WoWp: Stolen graphics?

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Thanks to Dominatus (US) for this one.

Hello everyone,

so, we might have another case of WG stealing graphics from people, who didn’t consent. Take a look at this WoWp poster:

loading_screen_13_by_sid75-d6wykcz

Please pay attention to the French biplane and the Japanese plane. The biplane was a WW1 fighter belonging to the famous ace Charles Nungesser. The Japanese warplane is the Ki-43 Oscar. Neither of these planes is currently in the game. And now have a look at these two pictures:

__pacific_thunder___major_william___dinghy___dunham_by_roen911-d4m0qnr

charles_nungesser___master_of_the_skies___by_roen911-d4gv2dt

These pictures don’t belong to Wargaming, they were made by Deviantart user Roen911. It looks like Wargaming took the French and the Japanese plane, just flipped the pictures and added them to their own drawing – at least that’s what Roen911 thinks and he’s not happy about it, because it was obviously without his permission.

Personally, I don’t know about the Japanese plane, but the French one (that is not even in the game, why would they put it on their pictures?) does look awfully similiar….

Edit: the “author” of the Wargaming picture is noone else than Vitalyi Smyk, “Director of Concept Art department at Persha Studia (Wargaming.net)”, it’s a WoWp loading screen apparently, not just a poster. It can be seen here on his DeviantArt profile.

110 thoughts on “WoWp: Stolen graphics?”

  3. The French one on both images matches up exactly once you start looking at small details like flaps position, lighting, and shading. I would be pissed as hell if this was my work. I hope he gets something out of it.

    While WG could have looked up Charles Nungesse’s plane and drawn one up and panted it… It would not have exactly the same shading and lighting if they had done that nor would it have the same spacings on the wing for the colors. Since everything between the two planes matches I hope the best for the artiest.

    • You can’t expect from WG to even try to change the pictures a little bit……they are c/p professionals….and they are so arrogant it’s unvelievable

      • This small fragment also treated (blur, etc.) can not be the subject of copyright. However, the picture itself – nonsense, because the American P40 never flew with the French Nieuport (even in China).

        I think the author was in a hurry, as usual Clipart (biplanes of the game) was not available. And stole from fellow on Deviantart part of the picture.

      • It’s sad, because i want to defend their company, because i love WoT…
        To see this… well… I lose my faith in them :(

  6. Maybe they got away with the previous one(WoT one, when they hid it’s owner watermark) but I don’t see how they might get away with this one…
    And the stupidity, its at it’s finest…you copy someone’s work, you post it on the same site you took it from and you answer to IT’S OWNER saying that you made it by taking the models FROM THE GAME and adding some background to it…omfg…

  7. As a part of WG community I can only disagree with you. Those plains will be in the next patch.

    Regards

    • Still doesn’t change the fact they’re copy-pasted from Roen’s art bit by bit, only reversing them, and the fact the moron which posted them admited that those “models” are taken from the game.

        • I don’t think it’s that…this troll spelled the “planes” word wrong(plains), also claiming that he knows the features of the incoming patch(not the one that’s only in test phase now, but the next one) in advance…as a poor forum moderator…highly unlikely…
          The real BBV wouldn’t had the ballz to show up here, or if he had, he’d done it silently, without using his name.

    • Lol, whoever u are, why do u use that nickname? Like Vuk would be that stupid to actually comment or even visit this site….

      Anyways… Ye, that french biplane is definetly the same, especially if u zoom in on the tail markins too.

      • Those plains
        Those PLAINS
        PLAINS
        WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
        Not only you didn’t fooled anyone with fake account, but you also made a freaking idiot out of yourself with your moronic illiteracy.

        • Hahaha Medjed, you sure “didn’t fooled” anyone with your own moronic illiteracy, but I guess you don’t mind since you’ve already been making a freaking idiot of yourself on these comments for months.

    • BBV, we all know you’re basically a retard, but this is taking it to the next level. You didn’t even UNDERSTAND what this blog post is about. How are you related to WG higher ups, Cousin, brother in law?

  10. I am embarrassed by my association with WG by this. I know I’m “just a player” (as has been told to me by WG employees) but I feel I kinda still represent WG as the lead editor for the wiki. Is this WG? Or an idiot artist at WG that made a mistake. But it’s not the first time now is it? Previously it was WoT and different dev studios and all, but where is the art being done at?

  11. “Stolen graphics yaddayadda planes not in the game yaddayadda.”

    In closed beta we got shiney pré-battle screens with Spitfires on them, they weren’t even in the game. They are now, so I’m guessing they may bring French planes in the game as well. Nakajima made a load of planes so it’s not unthinkable that those will be in the game at some point, too. Can’t really tell whether the plane on the WG picture is a Ki-43, might as well be a Zero.

    The P-40 has an in-game available paint job, so that’s not an issue.

    Problem is, an aircraft looks a certain way. You can draw one and someone else might have drawn a similar looking plane. Hard to tell who’s right and who’s wrong.

  12. If the did steal it – shame on them, and they should be charged for it.
    But if not, well it’s very easy for them to counter any accusations. First these were real planes so everybody can draw them there were hundreds of them looking exactly the same (except for pilot/squad marks) or just one very famous (e.g Red Baron’s Fokker). Secondly the’re blurred and with altered colors – everybody who draws similar plane can accuse them now.
    I don’t wan’t to defend them or accuse them, but different people work there and do stupids things like everybody else. Maybe only slavians inaccuracy in work makes their mistakes more visible. The other thing is that you SS seems to be hating that one company in particular, not to mention Czech community managers;)

    Shorter: I hope it’s not true, but if so – quit your job whoever let it go.

  14. Roen911 needs to register his original image with the US Copyright Office and take WG US for up to the statuary limit $150000. If he can show that WG removed metadata and his signature counts as that, then thats something like $20000 as well. The addition of motion blur to the biplane goes to an attempt to hide the origin and flagrancy especially when you compare it to the much faster monoplane in the foreground whose stall speed would be around the maximum speed of the biplane and from the vapour trails from the wingtips of the monoplane it is not stalling. If Roen911 has placed this image under a Creative Commons licence then his chances of getting anything go down a lot.

  19. The angle of the french plane is slightly different.
    Im not entirely sold on the idea that WG have ripped artwork directly, although they may have used it as a template. Would expect small details to be the same (its a specific plane after all) although the reversed flag on the fuselage is slightly troubling.

    • It’s not. Even the stripes match to a pixel. There’s a comparison right above your comment…

  20. Well thank you that you inform me for this topic….

    Its so funny guys and thanks for supported me ! Grumpy_Stranger this is spot on :)

  21. Btw i would like to say that this is the second time that the same company do this to me but i dont know the reason…why simply they dont ask me to do it for them !

    • They want to save money. You might consider consulting a lawyer, I don’t know where you are from, but in the USA such things get settled for big buck.

        • …..i just saw his status on linkedin….lol he studied that….i learn to do what i am doing by watching youtube video tutorials !
          Like i said is funny

        • How about a more practical solution?

          Usually these things arise from idiotic employee/contractor or two. Does anyone have any contacts at WG so things could be arranged that instead of WG paying for someone to rip roen911 off they could just pay him directly?

        • Good work at your Deviantart gallery, Roen. Did u made those wallpapers after models you did at home, or are those taken from screenshots of another game? If the is the second, dont worry about it, since you are not using them to gain money, you are not going against copyrights, but the other company can take WG to justice because of the copyright.

          • is mixed mate,the old ones i used to make are pictures from pc games mostly from rise of flight…but all my new ones are 3D

  26. What’s the point of this post? Those planes are a part of history. .Many aviation museums feature them. You might as well blame Gaijin for copying War Gaming for planning on featuring some of the same tanks with the same colors, textures, inscriptions, etc…

    • This is Art. It hasnt to do anything with the plane itself. So maybe u should learn smth about copyright.

      Maybe the author should get a lawyer to get at WG. Cause i think atm they safe more money with stealing then with paying. so lets see if in the future they ll do it again.

      • There are a few things you should learn. Firstly, I’d like to ask you to learn something about spelling.

        But really most importantly, you should gain some perspective and realize how absurd copyright and patents are.

        Here’s an interesting quote from independent film director Jim Jarmusch:

        Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery. celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”

  27. You realise it’s possible he saw the pictures you found and was inspired by the, right?

    Artists rip each other off all the time and have been doing so for centuries…

    On the subject of WoWP…SS, can you please touch base with WG and ask them to give WG NA a right kick in the arse. The weekend special for Pearl Harbour was pathetic (Especially compared to WG EU and WG RU).

    • Like I already said in a post above yours; getting inspired and copy-pasting are 2 completely different things. The point of a concept artists is to produce original content to begin with.

      • Nothing new under the sun ;-)

        But yeah, this does seem most likely another case of Ripoff City.

  28. This comes as no surprise. WG makes so much money from WoT, and still is about the cheapest company ever. The giftshop deals for the NA server are evidence of this as well. If you trust WG to have your best interests in mind as a player, after they’ve repeatedly shown their true colors, then you deserve what you get.

  29. Stolen??? It’s just a “heavy” definition i think…

    If we search the internet we can see very very similar paintworks like that…

    inspiration, maybe ???

  31. Isn’t the engine of WoT ripped from Theatre of war?
    I just think WG doesn’t care about copyright, they simply will pay any fine before it comes to court and hope that the ripped of artists are either too poor to sue them or will give up trying.

  32. Although I decided to stop playing WoT for a while – totally disappointed with new japs tanks, I will still read FTR because WG fails and your comments guys are very amusing ;]
    After a close look at both pictures a have almost no doubts it was copy pasted ;) but off course: WG 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED….LOL

  33. Changes are your work came up in a research round and someone skipped vetting. They should take it down though. They can’t pay you and they can’t admit it either. The lawyer is probably more expensive for you than what you’d get out of it. They’ll probably sit tight which is to say that is what you’ll probably end up doing.

      • I dont know how it works in other countries, but in my country, if you win a lawsuit against other person or company, the other part will be the one paying all the expenses of the process, and your lawier will be paid only 20% of what will be paid to you. I think the chances are good for him.

  36. SS, stop that shitventing. The image was never used in game. It is not “official” artwork either.
    WoWp’s person answer is here: http://world-of-ru.livejournal.com/2851925.html
    The story is: SID75 used parts of Roen911′s work to figure out the composition of his new picture. Afterwards planes were replaced by wowp renders and image became 100% legit. The disputed image is merely a “waste art”, “shavings”.

    SS, you should update post with a disclaimer.

  37. He dont need to update anything because this is what happened…the picture was going to be a part of the official update and after that they changed it.Logs by sid75 emails i got proves the opposite but like i said i dont spend more time with those retards….Since day one i did this not to earn money by them but to humiliate them because this is the second time the same company did this to me.

    Like i said are fucking retards .I am a very good friend with the developer of a new known pc game that comes soon (Russian also) and he said that the persons like sid75 have bad reputation and is not worth to do something more !

    Thats from me legolegs and because i know you are one of these faggots from the same company go die !

    Sorry for my language but the last two days the emails i had from them is the least annoying…are just a group of kids and not professional artists !

  38. at least i am using my official nick name when i am posting to blogs/forums mister Vitaly ak@ legolegs,

    Dont bothered me again whatever happens ends here !

    • I have nothing with wargaming and Vitalyi Smyk. At first I wanted to insult you in return but I understand you’re angry and you have a reason to be angry. Still, WoWp didnt used your graphics while Vitalyi Smyk did and thus title of SS;s post is incorrect.

  39. Reon911 used to go by the tag 5./JG54_s0crazty and used to steal his fair share of art from other screenshot artists, so i find this amusingly ironic.

    The Aleuitian P40 is from a screenshot by Max the Hitman. and has has half of the tiger face scrubbed out