When my attorney inquired whether we could provide a list of current infringements to present to the court, my husband and I operated under the belief that such infringements would be presented on my behalf during the proceedings. However, as those infringements were not presented in court, I am compelled to leave this documentation here to show what any given day can look like to an artist fighting serious copyright / trademark infringement issues.
The following infringement involves the unauthorized reproduction of my pug’s likeness in the form of a mural, which has been painted at what is purportedly a dog park. Upon contacting the company responsible for the design of the dog park, I was informed that the building owners had commissioned the mural prior to the design of the dog park area by the said company. I did not provide authorization for the creation of this mural, nor did I receive any compensation for the use of my intellectual property in this manner.
Here is another unauthorized mural of my pug, this one was painted on a business wall somewhere in India.
It is not uncommon for us to find the unauthorized use of my images on websites for advertising events or products. Each instance in which an artist is not compensated for the licensing of their work constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights and results in material harm to the artist. The failure to provide appropriate compensation deprives the artist of the economic benefits to which they are lawfully entitled.
The following is a perfect example of why I fight so relentlessly for artists' derivative rights. It is important to note that this shows just a small screenshot of numerous derivative works derived from my original creation. Many of the derivatives, involve minimal alterations to my original works—such as the simple addition of a pair of glasses—yet they are presented as new and independent creations. These derivative works are often then mass-produced and sold in large retail chains worldwide, contributing to the dilution of the market for my line of prints.
When creators, like myself, are fighting derivative works as vigorously as I do, it becomes clear why preventing the promotion of derivative creations—such as through pop-up art classes, art kits, and paint-and-sip parties—is crucial. These activities only serve to perpetuate further issues with unauthorized derivatives and the unlawful use of my trademark. Such events and products mislead the public into believing that I am somehow complicit in or supportive of the sale of these works. However, only the trademark owner has the exclusive right to determine which products and services their brand name can be associated with, and any unauthorized use directly undermines the integrity and value of my intellectual property.
The below examples are two different individuals selling prints that are derivatives of my Husky artwork, one on the Fine Art America website and one on Redbubble.
You can see my husky work here.
When the court system condones or fails to adequately address these violations, it effectively undermines the legal rights of the rights owner and sets a dangerous precedent for the future. To allow this kind of infringement to go unchallenged weakens the very foundation of copyright and trademark law. The question must be asked: would the court system tolerate such flagrant violations if the infringer were a corporate giant like Disney, whose intellectual property is similarly protected by law? If the same legal principles are not applied equally, it would signal an erosion of the protections afforded to individual creators, and could lead to an environment where the work of small business owners and independent artists is continually exploited without recourse. The law should protect all creators, regardless of their size or status, and to do otherwise is a fundamental betrayal of the very rights it is sworn to uphold.
The following represents just one of the derivative works based on my German Shepherd II creation, which was unlawfully produced in Chinese sweatshops, and has ended up on websites all around the globe. This infringement occurred as a direct response to our increasing success in halting the unauthorized sale of my exact image. The creation and distribution of these derivative works are clear violations of my intellectual property rights, aimed at circumventing the efforts to prevent the unauthorized exploitation of my exact copyrighted work.
All of the artists having to fight these derivative copies take this issue with the utmost seriousness—just as the legal system should. The consequences of such unauthorized exploitation are not abstract; they are tangible, financially devastating, and legally indefensible. If we allow these infringements to proliferate without adequate protection or recourse, it sets a dangerous precedent that compromises the rights of creators and weakens the very fabric of intellectual property law. This is not a minor issue—it is a direct assault on the legal and economic interests of independent creators, and it is sad that the legal system doesn't treat it as such.
Fair use rulings granted to those who profit from the unauthorized sale of art classes, art kits, and paint-and-sip parties with the use of a creator's images and trademarks only serve to magnify this problem. This type of ruling allows individuals and businesses to exploit the works of creators under the guise of "fair use" without properly compensating or obtaining permission from the original artist. The result is a systemic devaluation of intellectual property rights, where creators are systematically stripped of their ability to control the use of their work, while others profit from their labor. This exacerbates the already fragile position of artists in the marketplace, and it is incumbent upon the legal system to recognize and address this critical issue with the urgency and seriousness it demands.
The following image shows just one website selling multiple selections of derivatives of many of my dog and other animal collage works.
Below is a derivative of my horse collage I by someone that tells them to contact them for information.
You can see my original horse collage here.
It’s frustrating for creator's to watch their intellectual property—something they work so hard to build and protect—get altered, often times with their own names or trademarks being removed and replaced with someone else’s name or trademark. This isn’t just a business issue for artists; it’s personal. It feels like their creative works, their identity, is being stolen and erased.
We’re heading down a dangerous path, one that’s already been paved by places like China, where intellectual property means absolutely nothing, and the system is set up to favor the infringers.
Below is an example of one of my other horse collage images being used without authorization or compensation, being sold on a pillow by an Etsy seller. Artists that face this problem can find our images ending up on any number of products, from clothing, to home goods, to book/album covers and more and we never receive compensation for our creations.
Some derivatives of my works are being sold and licensed by third parties on stock websites, including Shutterstock, without my authorization or compensation. This includes both derivative works and exact copies of my creations.
The following are infringements also found today of my exact works, which are being sold by others for their own profit without my authorization.
Below is an example to show how people will take an artists work and simply crop it, or 'squish' it, or modify the colors slightly and then just sell it as their own work without any authorization from the original creator. This is being sold on etsy and is an infringement of my work Die Trying.
The examples provided below were discovered today through a search using only one of my original abstract crosses. While this search returned numerous infringements, it represents only a fraction of the total scope of the issue, highlighting the widespread nature of the problem
The above is just a small fraction of clothing items that are selling my cross images right now on various platforms throughout the United States and abroad.
Note: Despite possessing substantial evidence substantiating the ongoing infringement I face daily, none of my attorneys presented the evidence I explicitly provided to them upon their request. It was our understanding this would be provided in court to help show the issues I face with IP theft. The reason for this omission remains unclear. Specifically, a comprehensive list of infringement links, which my husband and I provided to counsel upon their request, was never submitted to the courts as expected. Moreover, these links were inexplicably removed without us ever having sent any cease and desist letters or DMCA takedowns. In my over two-decade career, I have never encountered such unexplained deletions of infringing links.
