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Actually, Shell, I'm going to have to disagree with you.

1.) I actually disliked the pin when I saw it, but I really like the fanart- I think the fanartist did a much better job with perspective and proportion.

2.) Even though the character is Disney's (and Amblin's), the pose, design, and finished work is still the original artist's. It's absolutely shameful when *professional* artists have to steal design from amateurs and fans. And THAT is DEFINITELY stolen...the legs are *exactly* alike. Chances are good that the bosses have no idea that the artist saw it somewhere else first.

I see this ALL the TIME in my various fandoms (I run in convention circuits a lot, and my degree is in Animation and Motion Picture Technology), and it never fails to disgust me. Comic Book artists are usually the worst about it, but now, I see someone slipped into the pin design team who can't create without stealing.

...it actually really ticks me off. Plagerism, even if the work is based off a copyrighted character or work, is still so low...

>>I guess I focus more on faces... from the waist down most shapely cartoon women in heels look similar.

Well, Jessica is odd in the fact that she's not *overly* distinct except for a handful of things (and no, not THOSE handfuls...lol). Mostly, the part of her hair and the split in her dress, with the gloves. Most of her hardcore fans can reconize even the most stylized of fanarts as long as those key elements are there (assuming her figure is right, too...it would just look weird if she was suddenly an A-cup, no?).

>>Technically, fan stole the character to begin with... is he or she any less guilty than the disney artist?

It depends- when they drew the character, were they going to use it for profit? J said that it was a popular bumper sticker, which implies a profit. In that case, the artist was also in the wrong, since the character is copyrighted. That's assuming the artist knew about it being made in the sticker, and it wasn't just lifted from the internet.

Fanart and fanfiction is not illegal- it's fair use (close to parody rights). As long as the artist is just using it for fun, they're usually safe. The problems creep in when they try to turn a profit, or use the characters in a way that harms the original copyright holder's image (like, art of a sexual nature). If the company can prove it will damage their image, THEN they can be charged/sued.

But the point here isn't whether or not the original artist is right or wrong by taking the character...they could be either. Even if he was wrong to take the character and make a fresh piece of art with it, does that make it suddenly okay for this Disney artist to just take his hard work and creative vision and steal it?

Two wrongs don't make a right, and we don't even know for sure that the fanartist did anything wrong in the first place.

>>Let's move beyond that... all the disney pin artists are stealing poses and characters from other Disney artists... should we report that too?

Obviously not, because Disney *wants* that, and paid for both pieces in the first place. They have iconic poses that they must use again and again. Their artists know this, and accept this when they get hired on. Also, while the Disney bosses can't possibly know every piece of fanart out there, they certainly know their own house (or should, anyway). It would be difficult for an artist to lift another piece of Disney work when not authorized to do so (not impossible...just really, really hard).

With the number of poses we see on pins again and again, I think it's apparent that Disney wants certain pieces re-worked again and again.

>>The fan-artist drew a picture if a character he or she had no right to use, and then in some way distributed or allowed the image to be distributed publicly. He or she has no right to the image or to complain if Disney chose to make art using a similar pose.

Sure they do! First of all, Disney is not likely to want an artist that can't draw without stealing from a fan/potential guest. Second, plagerism is frowned on (and can sometimes be taken to court) no matter what the circumstances.

Look at it this way- the artist didn't steal Jessica from this fanartist- the fanartist would have never claimed Jessica was his, anyway. The artist stole the other artist's vision, skill, training, and hard work. That has nothing to do with the fact that it was Jessica, a copyrighted character. It could have been a piece of fantasy art, or an ad from the magazine (and that happens ALL the time...this is not a unique situation). This artist is a person who doesn't mind claiming the ideas and talent of someone else as their own, and has now involved his/her boss (Disney) in that sort of behavior.

I don't know if you're an artist or not, but I can't even tell you how offensive this action is to one. It's sort of like shoplifting combined with identity theft. What ticks me off the most is that he/she was probably using your logic when he/she did this. "Oh, it's just a fanartist...I'm protected since he was using Disney's character, anyway. Even if they find out, I'll be safe." Lazy, no-good, talentless hack...

>>As for the pin artist, since the Jessica fans seem to like the pose, why wouldn't you use it?

Because it's not just the pose they took. If it was just Jessica laying down, face-forward, and the legs were different and such, then fine. But the artist obviously saw the piece, tried to use and re-work it, and then couldn't pull off the legs in that perspective, so they gave up and ripped off the rest of the piece. That's so close that you could almost throw it up on a light table and draw one on the other. And since the character is the same character, it's wayyyyyy too close to be anything but idea and art theft.

If they saw the fanart and liked the idea, they could have hired a live-action model (or done it themselves, like the animators do) and tried out different versions, and then drawn a new piece. THAT'S inspiration...this is just theft.