz Walsh on 04.11.07 11:35 am

I’ll let Chris Crosby know. I’m sure they’ll send one.

By bup on 04.11.07 12:02 pm

Tycho put up a blog post on the whole art theft ordeal. He takes a somewhat realistic tone, reminding us that internet fanbases can only do so much, and that it is up to Shmorky and any other artists who feel they’ve been damaged to take it to the next level.

There is talk on the SA forums of setting up a way of donating to Shmorky’s legal fund if it is needed. They raised a fair bit on those forums for Katrina victims, and though art theft isn’t comparable to a huge disaster, Shmorky is one of their own.

Also, he spoke with a reporter today, and someone at the company said that Todd is “remorseful”, but they’ll have to wait until he’s actually interviewed to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. The ball’s in Todd’s court now.

By Uglyhead on 04.11.07 2:28 pm

Well, I managed to mail it just before pickup at my local postal outlet. Yes!

However, it’s going to take 7-10 business days to get there. No!

By Liz Walsh on 04.11.07 4:31 pm

What would you sue him for? There were no damages. He did not put it on a shirt or sell it as far as I know. Speaking as someone who has actually been through quite a few legal ordeals I can tell you right now this one would not go anywhere.

Also, just for an example the lawyer we acquired to get us out of our first publishing deal cost 5 grand just to retain. I won’t say how much the entire process cost but I will say I could have bought a couple very nice cars for the same price. You aren’t going to fight a legal battle with ambiguous charges that could drag out for years with 10 or even 15 grand.

It’s also important to remember this guy is a fucking millionaire. He can afford a much better lawyer or lawyers more than likely.

I’m not trying to be a defeatist here I’m just telling you the truth. Does it suck? Of course.

The guys a dick no questions asked but like Tycho said in his post you can’t sue him for that.

By Gabe on 04.11.07 4:37 pm

Gabe, the Juxtapoz article made mention that the plagiarized painting had been sold: (Note the little red dot on Todd’s version indicating it’s been sold.) It’s in very small text beneath the image, so it’s easy to miss. I linked the article in the URl field on this post, so I guess you could see it by clicking my name?

A red dot is added to a paintings gallery label to indicate that it has been sold.

How much do Todd’s paintings usually go for? A few thousand? And you might add libel to the list, considering his autoreply funtimes called Shmorky a pedophile.

By Uglyhead on 04.11.07 5:34 pm

I am amazed that Goldman set up an autoresponder with that link. Somewhere, a twelve-year-old asking him a question for his class art project received a link to drawings of rabbit-men pissing their pants and jerking off.

By Kristofer Straub on 04.11.07 8:09 pm

Looks like Todd’s offering hush money. There were 3 paintings in all, but no more copies/lithographs? They sold for… 4000 to 7250 dollars?

Ball’s in Shmorky’s court now, if he’s willing to settle for the money or if he’s going to push this any further(remember the emails). BTW: Todd apparently had to reveal his artistic process as a means of defense: He traces images that people send in to him and paints them, puts his name on them, and his reputation gets them into galleries where they can be sold for thousands of dollars. His excuse seems amount to “An underling gave me the image, I didn’t know it wasn’t submitted voluntarily”

So at the least we have it straight from the horse’s mouth that he’s an uncreative hack. I doubt it will impact t-shirt sales, however, though galleries with any shred of respect for real artists will hopefully think twice before displaying any of his work.

Well, that’s assuming Shmork’s not just jerking us around.

By Uglyhead on 04.11.07 10:48 pm

This guy is selling some expensive knock-offs of Liz Greenfield’s stuff as well:
http://lizgreenfield.livejournal.com/17861.html

By pablowapsi on 04.11.07 11:18 pm

Copies of KEENSPOT SPOTLIGHT 2004 went out today to Dave Kellett.

By Chris Crosby on 04.12.07 8:37 pm

Right, good….but no need to send multiple copies. Liz, above, has already mailed one out.

By Dave Kellett on 04.12.07 9:20 pm