Hi guys, can anyone tell me whats happened to Dalmatiner? All his stuff seems to be gone!

Dalmatiner has things posted to his account which were subject of DMCA takedown notices, including one that was a commercial model  that is licensed through meshbox.com, which  was downloaded at least 336 times before it was pulled. If you think you downloaded it, you should delete it. If you want to license it, do a search by its name and the word "meshbox" and you'll find it. It is not very expensive.

Multiple (as in more than one) copyright violations by a user can get you booted from websites under section 512 of the Digital Millenium Act.

If you downloaded anything he posted to ShareCG, you would well do some homework before using any of it, reposting any of it (if he allowed that) or using it in any commercial works. Its exactly this kind of abuse by pirates that bring artist focused sites into disrepute. The upside is that ShareCG did exactly the right thing to resolve the problem.

You certainly did the correct thing in taking the action you did.

 However to help those persons who may have innocently downloaded and, indeed, may be intending to use the various models in their works, it would be useful to have the information that can help us identify them, so that the users of this site do not find themselves also in contravention of the terms of use and licencing of the original owner of the models.

In an effort to assist us all, would it be possible for you to post the name or description of the model/s that you believe were infringing, please?

I may well have some of them in my collection and the information would be very welcome.

Thank you, Maf.

Thank you Meshbox,

This is a real shock to hear, I can't believe Dalmatiner would do such a thing! He's been one of the few contributers to sharecg that I trusted. I've downloaded a lot of Dalmatiner models over the last couple of years and would really appriciate a list of the offending modles so I can at least check your claim. I will try to contact Dalmatiner asap to at least get his side of the story. Sorry this is just a real bombshell!

I have tried my best to keep my runtime free of illeagal models and I can't understand if this was the reason his stuff was pulled from sharecg why people were not informed? At least a message could have been put up on  Dalmatiner page or a note posted to those who were following him, especially since its going to cause people legal problem in the future!

Ditto! I have a ton of Dalmatiner models in my runtime and would love to be able to use them.

Weeks ago, (before the Meshbox model was posted), I made a request to Dalmatiner, in the 'comments' section, that he only label the models that he originally created as "unlimited use" models, so that they could be legally used in commercial renders.

One SCG member called myself and 2 other people who had similar concerns "jealous little people" etc. Surprisingly, this was the only comment about copyright from other SCG members.

Dalmatiner did respond and took down a recent model. Unfortunately, the meaning of his comment was lost in translation. My understanding was that he usually used 'blueprints', had many models, and would try to take down any models for which people noticed were made by someone else.

After the Meshbox model was posted, I sadly realized that there is no way to salvage the treasure trove of Dalmatiner vehicles in my runtime. The Meshbox model came with many 'movable parts' and a fully textured interior. How can this be mistaken for one's own work?

Unfortunatly, I had no idea that the models posted by Dalmatiner had ( or appear to have), at least in some cases, been copied or taken from other peoples copyrighted work.

It does seem rather sad that some people on here might have been aware of this fact and not contacted the admin. at the earliest oportunity.

If a member of this site is posting art, models or other materials which they have not themselves created and that they do not have the authority to post or upload, then surely it is behoven upon us all to ensure that the member and all items they have offered are removed as soon as is posible, in order to keep this site clean and honest.

Mclue - you are presumably aware of the models , or some of the models in question here - might you be able to furnish those of us here with a more full description of them so that we might also remove them from our collections?

Thank you

I'm afraid I don't know any more than anyone else.

Up until recently, I was happily downloading Dalmatiners models when a few other SCG members posted a link to a "free site". On that site was a car that was identical to one that Dalmatiner had just posted as one of his originals. (I don't remember the car, because I didn't download it). It was only then that I started asking Dalmatiner in the comments sections if he was the actual modeller- And what about his 'other' cars?

The thing is, for the SCG people who want to use any of Dalmatiners models commercially - how do you go about proving that they are legal?

 Could we ask Dalmatiner for a list of the 'legal' models? My question is- How much credibility does a person have who has just submitted a Meshbox model as his own?

So, until anyone has a solution (still hoping?) I will be removing all Dalmatiner content from my runtime.

Thank you all, and especially to Michael :-)

The offending item that I sent a DMCA on was for the Airstream Trailer. I know someone had also recently reported another one of our cars up, but it was removed by the time I checked.

The Airstream Trailer is part of our Fedoraville collection which we updated in 2011 with a lot of new features, including removable snow caps (very handy if you want to do a winter scene).

For the next week, Mirye Software has this collection on sale at 20% off so that anyone who wants to get on board after this bad experience with Dalmatiner can save a bit:

http://www.miryestore.com/product.php?productid=16747&cat=0&page=1

Last year, someone else posted one of our Steampunk City models on ShareCG, but it was pulled quickly. That was the Opium Den (scroll down on the set page):

http://www.miryestore.com/product.php?productid=16579&cat=0&page=1

Now and then we do giveaways ourselves, but even those are covered by a license. This trailer above was never given away, though its shown up on a few pirate sites.

The only way to really resolve use is to license the models. Our art license (Pro is separate and covers use of the original .max file and expanded useage rights) covers 2d renders and 2d animation for commercial or personal use.

Thank you, MeshBox,

That has gone a good way to explaining the issue and giving us, as users of this site, an idea of what to look for in our collections. I seem to be fortunate in that I had not downloaded that particular item.

I was able to retrieve from Google a partial list of other models that particular person uploaded and made available on this site and will be happy to pass on the details to anyone interested, so that they may amend/append their collections to not include possible pirated/unlicensed items.

Or you can perform your own search using the users name and adding sharecg to the criteria, then click on 'cached' rather than just the link.

I had one item which had been offered by that person and I have deleted it from my HD,.

Sadly, this entire episode has shown us all that we need to be much more vigilant in our use of this site and if we feel that something is wrong or out of place ( fishy), we should, at once, contact the admin. of this site with our concerns so that we can prevent the mis-use of what is otherwise, and in all respects, a marvelous endeavour.

Maf.

How do I go about identifying the true creator of an item I downloaded & used last year. I used a forklift in this render http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2210213&user_id=396172&np&np  & was thinking I was giving proper credits.I'd like to double check on said item & see if I need to do corrections. (mean time if my computer will behave I'm a go digging for my zip & recheck readme.)

thanks

Hi, guardian.

Fom the limited view in your render, it looks like it is 'very similar' to the model offered by 'De Espona' at this site - http://www.the3dstudio.com

A search for "forklift 3d" using the Google image engine should find a few more possible candidates, but I think that this is the model info you were looking for. Sadly the De Espona catalogue of models has been very heavily abused on torrent sites and I have seen quite alot of them turn up here and other artist oriented sites.

All the best, Maf.

Edited by ibsystems on 04/08/15 04:25 PM.

thanks i'll check & see if my copy looks like that & i'll contact the vendor & have them check to see if it's theirs.& see how to correct this mistake. now i feel awful:(

I've deleted all Dalmatiner stuff from my HD just to be on the safe side. The amount of damage such activities cause to the industry, and the amount of PITA they cause to us artists is really annoying.

What is ShareCG's policy on informing users when such activities have been detected? I would assume we all need to be notified so that we can ensure we are not exposed. Is there a formal notice area regarding Dalmatiner and perhaps other offenders? I want to make sure my runtime is clean.

Thanks

mafiagore2  how do i contact you to get a copy of the list you mentioned? i tried the google search,& found links with the name of poster but not the items.on firefox i couldn't find the cache option. so far i know of the forklift & a 1977 chevrolet camaro i downloaded from those shares.(not sure if i downloaded anything else.) & of course those items have no readmes.

to guardian - Its only a partial list but it does have graphic thumbnails of the uploads. You can contact me at - lemon6seven@gmail.com.

If you are using Firefox then try this - using the web search rather than image search - enter the search criteria, then scroll down and hover the arrow over the entry you are interested in viewing - in the right window pane there will apear the web page address at the top and a reduced size image of the page as google saved it upon their last 'trolling'.

Next to the web address and usually to the right side of it, is the word 'cached'. Right click on this and open in new window.

Because all users have entered different searches in the past , Google may well display different results for you than othere users have recieved.

Mail me and I'll pass on what I have to you.

I suspect he was converting SketchUp format models he found on Google 3D Warehouse, as I was looking for better versions of a couple of his and happened across models there; the descriptions were identical.

Giving all involved the benefit of doubt, the take-home lesson is that if one is converting models one finds on the web, first research as to thier actual source, and make sure they are indeed allowed to be distributed by their creators...

Hi guys, I found a email address and wrote to Dalmatiner concerning what happened, asking to talk about what happened and to get his side of the story, but I got nothing back from him.

I wasn't sure what to do next and saw someone using his name on Renderocity a couple of days ago, I asked if he was the same person and got no reply. I saw this morning he had posted the same 1932 Ford Hot Rod I downloaded last year from Sharecg, for both commercial and non commercial work. It was beyond doubt, I then put up the following posting. 

"WARNING!!! Anyone who has downloaded any of Dalmatiner stuff needs to beaware that he has been removed from Sharecg for copying other peoples work and giving them away as his own. I had to delete all the models I downloaded from him because some of them turned out to be commercial models and I could not verify the integrity of the other models! So download at your own risk! Link to Currant dialog on his stuff on Sharecg

http://www10.sharecg.com/wwwthreads-5.3/showflat.php?Cat=8,9,10,11,12&Board=discussion&Number=192901&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&part=1&vc=1 "

It looks like this guy has no moral integerity at all and is prepared to willingly get other people into serious copyright truoble without thought or concern to the harm that he will be bring them.

It seems he deleted all the comments (including your warning) for the Ford Hot Rod freebie posted at Renderosity...

I don't know that "moral integrity" is an issue; Many of the models he posted here can be downloaded in SketchUp and Collada format from Google 3D Warehouse, and there are several models of 1932 Ford cars and components there.  The license there is  "a perpetual, sublicensable, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content or derivative works thereof which you publicly post or display on or through the Services ".  He my have obtained the ones in question there due to someone posting them there illegally.  He is certainly not gaining financially by sharing at Rendo...

Even if a model is sourced from Google Warehouse, you only have the assurance that someone agreed to their terms, and not that Google Warehouse has done any due diligence at all. You are using any content from Google Warehouse at your own risk - they could be served with a DMCA takedown notice at any time. If THEY pull it down, its possible they will get safe harbor. Reposters do not get that protection.

You should never repost something unless you have are 100% sure you have the right to do so. Google is not warranting your rights at all.

Indeed.

Be Careful out there...

Pretty much everything he ever uploaded was stolen. I've researched many... and not only could I not verify copyright... many were models  (mostly derigged in Poser Models cases) that I had actually purchased.

I'll have no problem getting rid of them as I kept them in a separate folder while I researched them, compared meshes etc.

And Unlike the indication in the comment above... I was quite vocal about it (and I saw others question him as well)... and I emailed artists I could identify as well as Dalmatiner multiple times, all of which he ignored. His comments section continued to sing his praises even when I posted comments calling him out after he uploaded "his" work. I emailed this site as well.

No one creates 5 models every 2 days. And his Male bovine fecal matter destroyed the integrity of the site for me...... which is a shame as many great artists post some fantanstice work here..... their OWN work.

Welcome to the Sharecg forum EnglishBob. I have always found your site to be quite educational.

Indeed no one can create 3 good models in 2 days, but one certainly could download 3 models such as this...

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=265caf96e66995326676e97b9eb0af67

...export them as obj, bring them into Poser, and fix them up.  If they are grouped right, one could even rig them quickly.  Presuming the model isn't pirated, while not giving credit is rude, the license allows redistribution.  However, as Meshbox points out, there is risk involved if the mesh happens to be pirated.   Casual hobbyists don't have the same knowledge and appreciation of copyright as vendors; "I got it from Google-it's got to be legit, right?"   Hopefully a lesson was learned in this case....

BTW English Bob, the V4 QuickSuit was just the thing I needed for some testing yesterday.  Thanx!! :D

Wandaw wrote" I don't know that "moral integrity" is an issue".

I was shocked then I saw it because I was a great fan of catamaran work and I recognized it at first glance (Just to let you know I also report it to administration of shareCG at once).

As a freebie provider and a commercial content maker, I'm glad to see that they took your request and meshbox request in consideration and react quickly against dalmatiner.

"Also all the innocents who (like me) downloaded & used some of these --not realizing --that they were stolen. this opens them up to getting banned/punished for using the said stolen items. Thank heavens as far as I know I only used 1 & still had it saved as a daz scene--so I totally redid it with an item I went & purchased to make my render safe & reposted in same areas.  Many people,especially the newbies wouldn't think of the results of using "stolen" items. Is it right that he get away & be allowed to endanger others---I extremely think not. As for moral integrity? If he was worried about it--he wouldn't be reuploading same illegal items elsewhere to another safe well known freebie place like Rendo.  Sorry I had ta speak up for the innocent victims too."

The reason I believe he is getting meshes from Sketchup is that I too was suspicious at his output.  He had some detailed descriptions, so I Gooogled the descriptions, and there the models were, on Sketchup. 

Models posted on Sketchup have unlimited use and distribution terms, with no attribution requirement, which I posted earlier.  If someone uses a model obtained there, he has not "stolen" it, he is using it in accordance with the license terms.  If the mesh turns out to have been pirated, he, like guardian_angel_671 is a victim, having lost the work and time put to converting it, and being exposed to liability. 

If a poser model were imported into Sketchup and shared, it would be the same mesh (and perhaps the same textures), but would be "derigged", and have "all the cool features removed"

I'm certainly not defending Piracy, but as Bonaparte said, "Do not ascribe to malice what can be explained by incompetence".  Looking at download numbers, we who post on Forums are the rounding error as a percentage of Poser users.  Most users are amateur hobbyists and not attuned to the subtleties of copyright law.  Callling someone a thief or pirate is unlikely to garner a positive response, but explaining the situation kindly, in terms of thier own protection, would be far more effective and beneficial to the hobby as a whole.

I don't know Dalmatiner, but the reason I stepped into this discussion is due to a member here called WERTS.  WERTS made uncanny celebrity head morphs for DAZ figures.  However, I was astonished to download one and fiund the morph had been distributed as an obj; that is, it included DAZ's mesh.  I thought about warning WERTS that that he should be distributing it as a delta injection, but, since I had seen it on the DAZ forums, I presumed he had some dispensation.  Apparently I was mistaken, as these works, and WERTS, disappeared several months ago.  I now wish I'd sent that PM.   A kindly word to the wise is likely to be recieved far more favorably than an accuation of criminal acts, and a warning heeded is beneficial to the community as a whole...

Thanx for the note about WERTS, EB; It eases my concience a bit.

Also, my comments were directed to the general community; vendors such as Meshbox need to protect their livelihood, and can't be patient with potential infringement, although it sounds like DAZ were good sports in WERTS' case, likely because no real harm was done....

A while back I was looking for some specific models, and noticed that many of their models seemed to be incredibly similar to some that I'd seen on the Sketchup page. That other people were claiming to have created.

I was wondering how long it was going to be before somebody took action.

I had considered reporting them, but I wasn't 100% certain so I held off. Looks like somebody else was more certain than I was.

All I can say is HA! .... Actually HA! HA! HA! HOOO HOOO HEEE HEEE!!. Sorry to gloat but that guy has been uploading other people's models since he first came here. I had been able to tack down over 85% of his models from other sites. Multiple time I had contacted the original owners or sites... only once I received a reply. The thing that galled me the most was his placing his name on the license plates and saying "My gift to you" in the item description... granted he could of been some starving pensioner desperate for income, but DON'T steal AND take credit for your theft... talk about adding insult to injury. I'm particularly annoyed since I'm sure he is in part responsible for the termination of the " It pays to share" policy. Frikin greedy dishonest people have to always ruin it for everyone else.

Good riddance.

Not to dig up an old topic but does anyone know where he was getting the celebrity face morphs for V4?     I tried to make some face models before with face time but didn't have much luck.

I had downloaded some of his models at the beginning but became very suspicious of his prolific output. Did a bit of checking and realised what he was doing - immediately stopped downloading his 'work' and reported him - though it was ages before anything was done about it.

Was so glad that something did happen eventually - but was livid that it was people like him who led to the stopping of the "It pays to share" policy. I'm a pensioner myself and every little .0018 cents made a big difference to me. :(

And I suppose the thing that really pissed me off was that, even though everything I have ever posted was 100% my own work, I was concentrating on producing very specific items so I limited the number of files I uploaded because I didn't want to seem greedy - hah, well the joke was on me wasn't it!?!

Gosh, I am in total shock!!! I didn't know about this at all but it just struck my mind a few minutes ago that I haven't seen any new models for some time from Dalmatiner and when I couldn't find his profile on here, I did a search via Google, which leads me to this thread! And I thought he was such a good modeler that I even asked him some months back to make a model of the old classic, Borgward. His comment was he doesn't have a blueprint for that but will try getting it.

Just shows one must be VERY careful and cautious at all times.

Laura

where can I get a list if his verified thefts? I always knew he did conversions (I do to) but as a professional artist its standard practice to check useage and copyrights before posting a commercial or private piece. Some folks don't want commercial renders using their models and sadly mnay modelers aren't even in control of the commarcial aspect/rights  such as when they make a fanart model (Batmobile for instance) Why he would do that is beyond me. Why Sharecg moderators didn't post this to evryone is also byond me. I haven't made any commercial renders with his models and now I have to delete that really cool trailer I never got to use (Thank God) but I also have to track down all of his models in my runtime?   I know this may sound selfish but since you're the only guys who can do it, would the admins please send a memo with the list alonmg with highlighted models confirmed stolen? Thanks

Jesbus on a Wheat Thin!  Guess I will scour my runtime looking for "his" stuff since no one can provide a list of his former posts.  There goes my Vehicles runtime..... (slams head on desk)

Hi, hisstoryman.

I do have a partial list that I can email to you if you wish. 

Its a set of cached pages containing around 120 of the items you are concerned about, including images for quick identification. You can mail me at- lemon6seven@gmail.com.

I'm pretty late at reading this, but most of dalmatiner's posted car models can be found at DMI.  Free, but almost all of them are no commercial use, unless you want to go to the paid models, which some will even furnish in the format of your choice, when asked.  I haven't done that, but I also don't do commercial renders. 

Do you mean http://www.dmi-3d.net?

Yes.  From his first postings, I saw the models he put up identical to those on DMI.  As I downloaded them from dmi already, not hard to tell.  Not hard to put into poser props either, just rescale, probably have to mess with the textures, adding a few motions isn't hard either if the mesh is made so you can.  Not for commercial use, but I don't do commercial anyhow, no biggie to me.  Dalmatiner's scaling was also pretty bad.

Dalmatiner is back now in 2015, and posting on Renderosity's Freestuff pages under the name 101Doberman. Because of his history, I am wary of downloading any of his newly shared items.

I occasionally download models from Sketchup and convert them to .obj format for my own amusement - attempt to fix them up in Carrara - but it doesn't often work well because Sketchup uses n-gons, while Poser and DS Studio can't deal with any polygons with more than four sides. 

Not sure why anyone would go to the trouble.

FWIW 101Doberman's profile at Renderosity has no Freestuff or Marketplace items as of this post.