ART THIEVES AT SACANIME
This is pretty important, especially with a semi-big con happening this weekend! If you’re going to SacAnime, please keep an eye out for this booth and let the exhibit hall staff know about them!
This is a booth that goes by the name of “Ayase-tan Shop.” They will be exhibiting at SacAnime this weekend (table E20 in the exhibit hall) and apparently has been exhibiting at several cons throughout the summer. As you can tell by these pictures, these people are selling stolen fanart and bootlegged official art. For some reason they haven’t been reprimanded for their unethical business practices yet, so I’m hoping people can really do something about them at this upcoming con! They have been making thousands of dollars on stolen art with not a single cent going to the original artists! While that doesn’t seem to be a big deal for, I dunno, an overseas studio like Sunrise, it might make a bit more of a difference to an individual artist, like HUKE, or an individual fanartist. It might make a pretty big difference, actually.
Edit: Apparently, when confronted about this at Japan Expo, they took absolutely no action and just said that “everyone does it.” Except not. And except this is unethical and sleazy as shit!
So again, if you’re going to SacAnime, please speak out about this and talk to the staff, tell your friends, and most importantly, DO NOT BUY FROM THIS BOOTH. SacAnime is an interesting con in that it has a very small and tightly-knit con community, but a growing population so I think that if we come together, we can make a real dent in their ill-gotten profits and hopefully get them kicked out of the con, maybe even the con circuit, for good!
Ayase-tan Shop, booth E20 in the dealer’s hall!
****PLEASE SIGNAL BOOST!**** We need to get word out so they can NEVER sell at another con again!