T.King Official Public Statement regarding the EQ/VGInterface
 

Monday, August 29th 2024 - T.King Official Public Statement regarding the EQ/VGInterface OGaming Acquisition

As many of you have already correctly assumed - I was totally unaware of the EQ/VGInterface OGaming acquisition until after it had already taken place. I even signed up as a member on the VGInterface.com website/portal without any knowledge of what had happened. Since EQInterface.com contains a rather large amount of my art/work (literally hundreds). I had assumed I would be consulted before something like this would have taken place. Apparently, Jim (Kudane) the owner/proprietor of EQ/VGInterface had made several attempts to contact me by phone, which I was able to confirm in my call logs. I had not returned calls due to a busy schedule.

I haven't had time to deal with this issue head on due to a very busy schedule. But I have made it crystal clear in the past, that I do not wish my art to be connected to any commercially owned or operated website(s) without my express written consent. Also, I have yet to determine whether or not 1.) My artwork was used as a consideration of value placed in the purchase/acquisition of the EQInterface site, and 2.) Whether or not my artwork was a part of the acquisition (which as you can imagine would be quite bad considering my artwork is copyright without exception.)

As many of you already know - Cairenn has been a moderator on my website for several years now, and I've come to trust her as a good friend. She has kept her work on the EQInterface site completely separated from my art forum. She has been a valuable asset in keeping my forums organized. I have yet to speak with Cairenn about her role as a moderator on my art messageboard following what has transpired, due to the potential conflict of interest it presents with her continued role of administrating and moderating the EQ/VGInterface sites. But I have decided that since she is a friend, I will first take time to speak with all parties involved, before I make any decisions.

I don't think it would be fair to players who are unaware of what has transpired at EQInterface, to completely uproot my work since it is deeply sewn within hundreds of fan/player-made user-interface modifications. But I also do not think my work should be left in place as-is without first discussing the issue specifically with Jim (Kudane), and working something out that is in the best interest of the fans/players whom I made the art for to begin with. Perhaps let the players vote and decide the future of my art there?
I will post an update as soon as I've had an opportunity to speak with all parties involved directly. For those of you wondering about my extremely busy schedule. A great deal of my time has been spent taking care of urgent family matters of a profound nature, including my sons weekly therapy.

I'll wrap this up with a link to an interesting read about copyrighted art:
http://archives.thedaily.washington....opyrights.html

~Tom King

Original post here

Thank you
 

Sad news =(

First things, I want to say thank you to Tom for all the wonderful art he has created over the years. I have enjoyed much of it to no end.

On the topic of removing all of your art from EQ Interface; As much as I would truly regret loosing art as detailed and beautiful as yours, I do understand and respect your opinion of the acquisition and the acquiring party.

Lastly, I hope you and your son are doing well and I wish the best for you and your family.

Thank you again for all the wonderful art. I look forward to see what you do next.

-WarpedJester