Stolen maps on Fiverr

[J.Edward]

@ Ren I totally agree with Tiana - you can get good rates without a site like Fiverr.
Your work is good enough. I also agree that it can make you look less than what you are by being on there.

Many, including me, got started doing comms right here on the Map Request forums.
If you have any specific questions about anything in the process of getting clients or further, feel free to ask. Here, or in a dm.
I know myself, and most of the rest here doing work commercially would be happy to answer.
We have all been there before.

One quick suggestion - I noticed you seem to only be on IG.
Start an artstation account. That will help.
Having a website does a lot too.
Having a focused portfolio space helps to get more commercial work, which pays better than personal work for people's personal games.
[I like doing some for people's personal games, but they don't pay enough to pay the bills most times.]
I've seen a lot of comms coming from my brief time on twitter, and there is a good supportive community of mapmakers on twitter.
Thomas is your best ally and advocate there, trust me.

[- JO -]

A quick browse... and I think some maps from Olivier Sanfilippo, Bee, Tavernier are in there :

https://www.fiverr.com/ektukasi/fant...kg_id=1&pos=34
https://www.fiverr.com/barizay/make-...ckg_id=1&pos=3
https://www.fiverr.com/zannatsta1/dr...kg_id=1&pos=47
https://www.fiverr.com/dinadina11/il...ckg_id=1&pos=1

[Redrobes]

...I wonder if they remove the gigs only if you report your own pics ?

With the advent of the DMCA, sites have protections from user postings ONLY if they remove items flagged by users who claim to be the copyright holder. You cant action things that are pointed out as stolen unless the person reporting it is the copyright holder. It is possible as an admin to remove items which you think are stolen BUT if you do that then you set the precedent that the site is then fully moderated for copyright accuracy so that then items that are not removed are deemed to have been chosen to have been left there by the moderators. Therefore, the general consensus is that you cant remove artworks which you think are stolen unless you have had it pointed out by the copyright holder that they are.

This is one of those weird aspects where the DMCA was supposed to have stopped people posting stolen copyright on forums but the reality is that it has prevented moderators from removing it.

So - if you are the copyright holder for the art then ask them to remove it, or find who the copyright holder is and tell them that they need to report it and usually sites will do so. If you claim to be the copyright holder and in actual fact you are not then the claimant is leaving themselves open to a claim of fraud instead of the hosting platform.

We have a FAQ on here about how to make DMCA claims on this site and we generally follow the usual process. Robbie is the final site owner and has access to the lawyers which is what part of the site subscriptions help fund - not that we have had to use their services very often as this is a pretty copyright abiding place given that we have a lot of content creators here as well as consumers of it.

Also, this site does not claim to own any of the art posted to it, nor does it take part of the commission for art sales, and its up to the requester and the comission artist to sort their own deal out and take their own reponsibility for it and as such the artist gets 100% of the comission and takes 100% of the risks for it too.

[RenflowerGrapx]

@Tiana
"Nope. Against their TOS to take business off-site. You can get banned for exchanging contact information. I did dozens of Fiverr commissions and I have no contact with any of those clients. The only benefit was that I built a portfolio of work that let me carry on off of Fiverr. The benefit to your skills is something they can't take away, at least. You can always do better on Upwork, which, while it's also trashy, has much higher admission standards, placing your work in a better light."

True! I have the same nickname in many paces (exception of someone who is claiming to be me, lmao)
And For how i RESPECTthe rules on the site, i can't stop potential customers to look for me on different platforms, this is that I mean. I can't and I don't invite people to go against the rules.

"our maps are outstanding and I have no doubt that you could make an off-site portfolio and charge $300 per map, without a 20% cut. You'd get LESS commissions, but they would be more valuable to you, and there would be no terms of service axe hanging over your head. It's okay to have made money there and be proud of that. But I look at your portfolio and see work on par with some of the best artists here.

Seems you're right about the group though.

I'm glad you're on the guild. Your art will be far better appreciated here. The commissions are much fewer but higher quality on this site.

If you want a similar site that's a bit better clients, try artistsnclients, it's an art only marketplace. "

WOW!Thank you for your words, and for the hint about the site i will check on!!
Well, as I said Fiverr, for me, is atraining gym.
I love to make maps and I started it more as a passion cause of my role-gamer-side, but i also need to challenge on different topics and this is how i gain my "balance" between fiverr's commissions and outsiders.

I had to learn loads of things i failed, and i am still not sure about many things i do, and like everyone i'm learning.
However, This is something i'm gonna change in my life, pretty soon. so, THANK YOU everybody.

-

@J.Edward
"One quick suggestion - I noticed you seem to only be on IG.
Start an artstation account. That will help.
Having a website does a lot too.
Having a focused portfolio space helps to get more commercial work, which pays better than personal work for people's personal games.
[I like doing some for people's personal games, but they don't pay enough to pay the bills most times.]
I've seen a lot of comms coming from my brief time on twitter, and there is a good supportive community of mapmakers on twitter.
Thomas is your best ally and advocate there, trust me."

AHH i can't be social, it is like i'm a sort of RAT, lol. I really hate posting, sharing and be like "hey guys, look what i've done today!" lolol.
Guess i gotta learn.


Said so.
Fiverr should take some action. To protect artists (which doesn't seems to be their interest)
But also for their own business.
They will loose buyers on the long road and have a low level of services.

[Tiana]

Well, you don't have to post on social media every day, but yeah, you should get confident enough to say "this is what I drew today". My biggest weakness at this point in time is that I'm afraid to repost my art all over the place but whatever, that's what the internet is for! Don't feel bad about making an ArtStation when you also have Instagram, totally different marketplace. Artstation is a great site to set up on. I almost never tweet but when I do it's usually some art thing I made, even if I just tweet it once I don't limit it to just posting on Twitter... I'll repost that art on Reddit or Discord or whatever later on.

I get it though... I hate it too... I like when customers just come to me (and they do... but because, caveat, I put myself out there earlier on as a gift to future me). If you feel confident on a day just go post some things, it's okay to post in clumps rather than being a social media mastermind who's on at the right hours to capitalize on the most likes.

DeviantArt is another option you can use. I have occasionally received commissions there, though not often and I found it hard to get noticed if you don't draw furry fanfiction.

[RenflowerGrapx]

rather than being a social media mastermind

ahahahaha <3

[RenflowerGrapx]

rather than being a social media mastermind

ahahahaha <3

[QED42]

Good news, my maps are so bad no one would want to steal them to try and scam people.

[ThomasR]

@RenflowerGrapx : please don't doubt yourself and jump right in ! Your work is amazing and your clients should pay you a fair price for your top shelf maps. Go on, you won't regret it

[Voolf]

This amazes me. How can one advertise own services using someone else's work. I bet that person can not even reproduce in 10% other people work, so when the client wants a map similar to the one in the profile gallery, how can they provide ? Unless it's a scam through and through...