Notes

How to Report Plagiarized NFTs as Stolen Art

You've been ripped off.



Someone stole your work and made it an intangible token without your consent. The same scammer is selling NFTs of your stolen art and making a lot of money. This is a depressingly common event, and thankfully, you're not entirely out of options however getting your stolen artwork removed from the massive NFT exchanges like OpenSea and Rarible isn't going to be easy.



Welcome to the other side of the much-hyped NFT coin, where fake works and plagiarized artwork dominate the 2021 $44 billion market. The problem is so prevalent that in January of 2022 the self-described "world's largest and first NFT marketplace," OpenSea, admitted that more than 80 percent of NFTs minted using its free minting tool "were plagiarized works, fake collections, and spam."



Artists are all too familiar with this less glamorous side of NFTs. Twitter accounts dedicated to exposing the minted NFTs of stolen artwork, like @NFTtheft, have a large number of followers and draw attention to this prevalent scam.



A Bay Area artist goes by the name "bor" and is the administrator of the Twitter account @NFTtheft. They stated in a direct message that they prefer to remain anonymous due to the intimidation directed at artists who are who are opposed to tokens that are non-fungible.



Bor said that plagiarism is a recurring issue in the NFT space and will always be a component of it. "As long as anyone can mint anything while remaining pseudonymous on an unregulated/decentralized technology, plagiarism is going to be a big problem."



It's an issue that marketplaces where people can list, purchase and sell NFTs, are well aware of. The measures they take to combat it, however, frequently fail to meet the requirements. OpenSea and Rarible (a competitor to OpenSea) have established procedures for people who wish to report stolen work. However, as artists frequently say, reporting NFTs isn't always simple.



Still, many artists see it as their sole option.



How do I report a stolen NFT on OpenSea



Visit OpenSea's Help Center.



Under the "How can we help?" drop-down menu, select "Intellectual Property Rights Violation Takedown Request."





Enter your email address.
MINECRAFT SERVERS




In the subject line, write "fraudulent content."





In the "Description" field, include as much detail as you can to prove that an OpenSea listing is really just your artwork posted without permission (include links). Explain the images that you've attached (see Step 6 below).





Include screenshots under "Attachments" of both where your art is actually located online (presumably someone copied it prior to posting it on OpenSea). Also, include the NFT listings.





Hit "Submit."





However, OpenSea cannot guarantee any outcome or guarantee that the company will respond to you.



"When you submit a complaint, our team will review the information and determine if it is in violation of our Terms of Service. If it does, we will remove it," says the company's Help Center. "Please keep in mind that following resolution, your ticket will be closed and you won't hear from us directly."



How to report a stolen NFT via Rarible



Rarible like OpenSea has a reporting procedure that lets users report stolen artworks on its marketplace as NFTs available for sale. Rarible permits you to report stolen artwork as NFTs.



Once you've found the NFT you're looking for, click the three dots located in the upper-right corner.





Select the "Report" option.





Write down that the work is stolen and provide as much detail as you can to support your claim.





Click "Report".





Rarible can't guarantee that it will delist the NFT. Artists' frustration is understandable since the company doesn't promise to respond to them.



How can you stop plagiarized NFTs from being plagiarized?



Despite the ability of artists to report stolen NFTs directly to the marketplaces listing them, the problem of thieves making money off the work of illustrators, designers, musicians, and other creators isn't close to being resolved. According to the artist who created @NFTtheft's Twitter account, the issue is a systemic one and will require a systemic solution.



"Scammers are stealing from YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Deviant Art, Artstation and even Minecraft fan forums," wrote bor. "If it is able to be downloaded and then accessed by scammers, they will attempt to steal it. Artists have less control than ever before over their work.



Indeed, a quick glance at Twitter shows scores of shocked artists claiming that someone has taken their work and, with no having any knowledge of it, created and sold it as NFTs.



What other actions can those who are unaware of being dragged into this often fraudulent world do, other than notifying NFTs that are plagiarized? If Bor is right the non-fungible token true believers will not like the solution.


Website: https://minecraftservers.quest/