SNATCHED

The Story of a Sofa.

Well ...  a few months ago  Tori asked me to help her with mesh ,  as she wanted to make a sofa and asked me to help ,  she was terrified ,  so she went online grabbed a pic of  sofa and asked me how she could do it, In simple terms this was the pic she showed me 

So I opened up Blender during my dinner ,  opened up Skype and started to throw together a mesh sofa.  It really wasn't that difficult to make as any body who makes mesh can verify.  Anyway .... I finished the sofa  and tried to give it to Tori  who said to me that she wasn't sure she was going to do mesh , but i should just give it out as a promo item,  I wasn't overly sure as furniture isn't really my thing,  but needless to say she animated it for me,  and I put it out as a good will gesture free item. And there it sat for a while,  on xstreet.  I really dont mind helping folks and I'm not into the aggressive nature that some other builders and store owners are like. 


Anyway ....  this is the way it was for about a month or so , then over this last weekend I woke up on Sunday to a barrage of messages from various different people in world that Pamela Galli from La Galleria  had accused me of blatant ...  and i mean blatant theft  through copybotting and had at least 2 threads running on the subject,  I did read the threads before they were deleted however they were locked for comment,  and almost everybody told Pamela that she was mistaken ..  yet she would not budge on this issue saying " i know my work" shes proceeded to post libellous comments on every forum ,  blog,  twitter account etc that she can find ,  yet other than her spoutings has give ZERO  proof that her item was copied by me,  but shes is neglecting various things in her posts,  rather key points to be fair ...  what she does say in her blog is this 

"Notice anything?  Now I am not saying they are identical because the mesh is not identical.  But under copyright law, that really doesn't matter.  If someone downloads my mesh, takes it into some 3D program, and changes it a bit -- or even changes it a lot -- it is still IP infringement."
cited from http://lagalleriasl.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/sad-tale.html


Now this was posted last night  after it had been proven through various means that she was incorrect. but just to cover all bases ...  heres the screen shots for you guys

So here's the item in Blender,  its a single mesh item with all the extrusions etc.  As they were made


So what Pamela ha said in her blog .....  is that i took her sofa -  and brought it into blender,  I changed it from being 9  seperate parts and made it into 1 single part,  and that i moved all the vertices about, removed rows ...  added rows,  changed the design slightly such as sloped the arms more,  put the seat cushions in different places  ..  essentially ..  remade the sofa,  now her accusation seams silly ...  as what she has said ......  is " you made a sofa" so Pamela  ..  you are absolutely correct i DID make this sofa ,  strangely ...  i made it without using yours in any context. In fact it would have been 5 times more work to steal your sofa than the 1 -2 hours it took to make this from scratch.


I Made the leather texture that i used to texture the item ....  hey ..  no texture packs here  or textures stolen from the interweb. I have UV maps,  Diffuse Maps,  Normal Maps, Blend Files I have EVERYTHING to show that I made this sofa.  
Now Pamela has had to change tact from claiming that i literally stole her sofa to the point that its IP infringement,  the only problem with that of course ...  is that ive taken a common object from the internet , made an interpretation of it and released it free of charge on Xstreet. Im sure many of you know Pamela's store " la galleria"  I didnt before this issue ,  only seeing her name on the forums , and I can say ..  Pamela makes very nice " interpretations" of RL objects ...  and uses textures on some items that are very good " interpretations" of the RL  website pictures that house similar items,  and she has " interpreted" a lot of rugs etc.  Ive tried to be nice ,  ive tried to be the better man,  ive not attacked her and i did ask her to stop being liablous  only for her to seek even more suppot from her blog and twitter as her cries fell on deaf ears on the forums  as everyone told her she was nuts ,  but if she felt that strongly she should complain and lodge a DMCA. thing is ......  she cant, because her FOUR  SIMS are FILLED with DMCA dubious content,  and the various people that have grabbed both sofas and did wire frame comparisons have told her that there's a similarity  but no cigar. I have asked her to stop the defamation ,  but she just moves it around  time and time again. I wont turn this post into a " im unemployed,  my sons disabled and i need to SL  to feed my kids"  posts ,  as  although that in fact is somewhat true ,  Snatched is something I enjoy doing,  I love making things and I love helping people but i share a sim with 2 others ...  its a homestead  making specialised fantasy items... big difference in market there and big difference in content. 
I dont want to fight with Pamela ,  shes a competant builder ,  and makes great stuff ,  really if you want Rl items ....  shes fantastic,  but .....  to accuse another builder who has done nothing wrong,  and given evidence to show hes done nothing wrong ,  is asinine, its desperate and its just sad.


Yes ....  its just sad,  that she compairs her 9 prim sofa made out of parts to my 3 prim single mesh free sofa.  That even when shes been so black and white proved shes wrong ....  she tries to move it over to IP infringement ....  yes folks ....  you all owe Pamela Galli licence money for that sofa in your real life lounge.  This is clutching at straws at some many levels because she is so arrogant  she just cant admit that allthough there is similarity she is wrong,  There is as much similarity in ANY item in her store ...  to the Rl item.


So what do I ask of you  ... 


Actually  I dont ask anything,  dont boycott her store ,  as she makes nice stuff,  dont berate her or attack her in forums ...  just ask her to PROVE her accusations,  just ask her to file a DMCA or alert the lindens just ask her to be honest with herself ... is she doing this to give creative assasination to another builder ?  hey I dont know ....  but what i do know ..  is that i am GLAD that I made this sofa,  and I am glad that I gave it out FOR FREE  to other people. I dont hold any malice towards Pamela ,  but i will get her for liable if she carries on slagging me off on the internet and it will much the abuse report she has already lodged agaisnt her for harrasment.


But serious guys ...  its your choice....  buy her sofa ,  or get mine  I really dont mind as people who are innocent give things away  as a thief is after personal gain ,  ive gained nothing from this ..  in fact it was created to show somebody how to build in mesh ,  and given away  as it was not something i normally do. All I've got ...  is to be harassed,  defamed and generally my business reputation ripped to bits.


Bray


So the update is now shes claiming substantial  similarity,  which is actually kinda shows her total ignorance of copy write,  as anything that is of a utilitarian nature such as a sofa,  cant be copy writed ,  and her  items kind of hit to this 

or maybe a 3 seater

also her blog showing my sofa ,  where she has latered hers to match .....  i dont remember i gave her licence to use an image of.


but  anyway ..  heres a you tube video  on how to model the sofa,  it took me 40 minutes so is sped up a bit to fit.

if you cant be arsed to look at it  here ....  its on the snatched you tube channel  here  http://youtu.be/F49aUSWcScM


but please ..  Pamela ..  if you are watching ...  just please stop it ,  its just hurting Sl creativity,  ive told folks how great your stuff is  ..  and your legal quotes are rubbish,  so  just let it go.
ohhh  and unlike you I don't sensor posts on my blog ,  and only have anonymous support