Paper model piracy on Facebook?

**nebeltex** · #1 10-27-2017, 10:04 AM

An individual by the name of "Igor Shatohin" has posted several recolored models by various paper model companies on the page "Paper Model Expo". It has always been my understanding that a person can recolor a model for their own personal use, yet to distribute them in any way without permission is illegal. I have reported these posts to the page admin. (Joe Lau). Hopefully he will do the right thing and remove them.

**rickstef** · #2 10-27-2017, 10:14 AM

Most of the time when I report a pirate link or file to Joe, he gives me the thumbs up icon, and nothing happens.

I have seen some of the posts you mention, I think those shares come from other people, Igor is showing the recolor, not certain if the the entire kit is show, or only the retouched pages

**bloomohio** · #3 10-27-2017, 10:16 AM

I am shocked!!! You guys and your privacy,we need a thread on why nis and what is not?

**nebeltex** · #4 10-27-2017, 10:21 AM

They are all the parts needed to build the models. Instructions are missing. He has also posted on the page "Card Models Design and Build".

**rickstef** · #5 10-27-2017, 10:27 AM

What do you mean Joe?

Cliff is a designer, and is rightly concerned about his designs, both free and paid, are not pirated, he is entitled to getting paid for his work, just as any other designer or publishing house.

We have posted many threads and responses to the piracy question.
We support the designers and publishing houses and their right to enforce their copyright, granted no one here, so far as I know, is a copyright lawyer, and we all struggle with American, and other country's copyright laws.
So we tend to err on the side of caution, if you see a kit that is posted for free on a site, and you know or recognize the designer/publisher, and you know the kit is a paid model, and you know that a publishing house has never released a digital version of that kit, it is a pirated copy.

**rickstef** · #6 10-27-2017, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebeltex

They are all the parts needed to build the models. Instructions are missing. He has also posted on the page "Card Models Design and Build".

Dr. Zarkov will need to address that

**Rubenandres77** · #7 10-27-2017, 10:41 AM

I've seen those too.

I pity those trying to print the templates he uploads to Facebook, as the image quality of the recolors he shares is less than substandard. (700X500 px at 72 dpi).
And when he shows the original, it is clearly marked with a huge watermark and with the same very low resolution.

So far I see he's only shown those low-res examples of his recolors. But I have not sen that he publicly offers to send them top anyone wanting them.

Igor is a veteran modeler. And a good one. Zarkov's Modelart's page and Facebook site showcase some of his builds. That he built years ago.
That is, given it is the same person with the same name and surname. Which I think he is.
F-15C Eagle by Emil Zarkov :: ModelArt :: Card Models :: ZarkovModels Store

But I've also been surprised by the fact that he's starting to show so many templates.
If it were to show the recolor quality, only one or two would be enough.
No need to show them all.

**nebeltex** · #8 10-27-2017, 10:45 AM

Well, hopefully this will make things a bit more clear. Since we are talking about Facebook, here is a part of their stated policy on copyright infringement;

"In most cases, you shouldn’t use someone else’s copyrighted work if you don’t have permission. It is possible to infringe copyright without intending to do so. Remember, your use of someone else’s content may still be infringing their copyright, even if you:

Give credit to the copyright owner
Include a disclaimer that you don’t intend to infringe copyright
Say that the use is a fair use
Didn’t intend to profit from it
Bought or downloaded the content (for example, a copy of a DVD or a song from iTunes)
Modified the work or added your own original material to it
Found the content available on the internet
Recorded the content onto your own recording device (for example, from a movie, concert, sporting event, etc.)
Saw that others have posted the same content as well"

RickPink65 · #9 10-27-2017, 11:10 AM

Unfortunately, repeat UNFORTUNATELY piracy is inevitable. Modern day technology allows it. It is very easy to copy with same quality as the original and several software allows to change colors, resize, modify etc. Just check DVDs, CDs, music, books, software, torrents and even legal streamers like YouTube. They provide plenty of films and concerts etc. which shouldn't allowed to be downloaded due to copyright protection but can be can freely and easily downloaded. We remember with nostalgia when Lps. were impossible to copy with the same quality unless you had enough money to buy a disc pressing machine. And movie theaters and distributors tightly controlling movies distribution and exhibition until Betamax was launched.
As stated before, nothing can be done to eliminate or even control piracy. We have to live with it and not try to encourages pirates to continue their illegal behavior. But I am almost sure that several fellow modelers who are not criminals have at least downloaded one model perhaps one that has been either out of print or unavailable. I also think this is not a terrible sin that will send us to the deepest fire in hell.

**Rubenandres77** · #10 10-27-2017, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebeltex

Well, hopefully this will make things a bit more clear. Since we are talking about Facebook, here is a part of their stated policy on copyright infringement;

"In most cases, you shouldn’t use someone else’s copyrighted work if you don’t have permission. It is possible to infringe copyright without intending to do so. Remember, your use of someone else’s content may still be infringing their copyright, even if you:

Give credit to the copyright owner
Include a disclaimer that you don’t intend to infringe copyright
Say that the use is a fair use
Didn’t intend to profit from it
Bought or downloaded the content (for example, a copy of a DVD or a song from iTunes)
Modified the work or added your own original material to it
Found the content available on the internet
Recorded the content onto your own recording device (for example, from a movie, concert, sporting event, etc.)
Saw that others have posted the same content as well"

That's clear.

And most of us here (including me) are concerned about the possible copyright breach.

Facebook usually only takes down material when it is the copyright holder who asks for it to be deleted, and provided enough proof.

I understand the concerns about Igor posting images of before/after recolors. As it is not a practice anyone here encourages or approves.

What I haven't seen yet in any of those Facebook groups is proof that he is distributing them. Like sharing download links of full kits, or offering to send them via email. By the time being he's only uploaded low-res versions of the templates to show his photoshop or gimp skills. Try downloading any of the photos he shared: they're a bit bigger than A5 in size, and at very low dpi. Not even people who likes to download pirate scans would keep those images as viable templates to make a model.

It seems to me he is not actively participating on piracy, or encouraging it. Besides, I'd like to think that being an already established modeler for so many years, he clearly knows about all the piracy issues concerning our hobby.

I agree that it is not particularly healthy for the paper modelling business to do what he is doing. As it can indirectly incite other people to look for pirate scanned copies of the kits he is showing.

A good way of clarifying all this would be to directly contact Igor about it.
Has anyone tried it?