Studio Aborted Creativity

Read the post-convention report here!

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Trouble in the Alley

Preface

This will probably be the last major update regarding the matter of what's been going on in several Artist Alleys, since there should be a sufficient body of evidence now to support the contention of foul play (some minor addenda may be made at a later time). There is one thing that I do want to make clear, though: none of the photographs are to be used as weapons to attack the suspect artists/affiliates on a personal level. I do not endorse the use of Encyclopedia Dramatica as a legitimate platform for procuring evidence or developing a proper narrative of what's transpired - that place disgusts me with its lack of shame.

Right now, we have visual confirmation of 12 tables. That's 4 tables over the limit, spread across major bottlenecks of convention traffic in the Alley.

Now I see some people spreading information that there's a legitimate 3rd artist operating in island Y. The argument could go both ways, and either spells bad news for the opposition: 1)If there is a 3rd artist present, then she has no business selling work that belongs to another artist, consent given or not, or 2)3rd artist is not present, island Y is just a front which in reality everyone is a helper, then table violation still holds. The fact remains: Ramy's and Sylvia's artwork are present at island Y's four tables. Artwork that takes up table space = ownership of that space. Nothing changes.


The Relevance of the Issue

Naturally people not in the know will just roll their eyes and think the problems to be discussed in this journal are somehow abstract, absurd, "problems only in our heads," or out of selfish motivations. These people have every right to think so, but the reality could not be farther from the truth.

In order to save space for the meat of the journal, I will point you to 's Otakon 08, 's Artist Alley, and 's Breach of Trust journal entries.

The danger lies in not understanding the ramifications of the situation. Do not misconstrue why numerous artists who know or do not know Ramy/Sylvia IRL have decided to devote their time to this matter. In essence, this is not about jealousy of art that's sold through unethical methods. Nor is this investigation about the indirect draining of revenue. The existence of the unethical practice flies in the face of what any Artist Alley is all about - community, collegiality, diversity (note that making a quick buck is not a mandate).

In addition, this practice spells great danger for the legality of any convention in the United States to maintain a flourishing, functioning Artist Alley.

"wtflulz nowai, u can't be srs!"

Actually, it's pretty serious. The Artist Alley in its current form legally exists by the good graces of the industry. After all it is industry that has copyright leverage on commercial characters that fan art is based on. Needless to say, the majority of revenue from the Artist Alley of anime conventions is due to the sale of fan art. It is actually a privilege, and not a right, for any artist to be peddling fan art in the Alley. And like any privilege, sale of fan art can be taken away as a whole.

Here are some opinions from people working in the industry:

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- Maximo V. Lorenzo, a comic book artist for Tokyopop - Journal link

- Robert deJesus of Studio Capsule - LJ Journal link

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Thus if industry does deem the situation to be out of hand, they may choose to step in and legally impose a no fan art policy upon conventions - a decision that spells ill for the majority of Alley artists, especially the ones that depend on the profit they make on the convention circuit to stay alive with a roof over their heads and food on the plate.

In addition to multiple registration abuse, a number of people have claimed witness to signature/identity forgery; there is also the matter of potential tax fraud (discussed below).

So no, the backlash against the practice described in this journal is not some typical drama. The legal and art community ramifications are VERY real, which makes the quashing of such practice an urgent matter.


The Narrative

Approximately one month prior to Otakon, made the following post in the Otakon BBS (July 9, 2008):

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To whom it may concern,

I am writing to clarify a matter regarding table placements at Otakon's Artist Alley this year. I've noticed that in several other AAs, there were multiple booths with different people selling the virtually same style of art, obviously by one artist, though the artist has been known to use several aliases on sites such as DeviantArt to provide a cover story. These booths were registered under said aliases, so it came as a surprise to me since I had expected different types of art from different sellers. The falsely registered booths were scattered around the AA so you could see the same art style many times in the AA, sold by different people each claiming to be the artist.

I know that at most conventions it is not acceptable to do such a thing, therefore I was wondering what action would be taken by Otakon staff to prevent it. I, along with many other artist friends who will be at the AA, would like to know. Though not obvious, many artists have reported diminishing sales due to the Wal-Mart tactics that some sellers have been practicing.

I also have a question regarding fanart. Under the list of items prohibited in the AA it reads "Mass produced prints of original art depicting licensed characters. Not allowed. (The original is, but NOT the prints.)" I understand that no more than 25 pieces of each print may be made, but it has been observed that there are artists who stock way more than 25 prints (they usually stock 25 pieces per day to avoid being caught) of popular fanart. Each type of fanart is located at a separate table to mask the fact that it was produced by a single person.

I know all this sounds very farfetched, but I have artist friends who have been operating tables at Otakon's AA, as well as other conventions, for over 10 years and earn their living through the AA while adhering the rules. Recently, they have been quite dismayed with the AA staff at other conventions and are concerned for what might be in store at Otakon if nobody takes action. If you require more information, such as names and aliases, we are prepared to provide it. Matters of income aside, the AA has been such a great source of inspiration and fellowship for us that we take it very seriously. All we want is fair game for everyone.
~~~~

Otakon staff replied soon after (relevant portion of the post included - July 19, 2008):

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First of all I greatly appreciate that this has been brought to the staff's attention until now we were unaware that there had been an issue regarding this. It’s very distressing to here of people taking advantage of the artist alley in this way, I know that a lot of people participate in the Alley mainly to make money but what makes it such a great place is the wide variety of work that can be viewed, not just the work of a couple mass producing fan artists. I've briefly discussed the matter with Otakon's Head of Exhibitions and have looked over the discussion on Anime Expo's web boards regarding this. That being said I'm going to due my best to address all the points that have been brought up in regards to this thread so far.

1.I probably can't stress this enough but please inform the Alley Staff if you see this going on. Unless we are told names and or table locations of artists that you are suspecting of selling the same work at multiple tables then there is nothing we can do about it. If this does occur at Otakon this year and we are giving information regarding it then I will give the information directly to the Head of Exhibitions and he will handle it.

2.In regards to artists being allowed to reserve up to 4 tables in the alley for their group, when placing these group tables in the Alley this year along with most past years the group tables are always located next to each other. Even if the artist requested that their tables be in different locations I grouped them together anyway cause in my opinion the idea of group registration is so that you can all be together. It's to late to decrease the number of tables one can request this year so it's up to next year's Artist Alley Coordinator as to weather or not they think this would be a good solution.

3.Background checks are time consuming and can cost any where from $20-$60 which would have to be paid for by each and every artist in the alley. The way that these multiple tables are described is that the artist A is getting some one else (person to register for a table but they are only selling artist A's work. In this situation a background check of Person B isn't going to turn up that they don’t make any art and will only be selling Artist A's work, Its just going to verify that Person B is an actual individual and can maybe hold a job.

~~~~

The context of the exchange was that at previous conventions, namely Anime Expo, Sakuracon, and (suspected) Ohayocon, the same pattern of exploitation was observed, yet nothing could have been done to deal with it. The matter was thus urgently brought to the attention of Otakon staff following Anime Expo (July 3-6, 2008).

Note the bold section above. According to AA staff, multiple table registration was intended for accommodating groups/studios, not individual artists. On top of that, persons that have gone through group registration were still organized to be adjacent to each other. You will see below visually that this is not the case. More on this later.

In approximately the same time frame (July 7-8) I received a phone call from one of the artists, who has not ever called me for anything in the past two years (the artist in question was an acquaintance; I even did a Gaia commission for her a while back). As of the time I was unaware of what was occurring in previous conventions, as I had been away from the art scene for almost a year, busy with cancer research and a public health thesis. The person in question requested a 2-table swap, which was a very odd request, considering that most people would want to group up in order to be close to friends. After all, the Artist Alley is supposed to be a community of like-minded people enjoying their craft and sharing it with everyone else, right?

The offer was kindly declined. I asked about the artist in question, as I was rather curious why anyone would want to split off two tables in an Artist Alley - it makes for a potential logistical nightmare if an individual artist was to do such a thing. informed me of the suspected practices of the two individuals, who also happened to be his acquaintances. Naturally we worried that the same practice may occur at Otakon, but with the reassurance of Otakon staff we hoped that the whole thing would be nipped in the bud.

Otakon came around, and what transpired has been pretty much documented here and in other journals.

It was not hard for many people to immediately notice that, curiously, a lot of the artwork shown in the Alley, although not identical prints, looked like they were done by the same artist. This of course was in no way admissible as a violation by itself, but it was a clue as to the practice of saturating the Alley with work from primarily two artists.

Artists adjacent to the areas the Ramy/Sylvia team were occupying, such as , , and Sven witnessed the really dodgy practices occurring.

In particular, posted:

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"Sitting about 8 o'clock from all this craziness, I've been watching con goers getting bullied into buying materials and I'm practically shocked speechless no one's talked back at the blatant display of rudeness. There were artists who nearly had their customers taken away from them because some of the sellers were trying to convince people into buying items from another table. What the hell! That's practically harrassment."
~~~~

The same was observed by NOTanOTAKU from the Otakon BBS, who noted that as soon as he/she was leaving the table, the girl behind the table redoubled her efforts.

I was told by the AA staff that in order for something to be done that we all have to complain about it so they can show the heads of Otakon. That or send in written complaints about them. Also, even though they tried to be slick about not selling the same prints at each table all the artowrk looks the same.

confirms the change of atmosphere induced by the bullying practice and saturation of Ramy/Sylvia art in the Alley:

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"
And while I didn't personally experience any of the bullying, nor did I actually notice the artists being spoken of here, I did notice the oddly and uncomfortably subdued mood throughout the alley. At the tables I stopped at, the artists seemed quiet and unusually untalkative. It was a significant difference from previous years. It was a much less outgoing and friendly atmosphere I've come to expect at Otakon."
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Speaking to the artists at two bit sin and also Ricky B (J3, J4 tables), as well as people from several tables within the proximity of the K5-8/M1-2/M13-14/Y1-4 locations, we discovered the same sentiment.

On the matter of fan art character prints, Lily Star posts:
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"Though I didn't have the proof with me, I have a print that Ramy sold and signed to me at Katsucon that was being sold at the tables near the bathrooms. And Sylvia some prints being sold there as well. It seemed to me that they pushed the majority of their old and less popular prints to the back. I also noticed that if you looked whenever both artists had the same character being sold at their booths the draw of said character is exactly the same.

Its so bad that I had several customers ask me why all of the art looked the same. When asked what they where talking about they all pointed to the tables in the middle and back saying they looked exactly the same. You know its bad when customers start to notice."
~~~~

Considering the overall feedback from a large number of artists present at the Alley, AA staff told us to sign a petition to file a complaint (which was later stated by Otakon staff to be insufficient for them to take action), and we did have a plurality of artists willing to sign the petition on Friday night, August 8. We were also told that the Head of Exhibitions would be present the following morning.

Apparently on the same day Otakon staff conducted their own investigation, which lasted for 1.5-2 hours. I am not clear on the details of their investigation, nor am I so certain that they were looking for the right violation. Based on what Otakon staff has stated in the forums, they were looking for identical prints in different locations - a misinterpretation of what people have been filing complaints about (frankly, a losing strategy - nobody would be that dumb if they're going this far to have exposure, these aren't amateurs). We were more concerned with the saturation of the Alley with the overabundance of tables selling art from the same artists, dispersed in different locations throughout the Alley.

However, before the petition was to be dispersed, several of us decided to procure direct evidence to prove the abuse of the 4-table limit with the aid and blessings of the AA staff on Saturday, August 9. The investigative procedure is detailed in the Evidence section of this journal entry.

After procuring direct evidence, and with the AA staff member as eyewitness, we were hoping that this would be sufficient to show that they are in violation of the agreement to keep to a maximum of four tables (in reality this is more relevant to groups/studios; individual artists are supposed to have less - refer back to bolded section in post by Otakon AA staff above).

AA staff came by to inform several artists involved in the investigation that they were not going to do anything about Ramy/Sylvia because apparently island Y was registered under Jennifer Shi's name, thus not overtly violating any rules. It was clear at this point that nothing productive would be done at the convention. In addition, I was also notified that due to a leak from the Starbucks one floor above us, Sylvia/Ramy (not sure which) was to be given a table for next year. I cannot give you the exact phrasing for this, as it has been a week, but that was the general gist of the exchange. If someone can confirm that the leak occurred and can make a secondary confirmation of what I am saying, I would really appreciate it if you either note me or post a comment here.

Following Otakon, people came on to the BBS to voice their displeasure on the handling of the situation. After headbutting with the staff, attempting to come to a middle ground with them, brainstorming ways to prevent the same practice from occurring next year, the thread was locked shortly after posted damning visual evidence of prints that belong to Ramy existing in island Y (registered under Jennifer Shi). We were told that Otakon staff is working on the problem and that nothing can be done for this year. There was a lot of reference to saving evidence to hand to next year's Otakon staff, which gave the impression (right or wrong) that they wanted to hand this headache over to people next year. My own opinion is that staff did not manage public relations on the matter very well and did not permit artists to further brainstorm what to do for next year, as well as preventing consolidation of information on the matter.

From Otakon staff:
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"Guys, I'm at the point where I'm going to lock the thread. We're just getting repeats here.

Otakon Staff *is* looking into this, and as we've said, we're listening to your suggestions. We know you're upset about the issue, and we'll see what we can do. We're not naysaying, and we're not downplaying it.

But we're not going to promise you anything until we have something concrete.

And that means we get together as a staff (not on the BBS, we sit down and discuss it) and come up with some legal way to deal with this.

Okay?"
~~~~

With a body of evidence obtained from other conventions (i.e. Anime Expo), it became paramount to get these findings out into the public, since nothing productive could be done on the Otakon BBS. Thus the existence of this journal.

It was the original intent of all of us to keep the names of the two artists secret to the public, out of decency. However, as more evidence came in and we got a clearer picture in understanding how extensively the two were conducting this practice on the convention circuit, it became necessary to reveal, at the very least, their names, as their names were integral to showing proof of unethical actions.

I was originally not intending to reveal evidence to the public, but everyone - fanbase from the two artists, the general artist population, and most of all, other convention AA staff - must know what is going on here before they become victims of inaction as Otakon staff was. It is not wise to support these artists by buying or supporting their work, no matter how good you think they are, and it is not wise to allow these two artists to continue their conduct.

The Evidence

As from my first journal edit:

There's a lot of hubbub about a certain two people who, under the guise of multiple registrations, completely saturated the Alley this year with their mass productions. If this had been done through fair means, I would have no qualms - Artist Alley isn't supposed to be a competitive business market, it's more of a congregation of fellow enthusiasts doing what they love and making a quick buck on the side. But the fact that these folks decided to pretty much bend all the rules so that they can make a killing, and the fact that the Otakon staff didn't resolve this in a timely, satisfactory manner, is rather disappointing. Considering that I know one of these people, it saddens me even more to see such despicable crime take place before my eyes.

We are limited to 4 tables, under the assumption that if you work together on a regular basis, you should group up to only 4 tables. It isn't that someone's shelled out a ton of money to procure 14 tables (or 12, it gets kind of hard to discern the precise number because the people manning each of these tables claims to be the registered artist). The problem here is the abuse and circumvention of the rules dictating the precarious existence of the Artist Alley. Other artists could have used that space. Hogging so many tables is very selfish and only serves to decrease the diversity of any Artist Alley.

Potential tax fraud?

Every artist was required to sign an affidavit form, wherein it states:

Exhibitor's Statement:
I do solemnly declare and affirm, under penalties of perjury, that: (1) less than 10% of my annual gross income is derived from the sale of like goods, wares, and merchandise at the show and (2) I have not participated in more than three shows in the State of Maryland during the previous 365 days.

This affidavit was meant to limit the amount of sales a fan artist can make. Because frankly, fan art is not meant to be mass produced for sale. The main point is to appreciate the skill of the artist's work, and the exchange of currency comes a distant second. I highly doubt that these two accomplices have an annual gross income not exceeding 10% the amount that they make at conventions over the course of one year. Even if it were the case, this is dangerous precedent to make which, if people were to follow their example, could result in the shutting down of Artist Alleys due to mass production of commercial, copyrighted work by persons without the copyright. If these two want to continue doing what they're doing, they should be legally pressed to obtain a trader's license and moved to the dealer's room. Perhaps Bandai et al should be notified about the mass profiting that this pair has made from existent characters.

Evidence indicating Ramy/Sylvia broke the contracted 4-table limit


Reprinted from the Otakon boards in case anything happens:

Usually prints on display have been signed by the artist. That no prints have been signed by the artists themselves beforehand made them highly suspect, especially since that means that you can swap location of prints with nobody noticing. We thus hypothesized that there could be prints being sold at different areas of the con owned by Ramy, Sylvia, or any of the surrogates, at locations that were officially not registered by either persons.


1. Personal solicitation for table swapping and prior history

Several weeks ago, I was asked by one of the artists if I was willing to swap two table with hers. I declined the offer, but the odd request raised some alarms. If I had swapped, the artist would have procured tables in a location where she was not officially registered to have. AA had already made an effort to group registered tables together, and this artist was attempting to circumvent such efforts in order to disperse their presence throughout the AA. Further suspicions of dubious activity were backed up by reports from Anime Expo of said artist and accomplice's procurement of tables and saturation of the market, to the displeasure of many AA artists at AX.

b-a-w posted the following on the Otakon BBS:

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"I think that if you look at other conventions you can establish a pattern which might be the only solid proof we can provide other than saying that from previously being good acquaintances with them, sharing tables with them, and even rooming with them.

Fanime/AnimeNorth
Sylvia had at least two tables at AnimeNorth, but since Fanime was also during the same weekend she sent her sister to Fanime with Ramy. She also had two tables at Fanime.
Ramy had two tables at Fanime as well.

AnimeNEXT
Both had 2 tables each but were probably limited to that amount because ANEXT is a smaller convention.

Metrocon
Ramy Badie
Booths: G2 , G3
Sylvia Shi
Booths: E1 , E2 , E3 , G1
[link]

AnimeExpo
Badie, Ramy A32, B31
Shi, Sylvia B13, 14, 35, 36
I have the original e-mail sent to all participating artists for AX


And the two of them had 14 at Otakon by using family and friends to sell proxy. Granted, these are only the tables listed under their names they could easily have more bought under a friend's name which they sold their "different artist" artwork."

2. Art Show print comparisons and booth locations

* First of all we identified pieces in the art show that belonged to aforementioned artists. Of note, Anbu Kakashi(among others) in the Art Show were registered under Sylvia Shi. Unfortunately, Art Show rules forbid photography, so we do not have visual corroborative evidence for that, but perhaps records are still present with the Art Show staff. However, the following list was compiled:
1. Found at Ramy's table: (D1 - Art show panel #) Link, Twilight Princess, Antiform, Pure Heart, Lelouche of the Rebellion, Rikku, (D7) Morrigan, Zero-suit Samus; these checked out.
2. Sylvia's table: (D7) Yoko, Girls of Naruto, Plushie Love, Hinata, Sasuke + Naruto
3. Found at Jennifer's table (Y1): (D7) Anbu Kakashi, registered under Sylvia

# We next attempted to locate these prints at the artist tables. Some of the prints were located at the table location where Sylvia was (M12, M13, possibly M1 & M2 - if anyone still has a version of the AA layout with all artists' names, we can cross-check with that).
# Inspection of Island Y (Y1-4) revealed that Anbu Kakashi to be present there. However, the person(s) identified at the table was Jennifer Shi. Signatures made at Island Y would have been under Jennifer Shi and not Sylvia Shi, which was the name the pieces were registered under for the Art Show.


Thus we had reason to further suspect that our hypothesis was correct.

3. Print signature and eyewitness confirmation

To confirm our suspicions aroused in Point 1, we decided to buy a print from one location and ask an artist from another location to sign it. If our suspicions were false, the artist in the other location would recognize the print as not being his/her work and would not sign it. However, if the artist signs the print following the signature of the supposed artist at a different location, then we can confirm that art is being sold at a location where the artist was not officially registered.

* We bought a Haruhi print and requested a signature from Island Y. The signature was under Jennifer Shi. Fortunately, the signature was light and small, in a dark portion of the print, thus it would have been difficult to discern.
* We next proceeded to Island M. With an AA staff as eyewitness, we handed the Haruhi print over to the artist and asked for a signature. The artist took the print without hesitation and signed it. Visual evidence here and here.


Along with the fact that the art styles are pretty much identical, we have strong evidence that prints were being sold at locations not belonging to the artist. Even if it was a family member selling prints, we should treat these tables as being registered under a separate name, and thus, a different artist. Thus it is possible to say that one of the two artists at the very least was utilizing the space of 8 tables instead of the maximum 4.

---

In addition to the evidence I posted on the Otakon BBS, posted the following information with visual evidence. Take of it what you will.


(Click here if image is cut off on the side)

Now as for the links most pertinent to establishing cooperative use of island Y:

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"Now, the 4 tables in the back. FAR FAR AWAY FROM RAMY. Keep note of all the images circled in red.

Now take those same images, and take a look at his DA account.

I know people will still say that DA is not enough proof, but COME ON. This is ridiculous."
~~~~

Note also in link 3 the Anbu Kakashi picture, leftmost table, bottom left on the PVC stand. That same print was in the Art Show, registered under Sylvia Shi. A simple check of Art Show registration can confirm this, if Otakon staff is willing to reveal that information. Taken together, we can establish a cooperative link between Sylvia and Ramy in their use of island Y to sell prints, when island Y is supposedly registered to a different artist.

In addition to this visual evidence, there is also collected evidence from Anime Expo which I will not reveal - but suffice to say, it's the same deal, which further establishes a consistent behavioral pattern and motive.

With some help from and some other people I've compiled a modified map of the Artist Alley including the new Island Y, along with locations for the 12 confirmed tables, while awaiting for confirmation for 2 extra tables in the vicinity that were selling you-know-who's chibis. If anyone has photographs taken in the area highlighted in blue, please note me.



Take particular note what would have happened had I consented to giving the artists my two tables. Studio Aborted Creativity (my studio) occupied T9-T12. We were on prime real estate in terms of traffic. If we had given up two tables, Ramy/Sylvia would have a virtual monopoly of traffic - the central bottleneck, the path to the restrooms, and the Artist Alley entrance itself.

In addition, I'll just copy-paste additional findings by from the comments to here:

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"Evidence against Sylvia.

Last year I met and spoke with Casey at Otakon '07. He was hired by Sylvia and sent to sell her artwork at a table that WAS IN FACT registered under Sylvia Shi.


Please take note of the 2 images circled. A Death Note pic and the Haruhi pic. Both pieces were sold as pieces done by Sylvia Shi. Now let's see where both pics end up this year.

First, the Death Note piece was sold at Sylvia's table.

But where do you think the Haruhi pic ended up?

That's right! Right in the back! Why are 2 pieces that were sold under Sylvia last year suddenly separated from its owner this year? And 2 is now sold under a different person's name?

And we already have proof with the signatures on the Haruhi piece."
~~~~

Additional photos of M12, M13, M1, and M2:

M12, M13

M1, M2

Back view from M3, M4 ('s tables)


I've received several phone calls from one of the two artists in the past few days.


I apologize for the lack of further evidence; I wish I had my camera handy to have done a more extensive job of investigating during the convention, but I had my own table and commissions to take care of at the time.

====



Unfortunately as mentioned previously, almost immediately after posted, Otakon staff decided to lock the thread, preventing further discussion on the matter and stating that "nothing can be done this year." There's plenty that can be done before the year is over. They can be blacklisted for next year. Official word can be sent out to all other cons regarding Ramy/Sylvia's practice. People can spread the news about such practice and learn to understand that condoning such practice may ultimately result in harsher rules that disadvantage fan artists or can damage artist alleys utterly for many conventions, should industry decide to jump into this mess.

I know that quite a few people are going to distrust their eyes and wave all that we've done and investigated as simple rumors and hogwash, but one's eyes and common sense cannot be fooled here.

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Well, with all that crap out of the way, here's a list of commissions I'm supposed to be doing. Apologies to you guys, I'm working on these right now:

Custom SPARTAN Hayabusa armor (Halo) - for Jen Hicks - 40%
Ifurita from El Hazard OVA - Robert Tarlecki - 100%
Drei from Phantom of Inferno - Robert Tarlecki - 20%
Alucard from Hellsing - Jim Tarlecki - 40%
Anderson from Hellsing - Jim Tarlecki - 10%
Custom GN Flag - Jeremy Arotsky - 0%
Gurren Lagann waiting to go to the bathroom - for Evan Clark - 0%
Batman/Superman movie posters - (sorry man I forgot your email, if you can email me that would be great) - 10%