This is my first actual Live Journal post since forever. And this time around, it's for a good cause.

The next time you're at your favorite comic shop, book store or comic convention, and you see an art book titled "Colorful Illustrations 93°C", pick up the book, hand it to the dealer...

...and tell him to take it off the shelves, sooner than immediately.

The reason being is that book features illustrations and interviews that were illegally lifted from various websites, without knowledge or authorisation of the illustrators, or even the copyright owners that the illustrators worked for. In addition, all these illustrations were available on an accompanying CD-Rom, which may lead the buyer into thinking that the images can be reproducted.

The book, which retails for US$100, was published by a publisher in "Hong Kong" under an assumed name; the phone numbers, addresses, even the ISBN numbers are also false.  I have placed "Hong Kong" in quotes, as the book may very well have been published in China, where copyright violations are of epidemic proportions (otakus who bought the notorious "HK DVDs" of anime will understand).

For more details, see:

http://apefluff.com/colorful-illustrations-93c-please-do-not-buy-this-book/
http://thelittlechimpsociety.com/theape/colorful-illustrations-93c-part-two/#more-6848

...and pass it on to everyone you know.

(Special thanks to Donna Barr, a colleague of mine.)

Tags: copyright violation illustration graphic