When Copyright Infringement Makes Artists Feel Like Shit

I like to think about myself as a strong person. I am aware that this is toxic masculinity. Men don’t cry. Men don’t need emotional support. Men take care of themselves and don’t need somebody else to fix their problems for them. Men are emotionally self-sufficient, and their happiness doesn’t cling upon social approval. It’s funny that despite having been raised as a woman I still ended up internalizing the worst aspects of toxic masculinity while growing up. Then again, maybe those aren’t the worst parts of toxic masculinity—at least I don’t wear tactical body armor, nor do I own any guns, and I don’t do anything misogynistic. It could have been worse.

Yet despite being rationally aware that toxic masculinity is stupid, I still feel that I don’t want to perceive myself as a pussy. A “pussy,” what a stupid word, straight from the repertoire of misogynistic jerks. Why the hell was femininity associated with weakness? Oh yeah, because we live in a sexist society. Still, I don’t want to see myself as weak. I’m not particularly worried that another human being might perceive me as weak. My self-esteem and self-perception doesn’t depend upon how other people see me. Instead, this is about how I see myself, and when talking about “weakness” in this context, I mean emotional strength.

Here’s the problem—my current emotional state is something I associate with weakness. I allowed the actions of another person to get to me. I allowed another person to hurt me. Dealing with copyright infringement is always unpleasant, it’s an uncomfortable chore artists have to do. On a regular basis, we have to waste our time sending DMCA takedown notices to various websites. Unfortunately, this time the art thief actually got to me, they managed to make me feel sad beyond my usual annoyance about having to waste my time. My last blog post was about a particularly nasty art thief who used my images without permission for their logotype.

When I finally got Facebook moderators to delete her posts in which she had used my art without permission, the art thief turned the tables on me by publishing a post in which she pretended to be the victim. She complained about the evil person who was amusing themselves by harassing her for no good reason. Her loyal followers wrote plenty of comments expressing sympathy and wishing her luck and perseverance in getting her deleted images back online in her Facebook page. Oh right, and her kid also went to harass me on my Facebook page. I also have a suspicion that somebody tried to hack my Facebook page. I got some e-mails about an attempt to reset my Facebook password. [Read more…]

Art Theft Stinks: Blam’s Coon Are Stinky Art Thieves who Disrespect Copyrights

Blam's Coon

Update: It’s over. Probably. See the explanation at the end of this blog post.

Please, help me out. I am currently dealing with an especially vile art thief who is using my art for their logotype without my permission. I politely asked them to stop using my art. They refused. They were rude and insulting towards me, and our e-mail conversation ended with them adding my e-mail address to their spam filters.

Normally, a public shaming campaign is something I reserve for the last resort. I prefer to first send a polite e-mail. If an art thief refuses to stop using my art, then I send DMCA takedown notices to various websites where they have posted stolen images. Unfortunately, this time I am dealing with a person who adamantly wants to fight for their imaginary right to abuse artists. Moreover, I don’t have the patience to send dozens of DMCA takedown requests for every single image they have uploaded online (this particular art thief has been immensely proliferate, uploading dozens of stolen images on Facebook and in their personal website).

Thus I am organizing a public shaming campaign. Even thieves care about their reputation and social approval. A bit of social pressure should help even the most stubborn thief understand that their actions are illegal and won’t be tolerated by the society. Copyright infringement is a serious problem that is harming content creators, and we as a society should not tolerate it. [Read more…]

Coronavirus Panic

As of writing this, there are 18 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Latvia. Most of them travelers who returned home from other European countries. When dealing with an epidemic, people ought to be careful, yet there’s a difference between being careful and panicking. [Read more…]

8th March

International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world. According to Wikipedia, “It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.” So far so good, I totally support attempts to eliminate patriarchy, sexism, and misogyny. Of course, we need more gender equality and rights for women. [Read more…]

Parenthood Regrets: Parents Who Wish They Were Childfree

Mandatory parenthood is a trap that can turn out to be hard to avoid for a person who doesn’t want children. In my opinion, if somebody doubts about whether they want children, it is safer to stay childfree, because regretting not having a child is better than regretting being a parent. If you wanted a child but don’t have one, that’s certainly sad, but you can still find other meaningful activities that can make your life happy and fulfilling. If you didn’t want a child but ended up being forced to play the role of a parent against your will, then that’s tragic, because every child deserves a happy childhood and loving parents. [Read more…]

Childfree Bingo

mandatory parenthood breeder childfree by choice bingo

 

Here is a graphic I just made. Here’s how it works. This is similar to the “Breeder Bingo” you might have already seen online, the difference is that I don’t really want to use the word “breeder” due to some people perceiving this word as condescending. Anyway, here you have some of the usual phrases childfree people hear over and over again from those who insist upon mandatory parenthood. As they say the dumb things to you, you cover the blocks on your card until you have Bingo! [Read more…]

Sterilization

A week ago I had a laparoscopic bilateral salpingectomy. In case you don’t already know these medical terms, salpingectomy is the surgical removal of one (unilateral) or both (bilateral) fallopian tubes. And laparoscopy is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. There are a number of advantages to the patient with laparoscopic surgery versus the more common, open procedure. These include reduced pain due to smaller incisions, reduced hemorrhaging, and shorter recovery time. The obvious drawback—laparoscopic surgeries require extra medical equipment and are a bit longer, which means a more expensive medical bill. In the transphobic and backwards country where I live neither the state nor insurance companies pay for the procedures that are necessary for people who are either trans or don’t want children. Thus I had to pay from my own pocket. Lucky me. [Read more…]

Neurodiversity and Communication Difficulties (Part 2)

Each society has some rules of conduct for how a person is supposed to behave in specific situations. In general, the existence of such (often unwritten) rules is beneficial—if gives people guidelines for how to behave and what to expect from others. The problem is that these rules are made by neurotypical people for neurotypical people. They are also consistent only within a specific culture or even a subculture. Thus people who are neurodivergent or simply travelers from another culture often face various problems with social interactions. [Read more…]