Archive for August, 2010

45 items.

Copyright Violator of the Day UPDATED

by Colleen Doran on August 24th, 2010
Posted In: Blog, Creator Resources, copyright/trademark, Creator Resources, Legal

Another one on ebay. They pop up like black mold.

John Howe writes that this seller does not have the legal right to market these images.

The artists who have put in pawn bases of style, called now “Fantasy”. Illustrators AD&D combining receptions of classical painting and requirement for visualisation of new level. They were the first and the best.

What the hell does “pawn bases of style” mean?

Ebay still has not removed the unauthorized Colleen Doran t-shirts. Curse ebay.

However, they now have this nice disclaimer at the bottom of their listing.

Attention Intellectual Property Right Owner If you feel any of our product violate your Trademark, Design or Patent Rights, please contact us immediately and we will instantly remove any offending listing

The logo/picture is trademark of their respective companies. This product is not licensed, defined, sponsored, endorsed or manufactured by this Company.

No shit.

The “instant removal” thing. You’re doing it wrong.

UPDATE:

“Instant removal” not so instant, but the listing was removed.

The location of the seller is Jawa Tengah, Indonesia

I’m big in Indonesia.

UPDATE #2: And the fake John Howe/Frazetta/Allan Lee etc goods are now down. Score one for the artists!

Except for the part where we have to waste valuable creative time taking down this mess. And if we don’t waste valuable creative time taking down this mess, the copyright violator blithely declares themselves to be in possession of tacit permission.

No win for the creative types.

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Comic Interviews and Links

by Colleen Doran on August 24th, 2010
Posted In: Blog, Colleen's Work, Culture, Comics, Creator Resources, Creator Resources, Education, Culture, Film and Television, Colleen's Work, Interviews

A great big interview with me. I gave this interview ages ago, and am surprised to see it finally coming out.

I hope to help people help themselves. I don’t want to be a guru. I want to give people tools, or point them in the right direction.

At the same time, I don’t think some of the fans realize how much time and effort I put into this. I spend hours writing some of these articles that also take time to research. They are read by thousands of people, and they make a pittance. I do this as a public service, but I have no choice but to be frugal about who gets my time and who doesn’t.

If I encounter someone I think will excel, I will go out of my way for them because I think there will be a tangible return on the investment. And that tangible return means the future of their career. I want to see people do well. Not everyone will do well. I make a judgment and proceed on that judgment. It is entirely subjective, and I make no apologies for those choices.

In the interview, I whine about the 600+ emails in my inbox. Last week it was over 1,000. I am now back down to 408.

At Inside Higher Ed, graphic novels as teaching tools make for better students.

Formal evaluations showed that 86 percent of his students that used the book said they agreed or strongly agreed that it “compares favorably” to other management textbooks they’ve had, Short said. He added that the most rewarding part of the process teaching with Atlas Black is having students wonder what happens in the story when the book ends. “The idea of a student asking what comes next in a textbook is really just unfathomable,” he said.

I was always a better student when I had a comic slipped inside my textbook. Look what comics made of me!

Online Masters lists the top forty comics for the classroom with the graphic novel Orbiter by Warren Ellis and moi sneaking on to the list at #40. Hat tip: The Comics Reporter.


An interview with the reserved and gracious Stuart Moore, the author who did the adaptation of The Last Feast of Harlequin, which I had the privilege to illustrate for The Nightmare Factory.

Everyone else has this already, but what the heck. Frank Miller’s ad for Gucci.

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3 Comments

08/24/2010

by Colleen Doran on August 24th, 2010
Posted In: A Distant Soil Webcomic
08/24/2010

Arlene Harris popped a donation into the hat tip jar, and Colleen bought root beer and had an old-fashioned root beer float to celebrate the arrival of the new printer! It’s a party every minute around here!

GET A PAGE OF ORIGINAL ART! For a $100 donation (handy button in upper left corner,) a page of art from A Distant Soil can be yours! Pick your favorite character, and I will choose a page on which that character is prominently featured. All art ships within 2 weeks of receipt of donation! Packaged in acid free sleeves.

Donations outside the USA, please add an additional $10 for shipping.

This offer good until August 27.

The Facebook fan page is here.

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15 Comments

08/23/2010

by Colleen Doran on August 23rd, 2010
Posted In: A Distant Soil Webcomic
08/23/2010

A cover painting I did for a Joe Lansdale novel is now up at my portfolio blog.

FINAL DAY FOR ORIGINAL ART DONATION INCENTIVE, AUGUST 27! Get an original page of art from A Distant Soil! And if you can’t afford a donation that large, a dollar in my tip jar will buy me some candy. Dark chocolate and coffee fuels my world.

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Bloggers Bonked by Big City Tax UPDATED

by Colleen Doran on August 22nd, 2010
Posted In: Blog, Creator Resources, Creator Resources, Legal, Creator Resources, Money Management, Creator Resources, Publishing, Creator Resources, TAXES

Cities strapped for revenue are turning to bloggers for tax dough. Philadelphia bloggers, regardless of net income, are required to fork over $300 for a business license.

After dutifully reporting even the smallest profits on their tax filings this year, a number — though no one knows exactly what that number is — of Philadelphia bloggers were dispatched letters informing them that they owe $300 for a privilege license, plus taxes on any profits they made.

Even if, as with Sean Barry, that profit is $11 over two years.

This kind of punitive small business tax can sneak up on freelancers no matter where they live. I moved from a small town years ago when they set up a 3% tax for the self employed: a few miles away in another town, my fee was $50 a year.

Freelancers, keep a watch on zoning, and business license fees wherever you live. Expect municipalities to push for more loony laws, and to hit offenders with outrageous punitive fees. I’m betting many webcomickers aren’t keeping a watch on this sort of thing.

When I lived in a city condo, my neighbors spied on me to see if I used the condo dumpster to take out business-related trash. One neighbor confronted me:

“What are you doing at that computer all day?”

“What are you doing looking in my window?”

Neighbors have been known to report self employed persons for running businesses from their homes. Cross your t’s, dot your i’s.

This blogger tax has scary free speech implications. I wonder if it could be challenged on that basis. As I recall, where I used to live, writers were exempt from business license tax due to free speech concerns.

Because I am an idiot, I forgot the links.

Philadelphia City Paper
Philebrity

EDIT: There is conflicting info in some of these posts. A couple of the taxed blogs seem to have NO ads.

And double EDIT: The city might want to think twice before declaring all these hobbyists new businesses. Because the hosting fees, internet connections etc suddenly become TAX DEDUCTIONS.

And triple EDIT: Yes, I know I use the terms tax and license interchangeably, mostly because I know a license is just another form of tax.

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