UH-OH...what happened to DVDCoverart.com???
 

Been there a few times today only to get the message "server unavailable...try again later". Hope their server didn't crash...

Disney contacted us and ordered that all their covers be removed from the site. So, all covers for Disney studio titles and its subsidiaries (i.e. Miramax, Touchstone, Buena Vista, Pixar, etc.) are being removed to comply with their legal demands. The server (and whatever's left) will be available after this is completed.

Forum Troll: Thanks for the update..I'm guessing due to the number of Di$ney covers, that there's currently no Estimated Time?

Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS sucks.

I would guesstimate later tonight. The other admins are busy removing the rest of the affected material. After that, things should be back to normal, whatever that is.

these is soooooooo much BS!!!!! These movie companies are shotting themselves in the foot.

How about posting the covers but not being able to download. Would that be illegal.

There is no posting of covers without them being able to be downloaded - they are either available or they are not - We should be able to have it all back up and running by sometime tomorrow morning and there was an approximate 700 or so covers that had to be removed (and are still in process)
Us? I kind of would like to know who Forum troll is ((scratching head))

I'm surprised Disney didn't do this sooner.

Still sucks to hear about it happening.

Jup. what I was meaning was maybe we coul;d contact the authors personally and download them from them. So you guys do not get introuble.

Thanks for all your work!!!!

Figures. I just join, buy 100 credits, download 2 covers, and *boom*.

This is incredibly short sighted. If they're worried about piracy, covers have *nothing* to do with it. You really think somebody out there is going "Damn, I was going to pirate this great Disney flick, but without a cover, I just can't now."

The fact is, these covers are just for those of us legitimate owners who want to replace the gawdawful crap that passes for cover "art" nowadays.

Oh sure, there's always that - the hard part now, is thatonce they get removed you cant view them anymore so unless you specifically remember who did what, then who do you contact?

and BTW - I wasnt meaning to be blunt before - it was just a bad day with having to remove all that and coordinate with the other admins so we dont wind up wasting time double-dipping if you will and I more than likely just let it all hang out and it just came out sounding that way.

and now that I know who Forum Troll is, all I gotta say is Hey Hammer...you couldnt have come up with a better name that that??? LOL

My favorite part of yesterday was the bit of seeing in the DVDCA Forums that it was going to happen, and we better get the covers while we could..so, I went to look at the movies that were being pulled, and went back and BAM. Site is unavailable. :-) Ah well...if I didn't like the site, I wouldnt' have already spent 250 credits there.

Wonder if there is a way to list what authors did what covers...for the personal request idea..of course, that could turn into a GIANT Pita for the authors...

Jupiter: Any word yet on if Luca$ is going to come after you for your avatar there? :-P

Shame. I did the 42 cover matching, brushed metal, 'animated feature' set. In light of all this I am going to touch them all up, get the right UPCs on all of them and try and find another place for them. I've wanted to do this for a while, and fill a CD with hi-res .tiffs. I guess Disney has given me a reason to jump into this.

In related news, a matching Home on the Range is almost done. Cinderella and Aladdin are under way, and that just leaves Bambi.

Screw Eisner and Disney.

Michael: Thanks...your covers, along with Zinema's Bond Covers, and Darthvong's Aliens covers, are what got me into replacing my crappy covers.

Also, for all to know, the site is now open again. Please form a line, no pushing.

The Hutt's havent come bashing down my door yet, and until such time.......

well, since there seems to be some DVDCA people on here...

B4Bishop has a great idea there...or at least getting a "underground" thing going..

[still pissed that I dragged my feet about d/l Matt's Indiana Jones covers...:mad:]

A master list would be cool, if someone would be willing to put one together with previews of each cover.

Michael, I for one would pay money to own a CD of all your disney covers, so I really do hope you can find a new home for them soon.

Matt

going "underground", while sounding like a good idea, really sort of undermines what the whole DVDCA premise was initially started for ... a place for capable artists to present their much-improved-over-studio-filth, customized covers - it has since grown far beyod that and some might say not necessarilly for the better. I try to keep my work honest as do many, many others, but seeing some of what goes on behind the scenes, there's just a lot of the wrong and unwanted type of element out there. Still we do our best to be as reputable as possible and maintain our integrity.

Some people chide us ofr that, others applaud it - take it as you will with either a smile, or a grain of salt.

As far as Matt's Indy covers go - pay close attention to some of the artists mentioned in the cover artist thread ... in order to prevent further calamity, thats af far as I will throw that particular nugget.

As far as Michael goes, there is him and honestly more than several others who would do well if they coudl figure out a way to do exactly as suggested and I have pondered that particualr notion myself, but I lack the quantity and the temerity to pull it off successfully - perhpas in the future and perhaps with a few other names more talented than I - I can, without thinking, name at least 8 off the top of my head that I certainly wouldnt mind having as a pool of talent.

I have been a fellow user, replacing a lot of the crappy miramax covers with great customs.

This sucks, its as simple as that!

Also pending is The Lion King II SE version cover ... it's been on my HD for a few months now and it's eager to get out there ;-)

Not to even mention the half a dozain other covers that were finally finished (including the highly anticipated Pixar's ...)

Update: It's down again... not sure when (or if) it's coming back.

If I understand the DVDCA forums correctly, it looks like some pinhead, who was annoyed at the treatment he got from the moderators, ratted out DVDCoverart to the MPAA, or something along those lines.

So because this user was upset, he took it upon himself to destroy the whole idea for the rest of us who have been happily using it for years. GRRRRRRRR. -ohbfrank-

I'm even surprised it took that long for someone to do such a thing.

Well anyone who thought this/these day(s) would never come after DVDCA went comercial is IMHO a fool. It was just a matter of time before the studios would find the site and realize that someone is selling their intellectual property and making a good deal of money with it. So the only thing that surprises me is how long this worked without a studio noticing... the one thing everyone should realize is that the people running dvdca can consider themselfs lucky if they get away with simply removing the covers and not having a nice costly lawsuite coming their way... so lets hope di$ney is playing nice and doesn't start sueing...

Why people have to hate? I hate rats, somone gets butt hurt and has to mess it up 4 everyone else.

Is that really what happened? That sucks. But I gotta say, I'd believe it. I visit the forum there almost as often as here, and I hate to offend anyone, but a lot of the regulars(hell most of the moderators) there are snobish and very brutal on those trying to learn. I won't say I haven't been honest about a hideous cover, but I never went as far as insulting another user and telling them where to go, which seems to happen quite frequently over there.

Shame they had to ruin it for everyone though. I wouldn't doubt if it was someone (rippah or matthieu) from DF ratting them out either.

Oh, for the good old days when people put up a cover and we downloaded and thanked them. Making requests and suggestions.
We were a friendly and good community. I was patiently instructed on how to download, print and make some of my own covers. I never received a insulting or harsh word. We just got too big and went commercial.
To Michael, Matt, DarthVong, John and all the others that gave me instructions, created covers for me that I requested and the friendly good times - THANK YOU!!!

:banana:
:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:
-biggrin-

Quote:

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Originally posted by Randy810
Oh, for the good old days when people put up a cover and we downloaded and thanked them. Making requests and suggestions.
We were a friendly and good community. I was patiently instructed on how to download, print and make some of my own covers. I never received a insulting or harsh word.

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Are you referring to DVDCA or DVD Talk?

Both actually. It all started with our Talented Artists on DVDTALK (as you well know) and then Matt expanded and later DVDCA evolved because of the problem with bandwidth. Once the DVDCA got going and became so big with so many contributors, it was almost inevitible that problems would occur. I am not critisizing anyone on either site, I am just lamenting the "good old days" of when the cover artists were offfering their covers o their own sites, and the whole process was less impersonal.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Randy810
I am not critisizing anyone on either site, I am just lamenting the "good old days" of when the cover artists were offfering their covers o their own sites, and the whole process was less impersonal.

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I feel you. Well, quoth Cyndi Lauper -- "Money Changes Everything"...

Perhaps there'll be a migration of artists back to DVD Talk?

Well, I'm back. They won't even let me post a preview pic of my Disney covers in the forum. Even if the cover won't be available for d/l. Posted one the other day, and my post got edited and the pic removed.

BTW, Home on the Range and Aladdin are both 99% done. I just need features.

Bambi is about 80% done. The poster I'm using requires a lot of help, so I have been procrastinating on it. Same for Cinderella.

I will post images later.

Guess I'll be posting here more frequently too ... the whole Disney thing made me leave the site (edit: DVDCA that is) alltogether.

Michael, maybe I've got the art you want to use for Cinderella / Bambi at high res ?
Just mail me if you want me to have a look in my "archives".

PS. Did you receive that latest mail I sent you Michael ? (asking because ISP is having mail server problems again :-@)

I never understood why people don't just host images on a peer to peer file share...like bit torrent or something. It would eliminate the bandwidth issues.

I wonder how it would eliminate the bandwith issues ?

The writing was on the wall once Lucasfilm dropped the hammer. I suspected that eventually other companies would follow suit. I think we were fine when DVDCA was below the radar, but it just got to big and was easily noticed.

As far as the whole making-money issue. There's no other way to host a site with that much bandwidth usage for free. Sure there are alternatives, but nothing as stable as a website vs. peer-peer.

It was fun while it lasted. I'll miss seeing the numerous submissions by lesser known artist who contributed.

Hi all,

I have been with DVDCA for several years, and it has grown to be a major
part of my DVD hobby. I despise snappers, digipacks, and just plain
butt-ugly studio produced coverart (Real Genius, anyone?), and the
incredible covers produced by Matt, DarthVong, Publis82, and too many others
to name have given my library a great makeover. I have never uploaded a
cover, as I have neither the tools nor the talent to contribute in that
way,but I am only too happy to help defray the cost of providing these
services via the credit system Matt came up with. That way everyone shares
in the enjoyment of our favorite source of debt....:-). As was stated
earlier in this thread, the studios are really shooting themselves in the
foot. The packaging of the DVD can (and often does) influence whether or
not I will buy. I avoid digipacks like the plauge, and snappers are not far
behind. If I can print out custom artwork to replace either, then I am much
more likely to take the bait.

I would like to add my voice to those suggesting an "underground" network of
sorts (maybe a password protected private site?), under the radar of the
MPAA. This does have its own set of problems, however. If someone did rat
DVDCA out, I would love nothing more than to hang him/her up by their
toenails. Thing is, how do the powers that be (Matt & co I mean) know that
I am not just as immature, spiteful, and egocentric? Whom does DVDCA trust
with access to the site? Do they require extensive background checks? I
suppose they could get some contractor to do the checks, but the DVDCA
credit fee might go up just a tad bit.....:-).

I agree in that this has *nothing* to do with potential piracy (another can
of worms entirely), but everything to do with the MPAAs paranoia and
heavy-handed legal positioning.

I cannot state strongly enough how much I appriciate the efforts by so many
talented artists at DVDCA, and feel this to be a huge blow to a community I
have come to view as part of my extended family. I am sure that the DVD
cover art community will continue to evolve, and I will be there right along
with it.

This whole mess with dvdca is just crazy im am so upset about what is going there, as i know you guys are, but i wouldnt hang the towel yet,Im sure when matt gets everything worked out it will be back. (i hope) ok im done rambling now.

I'm glad I not only down-loaded DVD's I own but those I intend to own. Close to 300 (have about 30 credits left). Anyone working on the X-Files bonus disc that appears in most of the seasons? :)

I think I have about 70 creds left... hope I get to use 'em! :)

Gotta agree with DV though... it was only a matter of time. It's just too bad that some yahoo decided that he needed to ruin it for everyone.

PS - Pagansoul, I *love* that B5 quote. One of the best lines ever. :)

My favorite one is:

Corwin: "So from now on I guess the operational phrase is, Trust no one."
Ivanova: "No! Trust Ivanova. Trust yourself. Anybody else .... shoot 'em!"

But then again there's tons of Ivanova quotes I find hilarious ...