Art Theft (The Case of Kaus)

[Terrorchen]

Please don't be too harsh if this is a bad place to put this topic.

Link

Just thought in case any of you don't frequent the big forum outside of getting resources, Kaus, the maker of the big MV alternate tileset Asteria, is an art thief whose tilesets are made up of art he just ripped from google images, the spriters resource, and the like. It's suggested that anyone using them cease and desist usage of tilesets and anyone who purchased a commercial license for them should immediately ask for a refund.

Sorry to anyone who got cheated </3 I know I personally spent a long time on some really pretty maps for a side project only to find out about this :(

I hate art thieves!!! I'm glad he was caught before I got too far into my game! Same can't really be said for others :/

 

[Jodis]

Thank you for the heads up.

 

[Amysaurus]

For once, I'm super happy I hadn't come across someone's resources. I'll really never be able to understand the mentality it takes for someone to be okay with taking someone else's work and selling it as their own, especially after having it happen with my own work. > : |

I hope as many people as possible can get their money back.

 

[Cunechan]

Nooooooo D: Wait, Kaus is/was Hanzo Kimura or did I get that wrong? That's sad. I know the original tiles and the artist.... Didn't realize it when I downloaded the tilesets weeks ago... Hope that not too many people had to pay for a license. Art theft.... Don't really know why this even exists

I'll delete the sets and hope something like that won't happen again Dx

 

[Amysaurus]

Yeah, they previously went by Hanzo Kimura, and apparently stole artwork under that name as well. : /

 

[Terrorchen]

Nooooooo D: Wait, Kaus is/was Hanzo Kimura or did I get that wrong

Yes. They are the same person.

Hope that not too many people had to pay for a license.

Sadly, many people payed for an 80$ USD license :/

 

[Boy Who Codes]

Thank you for this. I know this guy from an FB group and this should be remembered that he'll have to answer about this.

 

[LTN Games]

I don't really see the similarities in them, the palm tree leaves look better in his tileset compared to the shutterstock image provided, as for the cliffs and rocks even they don't look the same. What did Kaus have to say about this? is there a response from them or did he get blocked before being allowed to? I'm not saying they aren't stolen I just don't see the similarities at all, maybe someone can point them out to me.

 

[Terrorchen]

I don't really see the similarities in them, the palm tree leaves look better in his tileset compared to the shutterstock image provided, as for the cliffs and rocks even they don't look the same. What did Kaus have to say about this? is there a response from them or did he get blocked before being allowed to? I'm not saying they aren't stolen I just don't see the similarities at all, maybe someone can point them out to me.

he had already been caught doing it in the past

He pumped out these tilesets super fast

He had an inconsistent tileset style

Some of the tilesets were his own/edits, but they were inconsistent in quality with the other pieces

He's not really denying it, just trying to point out parts that are his and are usable, which is untrustworthy since he lied about it in the first place.

Many people thought some of his stuff looked similar, but couldn't place it. He wasn't stealing from RM asset creators, but getting stuff from spriter pro ect. ect. and editing it
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This is just from what I gather. He's giving refunds and not denying it really, so I think it's safe to stop using his tiles.

EDIT: I think he admitted that some parts were ripped. It's not all of it, but those bad apples spoiled the bunch

 

[LTN Games]

Ah, okay. I never used his tiles only ever took a quick look at them. Well, that's a shame I've seen a lot of projects with those tiles in it.

 

[Terrorchen]

Ah, okay. I never used his tiles only ever took a quick look at them. Well, that's a shame I've seen a lot of projects with those tiles in it.

Yeah I've seen a couple people put their projects on hiatus because they had done so much with their maps using his tiles

 

[Cunechan]

OUCH that's alot D: That's TERRIBLE.

 

[Terrorchen]

Incase anyone doesn't see what Celiana was talking about:

 

[MinisterJay]

Thank you for this. I know this guy from an FB group and this should be remembered that he'll have to answer about this.

Soul, not the same Hanzo that is a leader fromm the FB group?

I don't really see the similarities in them, the palm tree leaves look better in his tileset compared to the shutterstock image provided, as for the cliffs and rocks even they don't look the same. What did Kaus have to say about this? is there a response from them or did he get blocked before being allowed to? I'm not saying they aren't stolen I just don't see the similarities at all, maybe someone can point them out to me.

I am going to find out by looking at his FB responses.

 

[Amysaurus]

The most interesting part of it, to me, is that they probably could've made tiles that well themselves if they had spent all of that time practicing instead of putting together stolen parts. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Jodis]

The most interesting part of it, to me, is that they probably could've made tiles that well themselves if they had spent all of that time practicing instead of putting together stolen parts. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was thinking just that same thing. lol Are you reading my mind. jk

 

[Boy Who Codes]

Remember that with a good time you can spend editing yourself with these tiles with even just GIMP / Photoshop. Seriously, it's not going to harm you learning how to, and putting up the effort to do it. Just like coding. Well, it's good he's clearly banned and removed from groups. I say we should keep this issue finished though, since we won't benefit if we keep this issue on fire. What I can advice all of us is to improve ourselves, and forget that this Kaus' work ever existed.

 

[MinisterJay]

I agree with @Soul , he has been removed or quit most of the groups/forums he was part of. Everybody has made some kind of mistake durig their life. He admitted to his wrong doings, and has paid the price, a harsh price, the one of banishment.

 

[CM Games]

What was he thinking..he can outsmart the RM community?..and he already did. Glad someone who is also a Tileset creator caught him.
If you want to sell something, make sure it is yours or better copy then make it your own by improving it or giving it another style or design.
Let's be more careful in using resources from now on, we never know.

I also remember someone from our group made an RM game called Awaken using mostly Kaus tilesets and uploaded it in RPGM.net..now what will happen to that game?..what a sad event.
Awaken using Kaus Tilesets: https://rpgmaker.net/games/8870/

 

[Jodis]

I hate to say it but I think it will be removed if he is using the graphics. Kaus has some plugins. But the credits on that game don't say what he is useing.