Thoughts on Merrowfins? "New" Tailmaker

[PearlieMae]

So:

Lorelie designed/drew the fluke and posted it on Mernetwork.

Eric printed it out from Mernetwork and gave it to Matt to sculpt. Eric claimed credit.

Matt sculpted it.

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What's going on at this point? Matt is making it available as a Merrowfin fluke? Eric is claiming it (design and/or sculpt) belongs to Mertailor? No one is giving credit to Lorelie for designing it?

[Mermaid Lunette]

Attachment 36029
I wish someone would get the whole story before pointing fingers. Here you go, from Matt himself.

this...kinda just proves that he knows this design was stolen by eric from someone and he is using it anyway? this doesn't really redeem or prove anything good for matt...this screen shot just proves that he now KNOWS that is a stolen design and yet he is going to offer it to his clients anyway? (at least that is what I understand so far? am I understanding this correctly?)

like, that is the 'whole story' people were already concerned about a few posts ago isn't it?

if he is not going to use the fluke and he is just showing it as an example of his sculpt work or something? or if he gets permission from Lorelei? then I could see that being ok...but if not...?

[VanoraSirene]

Lorelei designed it.
Eric stole it.
Gave it to Matt to sculpt.
Matt sculpted it.
Later found out it was stolen.
Claimed his sculpture.
Did not claim the design.

I don't know how much clearer I can make this.
If you NEED someone to blame, blame Eric for being shady.

[VanoraSirene]

[Mermaid Lunette]

ok so he isn't gonna use the design? then there isn't a problem? i am pretty sure it would have been more clear if someone has just said he was not going to use the design for his tails? i am pretty sure no one was accusing him from stealing the design, just worried he might continue using it, but if he is not gonna use i then i don't think there is a problem.

like, lorelei was only concerned about him using the design as merrowfin, no one thought he originally stole it. no one was attacking, i am pretty sure everyone was just asking and wanting to make sure.

[Mermaid Lunette]

so, issue resolved then. he is not gonna continue using the design so no worries? pretty sure that's the only thing peeps were worried about right?

[Saelyyia]

ok so he isn't gonna use the design? then there isn't a problem? i am pretty sure it would have been more clear if someone has just said he was not going to use the design for his tails? i am pretty sure no one was accusing him from stealing the design, just worried he might continue using it, but if he is not gonna use i then i don't think there is a problem.

like, lorelei was only concerned about him using the design as merrowfin, no one thought he originally stole it. no one was attacking, i am pretty sure everyone was just asking and wanting to make sure.

Exactly this. Well said Lunette.

No one was thinking he personally stole this. The concern was since he had the picture up, that he might be offering it to Merrowfin clients. But since you have cleared that up there is no issue. There is no need to get harsh and defensive. She was just concerned that history might repeat itself.

[Mermaid Mystery]

I feel like this definitely got a bit blown out of proportions. Lorelei's concerns are valid. Glad this was resolved, though.

[VanoraSirene]

I feel as if though this issue should not have been brought up on a Merrowfins post. I understand your concerns Lorelei, and I could only imagine how frustrating it must be to have your design stolen. My only concern was that it seemed like Matt was getting negative reaction for something that he had no control over, it might have been better to contact him personally and ask if he was offering that design before posting on here. People might have mistaken your post as a shot at Matt for something that was not even true. I apologize if my posts seemed harsh, I was not meaning to come across as rude. But all in all, your design was stolen by Eric of Mertailor. And your design is not being offered by Merrowfins.

[Mermaid Mystery]

I don't want to sound rude, but I believe the only person who mistook her post as a shot at Matt was you, Vanora.

[VanoraSirene]

I don't want to sound rude, but I am the only person who contacted Matt and resolved the issue of the fluke.

[AniaR]

If Matt physically sculpted that fluke with his own two hands then it automatically belongs to him. He never signed anything handing his work over to Eric or Mertailor. Meaning, all those sculptures belong to him.

Actually legally that's not how it works. Matty actually detailed his work terms with Eric in a video.

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[AniaR]

Attachment 36029
I wish someone would get the whole story before pointing fingers. Here you go, from Matt himself.

You didn't say that. You said if he sculpted it with his own hands he owns it.

I get you're a happy client but that doesn't give you the right to invalidate Lorelei for a well documented issue long before your time.

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[Saelyyia]

I don't want to cause anymore ruffled feathers here, but this is suppose to be a safe place to voice our thoughts, opinion, concerns, and experiences in the world of mermaiding. Lorelei was completely within her rights to voice a concern here and we do not know if she may of been planning to contact Matt herself at a later point when she had some free time to sit down and write out her thoughts in a more calm manner. It is not fair to just assume that no one planned to give him a fair chance. We want to see him succeed as a tail maker, so please give the community some breathing room before trying to tell others to keep their opinions and concerns to themselves.

[AniaR]

I don't want to sound rude, but I am the only person who contacted Matt and resolved the issue of the fluke.

You are being rude. You jumped the gun and made assumptions and invalidated someone else.

Personally I think Matty is great and I support him, but in this instance he knows the design was already stolen. It would be better for a better working relationship with the community to not use it. Don't just repeat Eric's bad habits.

I think most of us think Matty has a lot of potential but would like to see him fully separated from Mertailor. With new designs.

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[VanoraSirene]

He owns the sculpture. Its his.
The design is Loreleis.
Matt is not offering anything that has to do with this fluke and is not claiming it as his own original design.
I think its unreasonable for people to be frustrated for something that isnt happening. So if no one wants to go to the source, I will. And I did. And I resolved the issue.

[Saelyyia]

No one is saying that the physical sculpture does not belong to him. And at this point we aren't frustrated over the design we are frustrated with how you are behaving.

[VanoraSirene]

"If Matty is saying he designed that fluke (the one in the back), then I have some serious issues with him."
Thats Loreleis exact words. So I was only trying to help and let her know that hes not saying he designed it. She didnt even ask if hes offering it. So I figured I'd help ease her mind and ask Matt. I posted his response. I cant understand why everyone is being rude towards me when I was trying to help an issue since Im close to Matt. I apologize for trying to settle people down. I did not discrediit anyone except for Eric.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Well hell, this turned into a shitstorm while I was a work...

I don't want to cause anymore ruffled feathers here, but this is suppose to be a safe place to voice our thoughts, opinion, concerns, and experiences in the world of mermaiding. Lorelei was completely within her rights to voice a concern here and we do not know if she may of been planning to contact Matt herself at a later point when she had some free time to sit down and write out her thoughts in a more calm manner. It is not fair to just assume that no one planned to give him a fair chance. We want to see him succeed as a tail maker, so please give the community some breathing room before trying to tell others to keep their opinions and concerns to themselves.

This basically sums up my feelings. (And a big thank you to everyone who understood I was literally just asking a question because I was confused and didn't want history to repeat itself.)

I wish someone would get the whole story before pointing fingers. Here you go, from Matt himself.

He owns the sculpture. Its his.
The design is Loreleis.
Matt is not offering anything that has to do with this fluke and is not claiming it as his own original design.
I think its unreasonable for people to be frustrated for something that isnt happening. So if no one wants to go to the source, I will. And I did. And I resolved the issue.

Vanora, you need to calm down. You are being very rude, as other's have pointed out (and nicely at that).
I get that you are happy with your experience and your product from Matty. That's great and I'm truly happy for you.
That does not give you the right to ASSUME anything about me. As Raina and a couple of others pointed out, you didn't even ask if I was planning to talk to him. You literally posted once before running to Matt and not so subtly suggesting that I was pointing fingers without any information. If I'm correct, you weren't even on Mernetwork when the debacle with my design went down originally. What gives you the right to decide what information I do or do not have about a topic that clearly doesn't involve you in the way that it involves me?

As for me being unreasonably frustrated... just stop. You have zero history with me or this situation. This is an issue spanning YEARS. It has literally tainted my mermaiding experience from the beginning. I have every right to be damn frustrated that my design keeps popping up.
Next, you assumed I was trying to throw mud. I'm not. I WAS AT WORK. I was going to wait until I got home and had a chance to really sit down and engage with him on the matter. Instead of giving me a chance, you decided that I just wanted to be monstrous and basically assumed the worst from me. Thanks for that.

"If Matty is saying he designed that fluke (the one in the back), then I have some serious issues with him."
Thats Loreleis exact words. So I was only trying to help and let her know that hes not saying he designed it. She didnt even ask if hes offering it. So I figured I'd help ease her mind and ask Matt. I posted his response. I cant understand why everyone is being rude towards me when I was trying to help an issue since Im close to Matt. I apologize for trying to settle people down. I did not discrediit anyone except for Eric.

Ugh. I will start by saying this entire post is incredibly rude and I don't think you even see it. I didn't see you trying to help me in any of your postings. I saw you point fingers at me accusing me of being mean to Matty, but I don't see where you're trying to help me out.
And hun, we aren't being mean to you. We'd simply like you to take a step back and let people make their own decisions. If you had approached this without thinking everyone was trying to 'Take Matty out', maybe we would have had a constructive conversation.
Finally, I can't help but laugh at your last sentence. You DID discredit other people, myself especially, in your haste to defend Matty.



I'm not going to say anything else on this matter, and I personally will not be revisiting this thread anytime soon. Thank you to everyone who tried to see the situation from my point of view. I appreciate it.

[AniaR]

He owns the sculpture. Its his.
The design is Loreleis.
Matt is not offering anything that has to do with this fluke and is not claiming it as his own original design.
I think its unreasonable for people to be frustrated for something that isnt happening. So if no one wants to go to the source, I will. And I did. And I resolved the issue.

Just wanna say, apparently when I made my replies, a good 12 messages were not showing up in the thread for me so I missed a huge chunk.


If you are a paid contractor, paid to sculpt it by a parent company, you don't own it. http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview...ght-ownership/ Your being paid transfers the rights, unless you make the employer sign explicit forms naming you will still be rights holder.

I know this because I literally just went into a legal battle over this exact thing and the laws are the same across North America.
If a work is created by an employee in the course of his or her employment, the employer owns the copyright. - See more at: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview....BOzU0i7M.dpuf

I feel as if though this issue should not have been brought up on a Merrowfins post. I understand your concerns Lorelei, and I could only imagine how frustrating it must be to have your design stolen. My only concern was that it seemed like Matt was getting negative reaction for something that he had no control over, it might have been better to contact him personally and ask if he was offering that design before posting on here. People might have mistaken your post as a shot at Matt for something that was not even true. I apologize if my posts seemed harsh, I was not meaning to come across as rude. But all in all, your design was stolen by Eric of Mertailor. And your design is not being offered by Merrowfins.

He knew it was stolen, he may not have control over it being stolen, but he has control over whether or not he uses it. And this is the merrowfins thread. Perfectly acceptable place to bring it up.