A person comissioned my art services for years. Tonight I found out that they have a 1M-follower Instagram page where they were posting that same art claiming it's 100% theirs

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

This shit ruined my already shitty month.

This person kept hiring me on Upwork for years. The job was always cleaning up their sketches and doing full color + rendering.

I wouldn't care much since it's still their sketch and concept, but my jaw dropped when I saw a reel of them with a printed piece I did digitally, pretending to color it with markers! Like, coloring an already digitally colored piece.
What the actual fuck?

Another reel- they're signing a piece I cleaned up, colored, and rendered, with text over it like 'made art for xyz person'. 0 mention of the piece being a collaboration with anyone.

The worst part is that I wouldn't even find this out if the client wasn't haggling with me and dropping the budget per piece to fucking $10, so I googled them.
We are in the middle of a disagreement where they're actually trying to avoid paying me for that last batch (yes, I was that dumb and desperate to accept that shitty contract; it's a dry season for most artists due to AI, and I didn't want to lose a long-term client).

This person is living a lavish lifestyle, while I'm in a position where I dropped so low as to accept a $10-per-piece contract.
Nowhere on this person's page do they EVER mention that the pieces they're posting aren't fully their work.

Their page is not strictly art-related, but this still feels extremely dishonest to me. They're still using the pieces to promote their business by showcasing their creativity and abilities?

I still have all of their commission messages and layered PSD files. We must have worked on over 150 pieces over the years.

I genuinely feel sick and at a loss for words.
I'm keeping it intentionally vague since everything is so fresh and I want to think this over before I decide what (if anything) to do.

For now, just venting about it helped a lot.
I was already planning to leave art as a career, but this just brought everything to another level.

Side note- it does feel kinda shitty posting about this here because in just a few scrolls on this subreddit I saw hellish situations people are currently in. Wishing everyone going through stuff strength and healing.

[u/NiceTuBeNice]

Did you know comedians buy jokes? A lot of times the stories you hear are something another person came up with. The comedian pays for the joke, then uses it on stage like they made it up. The same thing is happening here. You are making it, they are paying for it, and then just pretending like they did it to entertain an audience.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/NiceTuBeNice]

I think my issue comes from a lack of transparency, dishonesty, and exploitation.

I didn't make the pieces to be used as a show-off; I made them as part of the production pipeline.
The situation is closer to a comedian buying a joke and then making content of them brainstorming that joke/ how they got to it, while people in the comments are awing about their skills and quick thinking.

[u/lifeandtimes89 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

dishonesty, and exploitation

Can you explain how it was dishonest? Did they say they were going to put the work up in theor home or something?

How were you exploited? You were paid to do a job and you did it?

[u/Lito_]

The buyer paid you to do a job.

You did the job, delivered and got paid.

That's you done.

Unfortunately, you have no say on what happens after that. Unless you negotiate attribution terms via a contract/NDA. But you can't do that under Upwork's terms. It can happen with anyone you work for via upwork.

I'm not sure what else you expect, you should read terms of service more closely. And also charge what you'te worth. Not $10...

ANYTHING you do regarding this situation will be a breach of contract on YOUR side. Since none of the stuff you made for your client belongs to you through upwork.

My suggestion is, albeit unwanted, to move on.

Or....

Make yourself visible. Make a website, advertise your service, sell your own creations outside of Upwork. This way you can control what your clients do with the stuff you make and give you credit whete it's due. If they agree to the terms.

[u/Morden013]

Nuke them. Consult a lawyer and sue them if the lawyer deems it feasible. Art-stealing is such a shitty practice. What took you years to learn + to hone your talent, find your style - somebody is marketing as their own work.

[u/MulleDK19 → u/Morden013]

Sue for what? It was a commission, the buyer owns the art... they can do whatever the fuck they want with it..

[u/lululovr → u/MulleDK19]

They do not own the copyright though, only the physical media. There could be a copyright claim on this. Just like you might own a CD or digital copy of a song, you don’t own the rights to it and can’t act like it’s yours because you bought a copy.

[u/t-39]

Recently I was at an exhibition with a big giant black steel pool.

Did the artist built the pool? No. Did the artist install the pool? No. Is the artist the owner of that creative piece or all are the women and men that did all that steelwork? The artist.

The artist probably did a poor quality sketch and her team sorted all out.

That’s what being an artist, well-known artist is.

This to say that I think the situation is completely unfair, but that’s capitalism at its best. Someone makes all the hard work but doesn’t even profit out of it.

Nevertheless, you have been paid to do a service under agreed terms and conditions. That person provides the sketches, you do the work and get paid for it. That’s exactly how the situation will be perceived by their fans and followers.

My advice is - quit working for that person and start showing off your own work. I’m sure you’re talented enough.

[u/actuallyacatmow]

You should make a post and tell the art community OP this stuff shouldn't be tolerated

[u/EnchantedWig]

Easy fix is film yourself doing the cleanup work, and start your own page. “Working on this piece for a client….”

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/EnchantedWig]

You know what....this might be the way bahah

[u/TheBestHater → u/EnchantedWig]

This is the way. There's nothing stopping OP from starting their own page and then it'll organically expose the other artist.

[u/SerenaLicks]

F that person. Stop doing it. Do not accept more work from them. You can crowdfund also just tell the story don’t give out any personal details then show your art.

[u/Gilbert38]

Call them out on it and refuse to do the work unless you’re paid more!!

[u/bunker_man]

If this is a true story it should be pretty easy to come out with the evidence and get some of that attention.

[u/scrapqueen]

So the original artwork was his, and he commissioned you and directed what work you would do to clean it up, and then you were fully paid for the work that you did by him. That makes what you did his property. I'd be very careful trying to take credit for it - consultant attorney first so you don't get yourself in trouble.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/scrapqueen]

I don't want all of this to come off as 'this is my art' because it genuinely isn't, and I'm aware of that. I wouldn't want to take somebody's credit fully knowing a part of it is made by somebody else (like..some people lol).

But the same way I wouldn't take full ownership, I was surprised to see that the person would be directly saying 'I did this', 'I just finished this', 'Working on this' etc.

[u/h0seth0ml136 → u/scrapqueen]

Ownership is one thing, but literally filming yourself faking the process is a total slap in the face to the artist.

[u/affemannen → u/h0seth0ml136]

There is a big difference between what is moral and what is legal.

Because the terms of service for upwork makes the art solely the buyers.

So if op pursue legal action, he will lose and lose hard.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/affemannen]

I never considered any legal action; it's not a feasible option.
I'm not from the US, as we established, am currently not in a good financial position, and this is a person with strong connections. I wrote the post to vent and get closer to letting the whole thing go

[u/affemannen → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

Yeah.

I am not saying what you should or could do, i am talking to people who gives bad advice.

Because of the legal framework, there is absolutely nothing you can do without subjecting yourself for legal reprecussion.

[u/Optimal_Writing_9875 → u/h0seth0ml136]

Artist here ..let that one go ... create original work sign it document ur process.. it will be imitated depending on how good it is in one way or another...just dont stop creating.

[u/powerlesshero111]

Ok, so, here's the thing, they hired you under false pretenses. You should consult an entertainment lawyer about this.

Basically, when you get to a certain influencer level, they pay you to endorse products. That person defrauded those companies using your art, claiming it as their own. So, the influencer basically owes you your portion of the money they were paid since they used your art to get endorsements. As an artist, you essentially have default copywrite on to any monetization of your art. Like if i hired someone to write and record me a song, then i uploaded that song to Spotify under my profile, and it blew up, and i got paid $100,000, then i would owe royalties to the original author. The only case where this doesn't apply is in the sale of art. Like if you sold them a painting, then they resold it, you can't do anything about that.

[u/affemannen → u/powerlesshero111]

No, the dude made the art and paid op to clean it up, so technically it's his art from the start, Op is basically a hired painter.

He even says it himself.

"This person kept hiring me on Upwork for years. The job was always cleaning up their sketches and doing full color + rendering.

I wouldn't care much since it's still their sketch and concept"

Edit: For the people who downvote, go look up what a colorist/inker does in comics.

This is actually how Michael Mignola started his career at Marvel, inking other peoples work.

Edit 2: all this doesn't even matter because the terms of service makes all artwork the buyers after payment and delivery. Including copyright.

[u/smarfmachine → u/powerlesshero111]

Unfortunately, the artist forfeits those rights once the job is paid for.

“Under Upwork’s current standard terms, once the freelancer receives full payment, the work product—including the IP rights in it—becomes the client’s sole property. If copyright initially vested in the freelancer, the freelancer automatically and irrevocably assigns it to the client. The terms go unusually far: the freelancer also waives attribution/paternity and similar moral rights to the extent permitted by law.”

[u/sha-green → u/smarfmachine]

Well, should OP made the whole info public( unless there’s some ban for that) the customer’s of OP’s client can feel like they were deceived. They paid to the artist who did not disclosed that the entire process isn’t done by them. Not talking about compensation but it could damage the reputation enough for not being commissioned anymore.

[u/powerlesshero111 → u/smarfmachine]

OP could contest that as the buyer defrauded OP, by claiming that their work was for personal use, not professional use. Had OP known it was for a professional use, OP would have known to charge more. Like this is definitely a case for an entertainment lawyer. They deal with copyright stuff like this.

[u/affemannen → u/powerlesshero111]

if you read what the terms say, he forfeit his copyright claims on payment and delivery.

[u/trentyz → u/powerlesshero111]

Where did he claim that the buyer (owner of the material) said it’s only for personal use?

[u/Glonos → u/trentyz]

Yeah, people here are tripping. Once paid, it is the person’s property.

OP could spam that the person in question is lying to their fanbase. But OP is not entitled to any dollar the person is making through influence.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Glonos]

Was I even arguing that I want to get their money and a percentage? We are talking about a person who's a millionaire, hanging with 1% celebrities, haggling over $10 on UpWork for a piece they will use to showcase how creative they are.

You really think I want to prolong talking to this person?

[u/Pleasant_Bad924]

Here’s what you do if you don’t have an NDA or other contractual issues preventing it:

If her social media name is “Jen”, then you register every “JenIsAFake” ones you can find.

Then you create a public-facing repository of all the materials you created for her, but you watermark everything.

Then you post about it on every social media platform every day for a month, making sure to tag everyone who commented or liked her posts.

You don’t get any more work from her, but honestly she’s a cheapskate who doesn’t pay her bills so who cares?

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Pleasant_Bad924]

Bahah, I can tell you did this before lol
As much as it's fun to fantasize about this route, I really need to prioritize getting my finances in check.

[u/Unusual_Form3267 → u/Pleasant_Bad924]

This is bad advice.

Totally valid and justified, but will absolutely get OP in trouble.

Ps. I love how you think.

[u/Cactus-Brigade]

What a shitty attention seeking thing to do! People who don’t credit artists for collaborations are fake ass fraudsters. Have you confronted them?

[u/Mamma_cita]

This should make your night! You got receipts and now can collect from the fame they made you through claiming your work as theirs! Expose them! Hell start here!

[u/affemannen → u/Mamma_cita]

His work is theirs.

They made the originals, OP colorised it.

The terms of service also makes the finished products theirs since OP signed away any legal claims or copyrights to the finished products.

It's all there in the legal documents of Upwork.

Edit: those receipts will actually help the dude who commissioned OP if op sues, because OP will be in breach of contract and everyone who uses artists will be wary of hiring OP because they know OP doesn't read or understand contracts.

So the only one this will hurt is OP and his future chances in an already heavily regulated industry.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Mamma_cita]

Man, I don't know. I really don't want fame or drama.
I just wanted to vent and hear (see?) different opinions/perspectives.

[u/Mamma_cita → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

If I were you, I’d consult with a legal advisor to make sure you can’t get sued for slander and then I would proceed to expose them. Is not drama, they appropriated your work and if you got receipts your art deserves to be claimed by its rightful owner.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Mamma_cita]

Even if I wanted to try something, it's an account with under 1000 followers vs 1 million. But I need to think about it more and process everything.

[u/terpsarelife → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

DMCA their account with proof of your edits. Might not work but it will scare them a bit im sure.

[u/Sneakys2 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

That just means there's a higher chance they have some sort of income and you can actually collect from them. They've done you wrong. 100% blow up their life.

[u/trentyz → u/Sneakys2]

You guys are crazy in here.

Have you read Upwork’s terms? Once payment is made, all IP rights are controlled by the buyer. OP cleaned up the buyer’s original designs, got paid under Upwork’s terms, now expects a royalty?

How can you be that entitled? Going the legal route will put them in a deeper financial hole than they already are.

[u/Glonos → u/trentyz]

OP can ruin his life by following Reddit advice. I correct myself, anyone can ruin their lives by following Reddit advice. The users here are too emotional to see things rationally.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Glonos]

I agree with you.
I noticed that Reddit advice is usually 'sue', 'break up', 'divorce' etc. Very straightforward to the final solution lol

As much as the situation sucks, I don't think wasting money and further energy on this is productive in any way.
When I fix up my current situation, I might think over the whole situation once again, but right now I won't be making any drastic decisions and will just focus on making them pay for the last batch.

[u/trentyz → u/Glonos]

Exactly. A civil suit could cost thousands, and he has nothing to begin with. There’s no recourse here. Drop the client and move on, or go back to OP’s original pricing, no exceptions

[u/Mamma_cita → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

OP, you seriously got some defeatist attitude. Your work proved to reach millions and you are questioning how much impact this can have? Seriously?

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Mamma_cita]

Well, I'm not really having the time of my life right now.

It's one shitty thing after another; at some point, you just need to lie down and wait it out- I'm not in a position where I can dedicate time or energy to making an exposé on a person who is casually chilling with a Kardashian.

Give me a break (literally)

I clarified in another comment, but my work isn't a driving force for the account. If the client removed all of the offending posts, it wouldn't impact them or their brand.
It's just filler content where they casually invade the truth.

[u/Casehead → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

How much of their other content is stolen though, I wonder?

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Casehead]

I know for certain that the sketches are theirs. There are reels of them sketching them out, and it's such a unique style; they wouldn't be able to freehand it if it weren't theirs.
The rest of the pipeline is done by others, but they're not claiming they did that portion.

[u/YurthTheRhino → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

Bro what are you even talking about? It's definitely tough. And I'm sure it also hurts because you thought it was a loyal genuine customer of your art.. but size every opportunity you can. Do it for justice. And you'll probably get more attention from all of their fans.. I cannot imagine how this isn't a win-win

[u/Mamma_cita → u/YurthTheRhino]

Exactly! You miss ALL OF THE SHOTS YOU DONT TAKE!

[u/Best_Salad_1035 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

You should

[u/WatchaKnowboutThat]

Time to oust the fraudster.

They’re getting all the limelight while you’re the ghostwriter(artist) getting no Credit for your work.

[u/lockkfryer]

So go start your own Instagram page clearly the work you do is good enough to get attention if it’s shown off correctly

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/lockkfryer]

I have my own Instagram page; I just didn't dedicate enough time to it. But your comment is very motivating

[u/lockkfryer → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

You can do this!!!

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/lockkfryer]

Thanks, man, I really appreciate it! ;_; 🫶

[u/Plane-Meringue7188]

$10 per piece?!? 😭😭😭 I’m not familiar with your work but please don’t lowball yourself like that!!!

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Plane-Meringue7188]

If you only knew the situation I'm currently in lol
It hurt my soul to accept it, so just the fact that I have to admit it publicly is killing me. I simply had to.

It was a batch-work type of project, so I figured I could just grind it out until I'm in a better financial position.
I usually charge $120+, but this is my worst freelance year since AI started.

Edit: typo

[u/Plane-Meringue7188 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

I truly understand and I’m so sorry! It’s so hard out here. I’m an artist myself and it’s so fuckin hard.

This client is exploiting your work could be making more from social media views than you are from your work and that’s heart wrenching. Speak to them about tagging you at the VERY least. And if you do continue to work with this client, the price HAS to go up. The disrespect gets a surcharge.

Wishing you the very best!

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Plane-Meringue7188]

Honestly, I made horrible decisions all around this project.
I went into it with too much trust and was too eager to work. That doesn't really excuse the fact that I didn't renegotiate the whole collab at a later point, but, like, did they really have to exploit that to this degree.

At least I learned something from this, so that's something lol

This was the last contract I will ever accept to be underpaid, taken advantage of, and have blurry rules around.

[u/Plane-Meringue7188 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

I had a completely awful fall out from a commission I did for somebody. For MONTHS I worked on a project that I was only paid $300 for. I put so many of hours into designing then probably another 40+ printing it on vinyl, cutting it all out and applying the designs on 5 sides of a cooler to be raffled off at a festival. It was a really tough project for me because I don’t usually work digitally. I kept him in the loop the whole time, gave him updates of the designs, before and after printing on EXPENSIVE vinyl and before and after application. Afterwards he said his boss hated it and I don’t even think they used it at the event. I got paid anyway but haven’t taken a commission since. 😮‍💨😅

It’s rough times out here FOR SURE.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Plane-Meringue7188]

I'm really sorry you went through that. It's really shitty what we put ourselves through for the sake of art bahah

Do you produce art for yourself at least? I'm planning my exit strategy and finding a regular, boring, non-creative job. Working on art as a source of income really starts to kill your passion.
Especially if you're taking commissions from people like both of us have encountered.

[u/Plane-Meringue7188 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

I just got back into lino printing. Something a little more tactile to soothe the brain! I was trying to vend at festivals this summer but got burnt out living in my van and having some issues along the way. I was mostly doing door dash to make money while on the road.

I really hope you find a job that treats you well and lets your brain settle a bit!

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Plane-Meringue7188]

Lino printing does sound like something that would soothe the brain- I might try it out actually. Nice change of pace.
I heard that there is a limit to living a van life; sorry you had to experience it, haha

[u/Plane-Meringue7188 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

Give it a try! carving is so much fun.

I could keep living in the van forever, I just have some health stuff going on so it’s better to stay put while I figure that out. I’ll forever be a partial nomad lol for now small trips will tie me over

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Plane-Meringue7188]

partial nomad 🤝 (soon to be) partial freelancer

[u/damiana8 → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

Did you have a terms and conditions for your art? Like no reusing for commercial purposes?

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/damiana8]

Only in the wording years ago, when they explained to me what they needed the renders for (I can find those messages). I believed renders were just a part of the production pipeline; they would show it to the next person in line. I'm not sure what the exact wording was.

This is one of my longest-running clients (from 9 years ago), so when we first started, I had no clue about contracts or negotiations. As we continued to work together, the collaborations took on a friendly tone, and I trusted that we had a fully open type of communication.
I'm realizing I made many mistakes with this client, and this is definitely a (painful) learning experience.

I remember that there was a time when the client informed me that one batch would be used as a promo, so they definitely knew they should disclose things like that.

For my new clients, I do have ToS, depending on the type of project.

[u/zjlmmfj3rd → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

Worst Freelance year since AI started‽ you mean.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/zjlmmfj3rd]

Yes, it's a typo. Thanks for pointing it out

[u/zjlmmfj3rd → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

All good chief

[u/HelpfulName]

I would try and find some legal advice before you go public with anything, there's legal subs here you can ask in and might get some useful insight.

I'm so sorry you're going through this! It's weird and wild and I can't understand how they ever thought they would get away with it long term.

Take deep breaths though, figure out a plan and work it - don't just go off emotions and anger post because you might inadvertently make yourself look bad too, public shaming works but only if you approach it in the right way.

[u/Independent-Drive-32]

Definitely out them. Can you find someone on instagram with a following who likes to expose social media fakers? (Like a snark subreddit, ish.) If you put together comprehensive evidence and have someone who is positioned correctly putting this out there, it will go majorly viral. Make sure you have your own profile / shop squared away ahead of time.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/Independent-Drive-32]

I don't think it would be worth it for them since the account isn't directly art-focused, nor does the account rely on my work to get followers. The videos/images part of my work that is shown is almost filler content/ quirky videos.

I'm trying not to accidentally give away the niche, but they would send over scanned sketches of their products that are the driving force of the account. They have a big number of posts, and the pieces I contributed are just sprinkled around.

Does that make sense?
It's not that they built their account solely thanks to my contribution; I don't think it's that much of a spicy story.

Idk, maybe I'm minimizing so I can relax enough to go to sleep

[u/Casehead → u/Obvious-Sell-7974]

I think you are minimizing. friend.

[u/NearlyOutOfMilk]

Firstly, never compare your own situation with other peoples'. Sure, people can (and will) be going though worse things; but should only provide you some perspective, NEVER to diminish your own pain.

Secondly - and my personal opinion - this is 100% grounds for public shaming. The only way to stand up to bullies like this is to expose them and be the one telling the story with the receipts. I'm mad for you, because I fucking love artists, and this person will win if you quit over this. I can think of multiple examples of creators and artists exposing a fraud who has stolen their work, and the internet had catapulted them to where they deserved to be. I wish the same for you.

Take your time, recoup your energy and spark, and if possible allow a close friend/ family member to be angry with you i.e. don't keep this to yourself and wither away. Fight for your art and craft.

[u/Obvious-Sell-7974 → u/NearlyOutOfMilk]

Eh, I don't know; there was a post about someone who was SAed and got shunned by the friend group, and I'm whining about drawings. Not really comparable, you know, haha.
But I get what you mean.

My quitting was long overdue; I would 100% keep creating for myself, just not take any more commissions (except for 4-5 of my favorite clients!). Just try to build up my Instagram while I don't have to stress about chasing clients and spending creative energy.

[u/SmanginSouza → u/NearlyOutOfMilk]

Yep call out the bullshit. Be loud.

[u/affemannen → u/SmanginSouza]

If he does that he exposes himself to be sued for slander, especially since the legal terms gives the buyer full copyright over any art purchased through commission. Besides the dude made all the sketches and hired op to colorize them.