General Thread for PSAs

zhong teratris (Sorry for pings.)

I moved the artist's "image" to the left a bit to drop it on top of the game's art, and it lines up (therefore I believe it's traced). Obviously there are differences (and most tracers occasionally make differences in attempt to take away from the fact that they've traced), however it is absolutely more than just "heavily referenced".

I'm thinking they traced most of the head, most of the hair, and part of the outfit, and they added their own other features (eyes, mouth, nose, etc)  
Even if the "style matches up" with other pieces from this artist, the way this lays out (although slightly altered in proportions, also common in tracers) is very obviously, to my eye, traced. If it matches up with their other pieces in a consistent manner, then perhaps other pieces are traced, or perhaps they've simply mastered the art of tracing over something and attempting to change it to look more like their own style.

I'm personally confused how you and your wife could've found enough differences to deduct that it's not traced? /Genuine
Obviously again, there are absolutely differences, but again a lot of tracers change things about their traced art in attempt to differentiate it from the traced material. Perhaps there are people who agree with me, and people who agree with you, however I'm personally uncomfortable with this. I don't want to argue personally, and therefore you are definitely allowed to feel how you want to about this.
I'm also a bit confused, no one thus far has mentioned anything about AI nor being aided by AI, this is about tracing over art, so I'm not sure where that came from? Unless it was a spin-off topic due to speaking about DeviantArt (or perhaps a mistake!). /Genuine

That being said, once again, that's where I'll leave this. I do not like posting; I'd also like to mention that I tend to come off certain ways through text, and I apologize if anything has sounded rude or inconsiderate, as none of that is/was intentional, and all of this was meant to be genuine and simply confused about some of what I've seen get discussed. Have a good night, thanks!

teratris (Sorry for ping.)

As much as I wanted to leave my response where it was, I'd like to reply to you.
I apologize that it may have seemed as though I skipped your discussion of being at work, I had read it, and perhaps I should've worded my response a bit more carefully. I suppose maybe it's more obviously traced to me than perhaps to you (as everyone looks at things differently) or someone else looking at it quicker, which is totally understandable, I just personally happened to see it very quickly! /Genuine

I also see where you're thinking about AI now, however I'm not one hundred percent sure that Zhong was talking about this user in particular when writing that bulletin, as I don't see them mentioning the user and this piece doesn't seem to have anything AI going on with it. I just didn't think any AI would've been involved in this piece, which is also what confused me. That's just my own observation, as I hadn't even seen that bulletin yet.
I'm not sure who the artist is otherwise I'd attempt to help look through more possibly traced art, however I also would have no idea where to look for the possible originals if those art pieces were traced.
However, considering this image specifically is definitely traced, I'd say it is entirely possible to believe that this artist is someone who traces regularly, as you usually see it done often. And if not and it's perhaps a one-off chance, then it's still wrong of them to trace (obviously) let alone attempt selling it as an adoptable (so, for profit).

This is my own opinion, but if I were in your position personally, I'd be uncomfortable and would most likely attempt redesigning what I'd purchased from them, even in the slightest of ways, just to be safe. However that is your call, at least until you're aware if they've traced those as well or not, though again it's entirely possible.

Once again, my tone is entirely genuine and friendly, and nothing is meant to come off as harsh, rude, or inconsiderate. Have a good end of your work shift (or beginning). [:
[Edit: slight wordage change]

prototype I apologize for the ping! ahh I'm not often on deviantart and have not looked at this artist's work outside of this piece. I commented on this piece in specific as I do not want people to get scammed if they believe that the work is too similar to that of the game's model. I do not think it is in my place to talk about any of this artist's other works as this was a one off instance where I saw something that was eerily similar to a character from a game I adore. 

As to what teratris said I made a bulletin board that complained about the general state of what I experienced in the last month which includes AI, tracing, and stealing literature. But for the contents of this bulletin it is very personal drama that I prefer to keep to myself. I will edit it for clarifications 🙇‍♂️

teratris Hello! Another user helped me look into it a little more. The body of this adoptable also appears to be heavily referenced (although I myself am unsure, maybe only the hand area(?)). I think it's best to remain cautious about the artist's sale for safety >< I am unsure as to who these characters are myself so I apologize I am not much of a help in this situation, but I can help you get in contact with the user messaging me on discord about this case if you guys would like to search for some of the adopts you have bought!

Also to note on the issue of the original adopt in question being traced; as far as I can tell the artist took it down from their sales/gallery. Which is a little suspicious in itself if they did nothing wrong? But that's just an opinion. I've watched this artist for a while and it's kind of a shame it the allegations are true

Ah if the initial design is deleted all is well! I don't particularly want to make a PSA of the user due to their circumstances, but I hope everyone remains cautious ^^ Please search in the following fandoms on Pinterest if you believe your adoptable may have been traced. Hakuouki, Touken Ranbu, The Tales of Food. I am most worried for the pieces where the kimono and hanfu are incorrect so please be more cautious of those pieces as they may have flipped the image before referencing. I don't have much else to say about this matter but you're free to ping me and thank you to those who discussed this matter in a civil manner with me ^^/

For Reference by aoicel on Twitter:

Posting this here: https://toyhou.se/~bulletins/1465818.psa-my-oc-was-stolen-by-skye-tonbo-dark4kuran

One of my OCs/ design was stolen by two different users. The first user outright stole my OC/ design when I specifically told her not to use it after cutting her out of my life, the second user drew the stolen design no doubt knowing the circumstances and is also blacklisted by me prior to the OC/ design theft. To the best of my knowledge, while both Skye and Kuran have Toyhou.se accounts (linked above), the stolen design/ OC has not been posted to TH. That is, unless Skye has the design uploaded and set to "authorized viewers only/ only me". If you are made aware that the stolen OC/ design has been uploaded to TH by any account other than the poster of this thread poster, please notify me immediately. (That is the only reason I am posting this to the general thread forum and not as its own PSA).