[maddjohnny]

Hi Xzotic.
Thats terrible they did that.
Seems to me if they are making claim to a specific image or design being thiers, they should have no problem offering "proof". I have heard statements by people in the past stating the minute you finish the artwork, it is instantly copyrighted. Don't bet on that! I do agree that should be the case, but there are a lot of "undesireables" out there with skillful ways to test that theory. You're best bet is to actually copyright your work. That can get expensive though with a lot of designs.

Heres an alternative.
An old art instructor of mine gave me a good suggestion about this topic. He said, if you can't afford to copyright all your images the standard way, there is a cheaper alternative that should hold up in court.
He said to take a good clear photo of every image or design. Then, put each one in an envelope and mail it to "yourself". Somewhere on the back of the envelope add a code of some sort so you know the contents of each envelope. Which design is in what envelope in other words.
The postmark on the envelope is proof of the date or timestamp if you will. Now, if the design truly is yours, no one else should be able to produce a copy of that image and state it was theirs first.
Sounds like a good idea.
I'm sure there may be loopholes to this theory, but it is something else you can try, and it only costs the price of a stamp.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this method?