Scott Kurtz may be related to Bill Gates (Rant and pic)

[Van Douchebag]

Forenote: The following opinion and picture are my own and done without solicitation, and may or may not be shared by Tauhid Bondia, Keenspot, and/or Keenspace



As most of you have heard of, Scott Kurtz of Player Versus Player filed legal action against Tauhid Bondia of Spells and Whistles claiming Tauhid's characters Rakne and Milton are a ripoff of his characters Jade and Skull.
A demand made by Kurtz is that Bondia immediately either remove or alter anything containing the two offending characters, as well as remove anything relating to the PVP comic from his site.
Mr.Bondia immediately alterred Rakne's hair and then colored Milton green and gave him pants and a jacket in addition to the muscle shirt he had already been wearing.
I for one find Mr.Kurtz's actions deplorable and without just cause.

Who does Scott Kurtz think he is to bully people around in a manner such as this?
Oh yes, I remember - he thinks he's Scott Kurtz.

Yes, there was a similarity between the Rakne and Jade character, but to accuse poor Tauhid of ripping off Jade is stupid.
What's more, I believe the heart of Mr.Kurtz's action was versus the character Milton, a pudgy, blue, unshaven fairy with an Italian-American accent, and that Mr.Kurtz's beef with the character Rakne is just a vain attempt to find a better foothold for a legal suit.

Unfortunately for Mr.Kurtz there is no such thing as a monopoly on pudgy blue creatures.
With Scott Kurtz's attitude it would not surprise me if he turned face and sued Sesame Street over the character Cookie Monster. With his track record of behavior I believe Mr.Kurtz is self-centered enough to do so.

The fact that Mr.Kurtz frightened Mr.Bondia into complying is despicable.

I mean, did Marvel Comics take Jim Valentino to court over his character Shadowhawk, which is clearly reminiscent of Marvel's Wolverine?
Does DC sue Marvel for every little "coincidence" between ongoing series of the rival publishers?
Hell, has SquareEnix ever sued RPG World?

No, of course not.
Everyone respects everyone else and their work and everyone realizes that this is how free enterprise works.

Imagine a world where everyone behaved as Scott Kurtz. There would never be as much diversity in selection of comics both real and web if established creators made unknown artists walk around on eggshells fearing legal action.

What Scott Kurtz has done to Tauhid Bondia is unfair and injust and I demand an apology from Kurtz to Bondia for the trouble he has caused.

Does anyone have anything to add or say?

[Matt Wilson]

I don't even see any resemblence between Rakne and Jade.

Good to know you're on the side of indie cartoonists by putting them into poverty. Way to be a team player, Kurtz.

[Kiwi]

Have you seen the comparisons between artwork Kurtz posted on his site? The similarity is unmistakable.

I think Tauhid is a great artist, but I've gotta side with Kurtz here. He's not bullying anybody - he's protecting his property AND his livelihood. He's not some rich billionaire corporation looking to cash in on an artist who likes and imitates his style. He's an individual who lives off of his cartoons. I feel he has every reason to hold claim to his work.

[Matt Wilson]

Can you perhaps show me where on the site he has posted said art, because I can't find any of it.

He's not bullying anybody - he's protecting his property AND his livelihood.

Protecting his property from someone who isn't even making any money outside of donations? Maybe if:

a) the comic strip weren't a fantasy story that has nothing to do with people working at a gaming magazine

b) the characters shared any personality traits

c) the site had a working store and were making lots of merchandise revenue off of said characters.

Then he would have ground to stand on. Otherwise this just looks petty. There are dozens of ripoffs and imitated art styles on the internet. After trying to apologize and warm up to the cartoonist community, why go and do this simply because you have the money and lawyers to do it?

For the record, I don't think Van Douchebag's strip was necessary, but wasn't bad.

[-PDI-]

You know what?

It's a legal matter. If it really is frivolous, it will get thrown out.

Let the judge decide.

Scott's a good guy, trying to protect his work. The lawyers for his publishing company have advised he take action, and he has.

Tubesteak and Skurtz have some history -- looking at the sites NOW won't show you the whole story.

So ... just don't assume you know everything. It's nice and easy to take potshots at the perceived "big guys", but in the large scheme of things, Kurtz is One Of Us -- not Microsoft.

[Van Douchebag]

Have you seen the comparisons between artwork Kurtz posted on his site? The similarity is unmistakable.

I think Tauhid is a great artist, but I've gotta side with Kurtz here. He's not bullying anybody - he's protecting his property AND his livelihood. He's not some rich billionaire corporation looking to cash in on an artist who likes and imitates his style. He's an individual who lives off of his cartoons. I feel he has every reason to hold claim to his work.

http://www.pvponline.com/cast.php3
http://www.spellsandwhistles.net/cast.html

Call me crazy, but I don't see it.
I only see remote vague character features, such as size and skin color, or lips and hair style.

Tauhid is a good enough artist on his own that he wouldn't swipe someone's designs. I mean, that's the kind of shit you'd expect from 13 year old Keenspacers. There are dozens of Megatokyo knock-offs on it but Fred Gallagher doesn't go after all those kids.

What does Kurtz have to fear from Spells and Whistles anyway?
They are in different demographics and Kurtz has a contract with Image already. He's not protecting his livelihood - he's being a dick.

For the record, I don't think Van Douchebag's strip was necessary, but wasn't bad.

I had just finished finding out what Kurtz did when I drew it, so I was pretty cranked.
I'm a big fan of High Score and Bonus Stage, by the way. I remember when the E-quest film came out on Newgrounds. It didn't have sound, but it rocked ass.
It's also good to see you're putting June into more Bonus Stage eps.

[Matt Wilson]

Call me crazy, but I don't see it.
I only see remote vague character features, such as size and skin color, or lips and hair style.

Supposedly the goblin guy was originally colored blue and didn't wear clothes.

I'm a big fan of High Score and Bonus Stage, by the way. I remember when the E-quest film came out on Newgrounds. It didn't have sound, but it rocked ass.

Thanks. Also you just made me realize that now that BS is gonna be on Keen (see ad in FCBD), I should probably do something about the Newgrounds toons, since I'd be contracturally bound to only one website. Is it possible to remove those toons myself or do I have to email them?

[Van Douchebag]

The fairy WAS blue, but he wore a muscle shirt that you can still see him in.

As for the toons, you can upload a blank swf on top of them or just toons telling you've moved to Keenspot.
If you want the portal IDs removed wholly you'll hafta e-mail Wade.

Congrats on Keenspot too :p
You'll give some company to Dave Kelly

[Syke]

Actually, from that cast picture, that character looks exactly the same except for some tiny differences and the style.

However,... that's a very COMMON hairstyle and there are probably hundreds of comics with characters that have hair like that and if you change the hair style itself without changing anything else it would look like a completely different character.

I find that bullyish, but whatever. My husband likes PvP and reads it instead of my stuff and I find that I hold a lot of the same views as Kurtz, although just am not as vocal about them since I don't like controversy. The only thing anyone can do is complain or put their money where their opinions are and hire a lawyer for Spells and Whistles. It seems easier to just alter colors and let people know that you did it because a far larger comic threatened legal action and let the readers sort it out for themselves. Well.. that's what I'd do if someone bullied me. I wouldn't do that to someone else.. hey.. I got a blue guy!

[Van Douchebag]

Syke, you gave me the best idea - what if we all pitched in to raise legal funds for Tauhid to fight Kurtz?

[Matt Wilson]

Well apparently there's a lot of backstage information that got removed from both sites so it's hard for us to really say.

But I think a far more interesting case would be if a manga artist in Japan tried suing an 'americanime' cartoonist for using Lina Inverse or Asuka for a drawing reference (I know this is somewhat of a generalization, but...).


EDIT: I don't think it's necessary that we "fight" Kurtz, whether his actions were justified or traitorous or whatever adjective you prefer. I predict there will be more explanations and apologies from both sides in the coming days.

[josh l.]

Oh please.
We all know that given all the attention and publicity Spells & Whistles is going to get out of this, Kurtz is doing absolutely no harm to the comic whatsoever.

[-PDI-]

Well apparently there's a lot of backstage information that got removed from both sites so it's hard for us to really say.

[showler]

Kurtz is doing absolutely no harm to the comic whatsoever.

But he's apparently trying. Would he have sued Barry Smith a few years back if he had Image's backing then?

From what I've seen so far, the back story is: Tauhid starts a comic, Kurtz accuses him of ripping him off, Tauhid denies it, Kurtz threatens, Tauhid modifies his characters, Kurtz bitches more, Tauhid and Kurtz intensely dislike each other, Kurtz hauls out the lawyers, Tauhid tries to appease him again.

So far as I can tell, the similarities aren't actionable, and either Kurtz is suing to be a bastard, or because his lawyers told him he had to make a token attempt to stop it to protect his IP, or Image is involved somehow. Any way you look at it, Tauhid is getting screwed.

[Van Douchebag]

What I didn't know when I wrote this (And what makes it worse) is that Tauhid has a wife and kid to worry about, thus why he doesn't dare to try to take this on because of legal fees and such.

Also, I saw Kurtzy sniffing around this topic a little while ago, and then he deleted a post I made on his forum at the Image comics board asking him why he was being a dick.

[Syke]

And this is why I think there should be a law that lawyers ONLY get paid if they win their lawsuits. But right now, this is all just stirring a pot that may have other things behind it that we are not privvy to since we are not Scott or Tauhid.

And yeah.. any publicity is good publicity.

[-PDI-]

That's one side of the story, yeah.

From where I see it, Tubey made some characters that resembled PvP a little too much, Scott Complained, Tubey complained back, but eventually he made the changes ... but never changed the archives of the characters. All the while, he was lambasting Kurtz and calling him names and playing innocent.

Since then, there have been a number of "Look! I'm touching the line! I'm not crossing it, but look, I'm touching it! Look! Look!" moments.

I think Kurtz has a case. At the very least, based on what I've heard from both sides, I don't think it's frivolous. Judge may or may not disagree.

But I admit -- I am as uninformed as the rest of you.

Difference: I am not assuming that one part is full of shit and just out to make a buck -- based on lack of evidence.

[R. Smith]

Hee hee.
This all reminds me of an image David Willis allowed me to use when I did a Kurtz parody strip a few years back. :)

http://www.funnyfarmcomics.com/images/copykurtz.gif

I think Scott would prefer the pic never existed...

[Joel Fagin]

Have you seen the comparisons between artwork Kurtz posted on his site? The similarity is unmistakable.

Well, then, lets get all the Manga artists suing each other.

- Joel Fagin

[Alan Foreman]

Hee hee.
This all reminds me of an image David Willis allowed me to use when I did a Kurtz parody strip a few years back.

http://www.funnyfarmcomics.com/images/copykurtz.gif

I think Scott would prefer the pic never existed...

Oh YEAH, I remember that now! We can now add

[Dave Kelly]

Counter-point.

Don't care. This is bullying and winning because you have more money. Black and white. Plain and simple.

This other dude had nothing to gain and Kurtz did. I never read his comic. I'm sure I would think it's a piece of crap... but this is wrong, just wrong.

[Syke]

Wow... that was a VERY blatant rip off.

[Kurtz]

Hey guys. As you might Imagine, I can't really comment on any of this in detail, but Von D's post is really so out of left field that I want to at least keep him from getting you into "torch and pitchfork" mode unfairly.

I have not filed legal action against anyone.
I have not recieved any out of court cash settlement.
I am not bullying anyone.

Nothing he's posting is accurate, based in fact or conains any first-hand knowledge of what's going on at all.

I wish I could sit in here all night and just go off, but you know I can't.

Just wanted you all to know that you're responding to bullshit and it's not fair that Von D can come in here and rile you up into some kind of angry mob.

Thanks for understanding.

[Kurtz]

Oh. I can comment on the Tick thing.

I plagerized that comic back when I was a freshman in college.
And I got my ass kicked for it and I learned a very very important lesson.
I paid the price for it, beleive me (although the creator of the Tick was really cool about it).

And I don't wish that picture would go away. I'm very happy it's out there.

[damonk13]

Seriously, folks... this is between Kurtz and Tubesteak, and should be left at that. Too many people are jumping the gun here, and it's not helping the webcomic community whatsoever to play angry mob for either side.

So far, Kurtz has been VERY classy by not elevating this into any sort of a pissing match. Tubesteak likewise classed up just recently by removing some specific threads on his message board that dealt with this.

Like it's been mentioned in this thread already, folks -- you DON'T know the whole story. In fact, you hardly know ANY of the story. You've either heard one side, or you haven't really heard any side yet. (and if you heard from both, you're prolly not commenting at this point.)

So please. Don't go screaming for either 'toonist's head here.

Be patient, and trust the two to settle this like adults.

In the end, the truth WILL come out, one way or another (no matter how cliche that sounds).