Mars

Instagram: @marsbodyart

Current Studio: Bed of Roses

Comments: Mars (which I believe is her name) didn’t steal any of my art, rather she attacked me for defending my art. An artist that Mars knows used my art and posted it on her socials.

Once this was reported to me, I reached to the artist with notice that they were using my work. I provided references of the my work that was used without my permission, and requested for the content to be taken down. The artist responded with such grace and explained that a client reached out to her with references of my work that were not credited. She apologized and took down the offending posts on all platforms.

However, for whatever reason, Mars didn’t appreciate me defending my art. Mars then went out of her way and commented on the post I made about stolen art and wrote “It’s pretty weird energy to think that you own an entire style of artwork that isn’t original at all to you… do you really believe you invented etch armor or filigree?”. Which of course, I don’t think at all nor did I ever claim. However, Mars must’ve ignored all the evidence and context provided in that post.

Mars also went on to say “Do you not realize that any woodcut artist from the 16th century could claim copyright on you if they were alive today?”. This line is pretty funny since in multiple ways. Hypothetically, would Albrecht Dürer, a 16th-century artist from the Holy Roman Empire, provide notice to me because we both do engraving work? Probably not, but I’d love to see it hold up in court. A similar art style doesn’t constitute copyright infringement, rather the mimicking of specific, original work, such as tracing, imitating, or making only minor adjustments, does. Once again though, Mars likely ignored the evidence and context provided.

Finally, Mars stated “Thank God the artists you copy are all dead! Whew, what a miserable way to spend your time and energy”. It goes without saying, but I have never copied an artist. However, any time I created a design that is directly inspired by an existing design, I ensure that the copyright has lapsed for that particular design and I always provided credit to the work that inspired me. Out of the hundreds of designs I've created, less than 10 are directly inspired designs. As for the line about “What a miserable way to spend your time and energy”, she entitled to that belief. For me though, I deem it important to protect my life’s work and to show that my supporters investment in me.

However, Mars decided this wasn’t enough and then went out of her way and commented on other posts of mine. On one post, she wrote “I love how clean linework is out of style these days 🫰 like yassss break tradition, queen 🤗”. At this point, few people caught wind of what Mars was writing and reached out to me about if they should contact the studio about her conduct. I informed everyone to not reach out, but rather leave it with me.

I personally reached out to the owner of her studio and explained the situation, specifically requesting no disciplinary action, rather informing the owner of what one of his artists is doing while representing his studio. I clarified that she is entitled to not like my work, me as an artist, or me as a person, but she should not be spamming negative comments on multiple posts. I informed the owner that I did not remove her original critique, but I removed her other comments as she was just trolling at that point.

The owner responding respectfully and asked for additional context, which I then provided. The owner did not respond after that point, but Mars suddenly removed all of her comments from all of my posts.