whoo boy I don't particularly like doing this but here's a PSA for all the lovelies here on Toyhou.se.
I'm going to suggest that others not purchase designs from @aquapyrofan (here, dA, probably some other places I don't know) or to do so with care, as they merely "rent" their designs to users without explicutyly telling them.
aquapyrofan has recently added to their TOS that they can revoke ownership, without paying you back.
and they then proceeded to do so with me. They revoked my ownership of this design, with no refund and no explanation until after I pressed for one.
and they then proceeded to claim that they are revoking my ownership because I didn't credit them and that I'm trading them.
1 - up until earlier this week, I credited both the art and the creatorship of the design to their Toyhou.se. Upon them requesting ownership rights a few days ago, I switched it over.
As they made no comment about the image, I left it as is because I was at work where finangling with image edits is hard.
And instead of just asking that I change the image to point to their TH instead of the original deviation.
2 - so according to them I had tagged the design as "uft" and "purge" before. which would maybe 've an issue except all my designs get purge/trading tags and then i proceed to remove them from eaxh design individually because im a M like that. while I'm entertaining offers on all my characters, I do not actively seek trades of my CS unless they're in my actual purge folder, which the design wasn't.
The other issue is their TOS (I'll get to the new stuff in a moment!). I had no idea they had one - my interaction on them on dA was through a journal in a group where they were giving NYP designs for their species concept and the actual design itself. neither of those places state link to a TOS, or even mention it's there. They never said "before you pay, make sure you agree to my terms". But not informing the consumer of the terms, they forefit the right to get upset about someone not abiding by it.
They also have issues with me having uploaded the design to TH without linking to their Toyhou.se account which I didn't know they have as they failed to inform me. The fact that they're upset about this is rather alarming because they could have simply informed me at any point in the past year, especially since I link to my TH in my signature on dA.
Their updated TOS adds a few choice tidbits such as "Any characters found to be violating copyright laws will be revoked. You will not be refunded, and you may be banned from the group in question."
which, you know me, I did the exact opposite as I sourced the art to their dA. legit the only changes I did make was put my watermark on, which actually helps protect their IP (one of the reasons they said they were taking the design away, even though they don't watermark their stuff so actually my page was more secure???)
They also failed to inform any design owners who don't follow them (like I do) of the change in TOS which would have been nice??
So instead of just, you know being a reasonable person and talking to me on either here or dA or the many other places I'm available at, they take the adopt and then proceed to be salty in my bulletin.
just shoddy business practices all around and I hope aquapyrofan learns how to deal with customers in a better manner before they actually start making the mobile games because this is right up there with United as shitty customer service.
Update 09/4/17! Aquapyrofan has posted a public apology and now understands exactly what the issue was with his actions. He also resolves to work on both his TOS and business practices to make it more plain and to work with customers in the future. So I guess this is nominally resolved.
Okay I gotta def sleep, it's 2am and I think I have a meeting at 9 hahaha
Tha is for the support y'all - glad to know I'm not crazy
Zora same like. I cam tell them rihmght now 93% of being successful in mobile gaming is how you interact with potential customers. And they chose poorly
@Hane "an actually cute shedninja"--was that some spot-on shade being thrown or do I have my sunglasses on? B)<
To be honest, that's a whole lot of crap. Like you can't just freaking revoke an adopt without giving the person compensation, especially when it's for such an irrational reason. It's not YOUR fault that they are upset because some people do not credit them. It would have been more understandable if they came to you, told you about the new TOS rule AND THEN revoked it if you didn't listen but that doesn't seem to be the case. They just got frustrated because some people on TH aren't crediting, which it is quite frustrating but it's immature to revoke their designs from people who have paid for it without paying them back. It's senseless. To be honest though, you're better off because their behavior is so ridiculous. Honestly what they are doing is unjustified and they have no right to take a design that was purchased and take it away because of that reason. I'm sorry something so disgusting happened to you and honestly that person really should quit doing adoptable if they are going to have a tantrum like this and start taking away people's characters that they bought and may have started building up. It's just unprofessional and shitty in general. Smh.
PS: Good night! lol
Honestly I can't think of a single use for it tbh--- LIKE SHIT FAM.... you prob can't trade it because the seller is a god damned problem™ and other people shouldn't have to deal with that but daaamn.
honestly I guess just keep fighting for your money back and if not report them???
Rumiiya I agree. They have no right to revoke a design without compensation. It's ludicrous. I just feel like they are trying to take the designs back so they can resell them and do the same thing all over again or some other scamming nonsense. Like that's not even a legit reason. lol
Akira_Misaki Maybe I'm just a shit person (spoilers: I am) but them pulling this shit just makes me spiteful like.... I'd use the design twice as much now fuck you
I'll eat the soup with a fork if I want and there's nothing you can do but watch me do it bitch
i just really can't help but kinda laugh b/c like.. really? They tried so hard to sound like they were being lawful too before they got shut down by Hane. I'm dead. I'd hope they lose their business and learn a lesson.
see, heres the thing. Copyright law is 100% in favor of artists, not consumers. as it is written, unless the creator specifically and legally transfers all rights to a work to the consumer, the creator retains those rights. essentially, the consumer is purchasing the permission to use the piece. unfortunately for the OP, and for many consumers who fail to do their homework, this means that the artists, if they should so desire, are 100% withing their legal rights to withdraw permission to use the creation.
The thing is, if Aquapyrofan only cares about doing "rentals" for their adopts, then what is even the point of being in the adopt business? Do they not understand that adopts aren't just art pieces, they are CHARACTERS to be bought and used for others for their personal or sometimes even business work.
No one, that I can imagine, would want to just "rent" a character. Characters are usually something someone wishes to keep for life, not rent for awhile like some car.
KatFennec That may be true but to be fair, doing it multiple times it just turns into a scam at that point. Yes, they has the right to withdraw permission but they shouldn't be allowed to keep the money. It's wrong. Saying that is basically saying that anyone who purchases art from an artist can have it revoked without getting their money back and it's just so unprofessional. Not good business practice at all. They has every right to be unprofessional but they is going to lose their business that way but I guess that's okay cause they'll have all of their designs to themselves just like they want apparently. But at the same time they are just taking people's money until they find a half-assed reason to "revoke" it and no one can say anything because copyright? Seems like bullshit to me, man. xD I'm not trying to spit on your opinion, because you're right in a way but also don't you believe it's kind of shady? Rent an adopt? That's nonsensical. Especially when it wasn't disclosed in the TOS until AFTER the fact which I think is the biggest issue about it.
Zora I've poked through their stuff - it's set up more akin to an online game. something vaguely like dragcave. calling them "adopts" is more throwing them under an umbrella term, than it is saying "heres a character you can go run off into the sunset with"
and even if they were simply normal adopts, they're far from the only creator of such who maintains the right to revoke a design.
http://www.sushidogs.com/terms-of-service.html
http://cinnadogs.weebly.com/terms-of-service--rules.html
and many others.
KatFennec
I think the issue is--they're calling them adopts. And not being very clear with their ToS, not giving buyers who have previous purchased one of these characters a chance to abide by their ToS before having the rights removed. In addition, they aren't offering any refunds for those who purchased these characters.
Going through one of their Journals on DA, they even stated that they had revoked all adoptables o a certain type previously purchased by people--even the ones that seemed to be abiding these ToS. Their only recompense, for those who had seemingly followed their ToS (and only those who had achieved a certain 'level') was to draw a freebie of some sort for them instead. Which is a nice thought, sure, but...still.
If they are treating this like a game, they're not doing it with any regard for their audience. They should be up-front about what these 'adoptables' they're making are for. They are, what appears to be, an Evolving Species and should be labelled as such. Doing anything else is very misleading.
Edit:
After looking through the Cinnadogs ToS, it CLEARLY states:
"Cinnadogs can no longer be revoked as of 1/15/2017. However, in place of taking away your design, it will be publicly put on a list of voided cinnadog designs, and your design will no longer be considered a cinnadog. It now exists simply as a design. Under certain situations a refund can be debated."
This is a MUCH more practical response to the ToS being broken. This is not at all the same as what they're doing--it is, in fact, the opposite and right way to run a business/game like this. When someone is paying you for a design, it makes sense to give them partial-rights, ESPECIALLY if they helped choose/design the character with a MYO or otherwise.
I've been around the closed species community long enough - and I know of these two creators
Still two completely different situations
YES, Witch and Cinnabutt both run a CS business, and do have the rights to revoke if rules are broken
HOWEVER, these designs are not some type of 'rental' and as long as the rules are listened to, they can keep the OC for as long as they like
Aqua however, is only parading 'adopts' as some sort of character renteal. And considering that Hane DID in fact follow the rules (giving credit) but still got revoked, then what's even the point? You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Rulebreaking shouldn't be taken lightly, but when a simple misunderstanding starts a revoke of a OC that could have been special to the buyer, then who is going to want to buy adopts from them anymore?
Then they should research what a 'adopt' truly is and not use it as a umbrella term when the majority of the community use the term 'adopt' as a "Character/outfit/etc you can buy and use for your own stories"
Except not? I can dig up the rules but another adopt artist did an entire rant about this a while ago. Selling an adopt means that you sell ownership of the design. They can revoke status of that design as a part of their community, but they cannot "take it back" because ownership has been transfered. In making their design they only retain rights to the ORIGINAL single piece of art that they themselves did, as do all artists who make a piece of art. But the property itself has been since passed on. And people like that are the reason I was too afraid to go near the CS community in the first place. God knows I'd never trust or do business with anyone set up like this.
But, last I heard, they don't even do that. The last drama journal I read about Sooshes said that they revoked the character as a "soosh" and don't recognize it as a soosh anymore. They didn't take it back. Putting this Aqua person even lower on the rung of the adopt ladder.
Even on pet / collecting sites, the entire idea is you can't claim "I made this". Because you didn't. But you can't find a single website that actually takes back the character and resells it or revokes it. You can find ones who BAN your account for legit (or something non-legit reasons, Flight Rising is one hell of a cracked egg), but they never say "naw you don't own this because I don't like what you did/didn't write". These special basket adopt communities are the only place where the creator thinks they can get away with it, only because in many cases it's not worth going to court over. But it's not a legit business practice.
---
OP should do a full charge back against this person if they don't do refunds. I'd even say make the person pay for commissions of said character but I doubt it'd be worth the time and effort. Least they'd get something back out of all of this.
Urgh. I'm sorry anyone has to go through this.