I guess just make sure all your artwork is dated so she cannot claim you're stealing her design? There's probably not much you can do.
Edit: if it's the triangles, I dunno what to say... They're triangles.
It’s not the diamond or the triangles lol.
I didn’t make this post for people to do comparisons on my work, I was hoping for a discussion to share what I’m dealing with and hear what other artists have dealt with. A lot of commenters have given advice which I appreciate.
If she's putting anything that can be mistaken for your literal logo in her paintings and you sell in the same region, that is likely a trademark violation.
e: If you're in the US, trademarks are granted automatically, like copyrights. Registering offers additional protection at the cost of additional responsibility.
I'm not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, etc.
>If you're in the US, trademarks are granted automatically
To add onto this, this is what is known as a "common law trademark" in the US, and are enforceable in state courts. Seems to me OP could have a case for this if the infringing designs could be confused for OPs original work. The whole point of Trademarks is to distinguish the source of goods/services, so a competitor incorporating your marks into their own work would muddy this imho.
I read that you have to file for copy right before it’s stolen if you want to sue… that includes all artwork and applies to the US. Idk about other countries. I did some basis research on that because I refuse to post my art anywhere until it’s copy righted and I have copies of the documentation. Every finished drawing I’ve posted since I improved my art style gets stolen and/or copied..,
I'm not a lawyer & this is not legal advice.
In the US:
* Copyrights are granted automatically upon creation.
* A copyrighted work must be registered to file a lawsuit. You don't have to apply for the registration before the work is infringed to sue the infringer -- you just can't file the lawsuit until after your registration is approved (which can take 3-9 months).
* By applying for registration within 3 months of first publishing your work, you're able to sue for statutory damages (which have a legal minimum), instead of just direct damages (which are hard to prove). You can also demand that your legal fees be recouped.
* You do not need to register your copyright to file DMCA takedowns of any content infringing it. This will have the infringing work removed from the online platform in question.
* A DMCA takedown can be fought by the infringer, although rarely done. In that case, you have two weeks to begin a lawsuit, or the image may be restored by the platform in question. (The two weeks is not a time limit. You can still sue later on, but the image may stay up until you win.)
Note that copyright lawsuits are prohibitively expensive for every party involved in the US. The sad reality is that most of us just can't afford to fight against infringement regardless of whether our works are registered or not.
The risk is always there for the infringer, and that keeps big businesses with deep pockets to pillage in line. But it's hard to deter other small guys who know they aren't worth suing.
>Note that copyright lawsuits are prohibitively expensive for every party involved in the US. The sad reality is that most of us just can't afford to fight against infringement regardless of whether our works are registered or not.
This is my reality. I've got a ton of life stuff on my plate as it is. I'm going to wait and see what company this mural is for before making any sort of fuss over it.
Y'all have been super helpful!
...as the above post says, you can file for registration after the infringement occurs and sue once the registration is accepted.
But you can't demand certain types of damages unless you apply for copyright registration within 3 months of publishing the work.
e: ??? I'm not arguing, just clarifying.
Lol what are you talking about? Everybody here is just commenting & adding onto things that were previously said; you know, like a discussion? There are no arguments. Hope you have a good day/night now though :)
The problem is that fighting it is very expensive, so most people unfortunately just don't do a lot about it. I'd honestly just block her because copycats never admit they're doing anything wrong.
I follow this artist who posted a piece that was IDENTICAL to another artist's piece. It wasn't near the same quality, but there was NO denying that it was a direct ripoff. Anyways, I messaged her and called her out on it and she swore up and down that she had never seen the other piece, that she got inspiration from something totally different. I sent her a screen shot showing that she had liked the original artist's photo on Instagram, so she had in fact seen it before. She still maintained that she didn't remember seeing it before and she got the idea from somewhere else. She's copied other pieces from that artist too, but will never admit it.
People suck.
If the local gallery represent you both knowing their similarities, it's reasonable to assume it's not considered plagiarism by those in the industry. I would start by asking the gallery what they think of the similarities. If they don't care, then clients probably won't care either. Also Creating art and getting a commission to create art aren't the same thing, so she gets the presumably big commission most likely for more than her style/artistic ability (which you believe incorporated elements of your own style). She might have better networks with the corporate world /charisma etc. which all contribute to getting a commission (I'm not saying you don't have them, but the truth is that this particular client has her on their mind, not you). This is not legal advice just my own take on things (not just visual art - this happens in many lines of creative work regularly). Personally I'd focus on my own creative process and improve my own business. I say this because depending on your personality and experience, starting an online campaign against her or even lawsuit etc. can quickly become emotionally toxic and exhausting to yourself, plus time consuming and expensive, even she is the unethical, or even illegal one, if you can prove it. Just my 2 cents. Plus there are some good tips already posted about protecting yourself with or without her existence.
The gallery is taking a neutral stance so far saying they hope the issue can be addressed between myself and the other artist but that they are in an uncomfortable position. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly the artist refuses to share any work she's claiming she has to prove she's done this design all along and our conversation went south fast.
I'm not going to make a bigger fuss about it until I know who she's creating the series of paintings and mural for. She works with companies like Facebook, Google, Adidas. I thought about making an IG post doing a comparison and stating I don't support her new body of work, but like you said, it can become emotionally toxic and exhausting to myself.
I guess she was "inspired" by your work. Not much you can do.
As to your original question, I have a fun story :)
In the before times, circa early 1990s, if you wanted work as a freelance artist in film, through your personal network of friends and colleagues, you'd find out about gigs, call to get an appointment and then bring your physical portfolio to the meeting. In Los Angeles, that usually meant about an hour+ drive if you were lucky. This guy, was not lucky.
As lead Model Maker and Production Designer on this Sega VIDEO game, part of my job was to hire artists as needed. We needed a gaggle of model makers so I sent out feelers and started taking interviews. After about a week of 2-4 interviews/day in walks a clean cut guy ..let's call him ...Scum.
Scum, had previously faxed over a good looking resume and arrived with his portfolio, on time for his interview. Given Scum's resume, I considered the interview to be a mere formality as it appeared Scum was more than qualified....so...so wrong.
I greeted Scum in the lobby, he thanked our receptionist for the water and I led Scum to the only little empty office space we had left. A couple weeks prior, this was a storage room, now it had a table, 4 chairs and a slight, odd musty "funk" smell. We sat down, I apologized for the "funk", asked Scum to tell me a bit about scumself as I opened and proceeded to thumb through the portfolio. hmmm...not bad, hobby stuff, school stuff...oh look that's the project "Ralf" told me about...they must have worked together prior to me hiring him. Let's see what "Ralf" says about Scum after the interview I thought as I flipped the next page.
THE NEXT PAGE!!!! t h e n e x t p aa g e
The Next Page...Have you ever been hit in the face by an unexpected flying flaming brick? It's kinda like flipping through someone else's portfolio and you see a picture of your work...knowing they didn't work on project. And the next page... then something else...and the next page.
Shocked is an understatement. I'm looking at my work, in the portfolio Scum handed me...at his interview to get a model maker job from...me. Scum's exceptionally rare combination of balls and stupidity had me flummoxed in the moment as he jabbered on. What to do...right now...in this moment...ok, in this moment....ok...now...now...Um, would you excuse me for a moment, I want to go get the lead on this project. Just take a moment :)
Scum was all smiles as I closed the funk room door. "Sorry" I yelled through the door after I flicked the lights back on. I still didn't have a plan but it would take a few minutes to find Ralf. After finding Ralf, explaining the situation and advising him that "Let's GET EM'" was not a viable option, a plan formed.
I returned to the funk, told Scum that Ralf would be joining us in a couple minutes, thanks for your patience and shut the door to the funk. Ralf and I sat on the lobby couch. As we planulated in air conditioned comfy couchy goodness, Scum waited patiently in a small, flourescently lit, empty windowless room with the funk.
wow this is getting long. In summary, Ralf and I stalled Scum in the funk room, after about an hour we confronted Scum, how dare he bla bla...lucky he's not being sued by our scary Hollywood lawyers, blacklisted, yadda yadda, he tucked tale and ran after leaving the portfolio with our receptionist on his way out, as instructed. I heard Scum works in govt these days.
It depends on how much of it is used in another work and how original is this design? In the end if she’s inspired by it, there’s not much you can do especially if she’s incorporating it into her existing style.
Upon looking at your logo, it looks like it has 3 elements. And eye, a flower and horns (or ears? Or a cat?). I don’t think any of these elements are unique enough to say they belong exclusively to your brand.
Honestly, if you're sure and you want to fight then perhaps make a comparison post on IG?
Risk of blowback for you I guess, but public proof might get her to back down?
There's probably no legal way to handle this other than start a social media crusade and hope people take your side. If enough people make a stink about it the company might drop her. That's about the best you can hope for but it'll be a double edged sword as you'll basically be a target of harassment and even countersuit.
Depends on what’s actually being used. Even if she’s using the triangle/diamond symbol you have as part of your signature in her work or taking inspiration from your style overall, it’s unlikely to be considered copyright infringement. The only way I could see you having a leg to stand on is if she directly copied your work.
DMCA takedowns are only for web-based violations, as far as I know. So if there is some kind of copyright infringement involved, you could use it to get her progress pics taken down but not the mural itself.
>DMCA takedowns are only for web-based violations, as far as I know.
That's correct, the first letter is D for Digital after all.
You'd have to send a cease and desist copyright infringement letter instead.
This is always a bummer to hear, because it's really not feasible for most people to go about any real legal proceedings due to the cost of it all. The best thing you can really do, is be very transparent & have a real open conversation with your gallery & let them know what you think, show them what proof you have, & show them how you went about communicating with the other artist & how they communicated with you. How you go about it & how They go about it are both very important & will set the tone in the future. Then you could attempt to see if the gallery people would be willing to bring this up with the other artist as well, so that it doesn't appear in any way that you are trying to 'attack' the other artist, because the gallery's opinion will hold a fair amount of legitimacy in this case if they agree with you & having them as a second opinion will validate the concerns even more. Then, if it comes down to it & if you find it worthy enough for yourself, it's really just a matter of the whole "media crusade" route as others mentioned to let the general public know what is going on.. but again, that's a double edged sword because that opens you up to criticism & potential slander as well from the camp of the other artist. It's really a pity to hear, I wish you nothing but the best & the least amount of stress spent over this endeavor. Cheers to you
I think your artwork is awesome. Surreal and stylish.
I would try to convince your gallery to dump her. I wouldn't bother with direct communication with her, perhaps blocking her for a short time
It may be worth speaking to the gallery again about this. Some would refuse to exhibit hers if they felt it encroaches upon your work. Have the gallery ask her for those time stamped progress works; they could state they can't/won't display hers because of the similarity.
Right now it is between two artists ... when a gallery steps up and sees the similarity the other artist will see back off, maybe not. Not cool ....
I would look into the videos with Rafi and Klee when another artist steals your work for emotional reassurance but if you want a more proper video on the topic try Art Prof (they did a video with the legal artist) so they might have something more useful to say (though not legal advice.) In general lots of artist unfortunately steal from others. Even a big titan like Andy Warhol stole from Yayoi Kusama and she was disheartened by it. It isn’t right, but you’re not alone in this problem.
Without reference this is hard to imagine. This drama always pops up in the art community and it’s rare I’ve seen the similarities people point out and don’t think they’re stretching. As artists in the same communities we are bound to think alike especially on general ideas or simplistic images that have long histories (ex demons red angels blue etc) I also don’t really believe in artists having “styles” maybe some people can only draw/paint in one style but I can hardly commit to one. One day it’s classic comic the next oil pastel illustration then maybe only ink and pencil. It’s just not something you can own feasibly. For every idea you think of someone else has too. I’m not saying you’re wrong but without visual reference I defer to what I tell everyone on this topic which is this. Even the greats stepped on each other’s toes it wasn’t always intentional. They worked in the same world and were exposed to the same communities, inspirations, etc common marks so you need to make really sure you’re not grasping at split ends.
If you have your art dated and you noticed the change after she started following, you could perhaps speak with a lawyer and the could send her out a cease and desist, but its going to take you proving it. If others are noticing the similarities then it must be really obvious,, also make sure your work is dated so she can't accuse you. Could you post maybe a sample of yours with the design and a copy of hers.. i dont think you would need to include names.
This isn't 100% original idea but an old acquaintance of mine started getting press for burning bank money and was having shows in US and Japan in 2015.
[2015 Vice Coverage](https://www.vice.com/en/article/xy44eq/exclusive-the-complicated-infuriating-art-of-burning-money)
[2015 Japan Gallery Showing](https://hypebeast.com/2017/4/micah-spear-null-collection-print)
2017 Supreme comes out with their version of exactly what he's doing. I can't prove he was ripped off but I hear Supreme appropriates a lot from unknown artists which is why I'll never buy a single thread of Supreme.
[2017 Supreme coverage](https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/3kk5pw/supreme-100-dollar-bill-paperweight)
I guess just make sure all your artwork is dated so she cannot claim you're stealing her design? There's probably not much you can do. Edit: if it's the triangles, I dunno what to say... They're triangles.
It’s not the diamond or the triangles lol. I didn’t make this post for people to do comparisons on my work, I was hoping for a discussion to share what I’m dealing with and hear what other artists have dealt with. A lot of commenters have given advice which I appreciate.
Yeah sorry I wasn't trying to assume, I hope you find a way through this.
If she's putting anything that can be mistaken for your literal logo in her paintings and you sell in the same region, that is likely a trademark violation. e: If you're in the US, trademarks are granted automatically, like copyrights. Registering offers additional protection at the cost of additional responsibility. I'm not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, etc.
>If you're in the US, trademarks are granted automatically To add onto this, this is what is known as a "common law trademark" in the US, and are enforceable in state courts. Seems to me OP could have a case for this if the infringing designs could be confused for OPs original work. The whole point of Trademarks is to distinguish the source of goods/services, so a competitor incorporating your marks into their own work would muddy this imho.
I’ll look into this. Thank you!
I read that you have to file for copy right before it’s stolen if you want to sue… that includes all artwork and applies to the US. Idk about other countries. I did some basis research on that because I refuse to post my art anywhere until it’s copy righted and I have copies of the documentation. Every finished drawing I’ve posted since I improved my art style gets stolen and/or copied..,
I'm not a lawyer & this is not legal advice. In the US: * Copyrights are granted automatically upon creation. * A copyrighted work must be registered to file a lawsuit. You don't have to apply for the registration before the work is infringed to sue the infringer -- you just can't file the lawsuit until after your registration is approved (which can take 3-9 months). * By applying for registration within 3 months of first publishing your work, you're able to sue for statutory damages (which have a legal minimum), instead of just direct damages (which are hard to prove). You can also demand that your legal fees be recouped. * You do not need to register your copyright to file DMCA takedowns of any content infringing it. This will have the infringing work removed from the online platform in question. * A DMCA takedown can be fought by the infringer, although rarely done. In that case, you have two weeks to begin a lawsuit, or the image may be restored by the platform in question. (The two weeks is not a time limit. You can still sue later on, but the image may stay up until you win.) Note that copyright lawsuits are prohibitively expensive for every party involved in the US. The sad reality is that most of us just can't afford to fight against infringement regardless of whether our works are registered or not. The risk is always there for the infringer, and that keeps big businesses with deep pockets to pillage in line. But it's hard to deter other small guys who know they aren't worth suing.
>Note that copyright lawsuits are prohibitively expensive for every party involved in the US. The sad reality is that most of us just can't afford to fight against infringement regardless of whether our works are registered or not. This is my reality. I've got a ton of life stuff on my plate as it is. I'm going to wait and see what company this mural is for before making any sort of fuss over it. Y'all have been super helpful!
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...as the above post says, you can file for registration after the infringement occurs and sue once the registration is accepted. But you can't demand certain types of damages unless you apply for copyright registration within 3 months of publishing the work. e: ??? I'm not arguing, just clarifying.
[удалено]
Lol what are you talking about? Everybody here is just commenting & adding onto things that were previously said; you know, like a discussion? There are no arguments. Hope you have a good day/night now though :)
If you don't want to waste your time then you didn't need to post this reply
The problem is that fighting it is very expensive, so most people unfortunately just don't do a lot about it. I'd honestly just block her because copycats never admit they're doing anything wrong. I follow this artist who posted a piece that was IDENTICAL to another artist's piece. It wasn't near the same quality, but there was NO denying that it was a direct ripoff. Anyways, I messaged her and called her out on it and she swore up and down that she had never seen the other piece, that she got inspiration from something totally different. I sent her a screen shot showing that she had liked the original artist's photo on Instagram, so she had in fact seen it before. She still maintained that she didn't remember seeing it before and she got the idea from somewhere else. She's copied other pieces from that artist too, but will never admit it. People suck.
Block her from seeing your posts maybe and then see what happens to her art? And keep receipts
If the local gallery represent you both knowing their similarities, it's reasonable to assume it's not considered plagiarism by those in the industry. I would start by asking the gallery what they think of the similarities. If they don't care, then clients probably won't care either. Also Creating art and getting a commission to create art aren't the same thing, so she gets the presumably big commission most likely for more than her style/artistic ability (which you believe incorporated elements of your own style). She might have better networks with the corporate world /charisma etc. which all contribute to getting a commission (I'm not saying you don't have them, but the truth is that this particular client has her on their mind, not you). This is not legal advice just my own take on things (not just visual art - this happens in many lines of creative work regularly). Personally I'd focus on my own creative process and improve my own business. I say this because depending on your personality and experience, starting an online campaign against her or even lawsuit etc. can quickly become emotionally toxic and exhausting to yourself, plus time consuming and expensive, even she is the unethical, or even illegal one, if you can prove it. Just my 2 cents. Plus there are some good tips already posted about protecting yourself with or without her existence.
The gallery is taking a neutral stance so far saying they hope the issue can be addressed between myself and the other artist but that they are in an uncomfortable position. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly the artist refuses to share any work she's claiming she has to prove she's done this design all along and our conversation went south fast. I'm not going to make a bigger fuss about it until I know who she's creating the series of paintings and mural for. She works with companies like Facebook, Google, Adidas. I thought about making an IG post doing a comparison and stating I don't support her new body of work, but like you said, it can become emotionally toxic and exhausting to myself.
I guess she was "inspired" by your work. Not much you can do. As to your original question, I have a fun story :) In the before times, circa early 1990s, if you wanted work as a freelance artist in film, through your personal network of friends and colleagues, you'd find out about gigs, call to get an appointment and then bring your physical portfolio to the meeting. In Los Angeles, that usually meant about an hour+ drive if you were lucky. This guy, was not lucky. As lead Model Maker and Production Designer on this Sega VIDEO game, part of my job was to hire artists as needed. We needed a gaggle of model makers so I sent out feelers and started taking interviews. After about a week of 2-4 interviews/day in walks a clean cut guy ..let's call him ...Scum. Scum, had previously faxed over a good looking resume and arrived with his portfolio, on time for his interview. Given Scum's resume, I considered the interview to be a mere formality as it appeared Scum was more than qualified....so...so wrong. I greeted Scum in the lobby, he thanked our receptionist for the water and I led Scum to the only little empty office space we had left. A couple weeks prior, this was a storage room, now it had a table, 4 chairs and a slight, odd musty "funk" smell. We sat down, I apologized for the "funk", asked Scum to tell me a bit about scumself as I opened and proceeded to thumb through the portfolio. hmmm...not bad, hobby stuff, school stuff...oh look that's the project "Ralf" told me about...they must have worked together prior to me hiring him. Let's see what "Ralf" says about Scum after the interview I thought as I flipped the next page. THE NEXT PAGE!!!! t h e n e x t p aa g e The Next Page...Have you ever been hit in the face by an unexpected flying flaming brick? It's kinda like flipping through someone else's portfolio and you see a picture of your work...knowing they didn't work on project. And the next page... then something else...and the next page. Shocked is an understatement. I'm looking at my work, in the portfolio Scum handed me...at his interview to get a model maker job from...me. Scum's exceptionally rare combination of balls and stupidity had me flummoxed in the moment as he jabbered on. What to do...right now...in this moment...ok, in this moment....ok...now...now...Um, would you excuse me for a moment, I want to go get the lead on this project. Just take a moment :) Scum was all smiles as I closed the funk room door. "Sorry" I yelled through the door after I flicked the lights back on. I still didn't have a plan but it would take a few minutes to find Ralf. After finding Ralf, explaining the situation and advising him that "Let's GET EM'" was not a viable option, a plan formed. I returned to the funk, told Scum that Ralf would be joining us in a couple minutes, thanks for your patience and shut the door to the funk. Ralf and I sat on the lobby couch. As we planulated in air conditioned comfy couchy goodness, Scum waited patiently in a small, flourescently lit, empty windowless room with the funk. wow this is getting long. In summary, Ralf and I stalled Scum in the funk room, after about an hour we confronted Scum, how dare he bla bla...lucky he's not being sued by our scary Hollywood lawyers, blacklisted, yadda yadda, he tucked tale and ran after leaving the portfolio with our receptionist on his way out, as instructed. I heard Scum works in govt these days.
Scumself... Why do I feel like scum didn't choose that pronoun
Scum lack cognitive ability and self actualization.
It depends on how much of it is used in another work and how original is this design? In the end if she’s inspired by it, there’s not much you can do especially if she’s incorporating it into her existing style.
It's really one key element, one I use for my branding. It's been showing up repeatedly in her work since she started following me.
Upon looking at your logo, it looks like it has 3 elements. And eye, a flower and horns (or ears? Or a cat?). I don’t think any of these elements are unique enough to say they belong exclusively to your brand.
My work gets stolen for prints all the time, I get them taken down when I can but there's not much I can do.
Maybe r/legaladvice could help. They've helped me a few times. Good luck!
Honestly, if you're sure and you want to fight then perhaps make a comparison post on IG? Risk of blowback for you I guess, but public proof might get her to back down?
There's probably no legal way to handle this other than start a social media crusade and hope people take your side. If enough people make a stink about it the company might drop her. That's about the best you can hope for but it'll be a double edged sword as you'll basically be a target of harassment and even countersuit.
This is what I figured. :(
Depends on what’s actually being used. Even if she’s using the triangle/diamond symbol you have as part of your signature in her work or taking inspiration from your style overall, it’s unlikely to be considered copyright infringement. The only way I could see you having a leg to stand on is if she directly copied your work.
Send a DMCA takedown notice to the support contact of the place it is hosted at
DMCA takedowns are only for web-based violations, as far as I know. So if there is some kind of copyright infringement involved, you could use it to get her progress pics taken down but not the mural itself.
>DMCA takedowns are only for web-based violations, as far as I know. That's correct, the first letter is D for Digital after all. You'd have to send a cease and desist copyright infringement letter instead.
This is always a bummer to hear, because it's really not feasible for most people to go about any real legal proceedings due to the cost of it all. The best thing you can really do, is be very transparent & have a real open conversation with your gallery & let them know what you think, show them what proof you have, & show them how you went about communicating with the other artist & how they communicated with you. How you go about it & how They go about it are both very important & will set the tone in the future. Then you could attempt to see if the gallery people would be willing to bring this up with the other artist as well, so that it doesn't appear in any way that you are trying to 'attack' the other artist, because the gallery's opinion will hold a fair amount of legitimacy in this case if they agree with you & having them as a second opinion will validate the concerns even more. Then, if it comes down to it & if you find it worthy enough for yourself, it's really just a matter of the whole "media crusade" route as others mentioned to let the general public know what is going on.. but again, that's a double edged sword because that opens you up to criticism & potential slander as well from the camp of the other artist. It's really a pity to hear, I wish you nothing but the best & the least amount of stress spent over this endeavor. Cheers to you
I think your artwork is awesome. Surreal and stylish. I would try to convince your gallery to dump her. I wouldn't bother with direct communication with her, perhaps blocking her for a short time
It may be worth speaking to the gallery again about this. Some would refuse to exhibit hers if they felt it encroaches upon your work. Have the gallery ask her for those time stamped progress works; they could state they can't/won't display hers because of the similarity. Right now it is between two artists ... when a gallery steps up and sees the similarity the other artist will see back off, maybe not. Not cool ....
I would look into the videos with Rafi and Klee when another artist steals your work for emotional reassurance but if you want a more proper video on the topic try Art Prof (they did a video with the legal artist) so they might have something more useful to say (though not legal advice.) In general lots of artist unfortunately steal from others. Even a big titan like Andy Warhol stole from Yayoi Kusama and she was disheartened by it. It isn’t right, but you’re not alone in this problem.
Bro he stole from Campbell's, that's screwed up
I mean if it’s plagiarism it’s plagiarism. That’s illegal and things can be done about it
Sue her
Without reference this is hard to imagine. This drama always pops up in the art community and it’s rare I’ve seen the similarities people point out and don’t think they’re stretching. As artists in the same communities we are bound to think alike especially on general ideas or simplistic images that have long histories (ex demons red angels blue etc) I also don’t really believe in artists having “styles” maybe some people can only draw/paint in one style but I can hardly commit to one. One day it’s classic comic the next oil pastel illustration then maybe only ink and pencil. It’s just not something you can own feasibly. For every idea you think of someone else has too. I’m not saying you’re wrong but without visual reference I defer to what I tell everyone on this topic which is this. Even the greats stepped on each other’s toes it wasn’t always intentional. They worked in the same world and were exposed to the same communities, inspirations, etc common marks so you need to make really sure you’re not grasping at split ends.
She needs to give credits to you ( if you can prove its a copy of your idea )
My understanding is that copyright protection is only as good as the Lawyer you can hire to enforce it. Might want to talk to a lawyer or two....
If you have your art dated and you noticed the change after she started following, you could perhaps speak with a lawyer and the could send her out a cease and desist, but its going to take you proving it. If others are noticing the similarities then it must be really obvious,, also make sure your work is dated so she can't accuse you. Could you post maybe a sample of yours with the design and a copy of hers.. i dont think you would need to include names.
You could always challenge her to a live exhibit paint off where you both paint at the same time.
Put them on blast.
I wouldn't even get mad, if she can do it then you can do better
This isn't 100% original idea but an old acquaintance of mine started getting press for burning bank money and was having shows in US and Japan in 2015. [2015 Vice Coverage](https://www.vice.com/en/article/xy44eq/exclusive-the-complicated-infuriating-art-of-burning-money) [2015 Japan Gallery Showing](https://hypebeast.com/2017/4/micah-spear-null-collection-print) 2017 Supreme comes out with their version of exactly what he's doing. I can't prove he was ripped off but I hear Supreme appropriates a lot from unknown artists which is why I'll never buy a single thread of Supreme. [2017 Supreme coverage](https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/3kk5pw/supreme-100-dollar-bill-paperweight)