Hi Jessica,
 
I can personally assure you that the art work was original as in designed
from scratch... from conception to realization.  I even recall the
conversation I had with my husband and the restaurant we were dining in
when the idea was born.  No clip art of any kind was used.  It is
entirely original.
 
If you look closely at T-shirt image and the logo on the web site, the
copyright symbol appears with my name and company name near the bottom
of the image on the right hand side.
 
I seem to be a popular target for stealing things from... guess I should
be flattered.  The only problem I find is that when it comes to the
written word cowards are hiding being the "I can change 10% of the
wording to make it my own" rule.  Thankfully, artwork doesn't have that
ludicrous rule.  With artwork, one of the main ways to decide upon
whether artwork images are stolen is if you can recognize the source.
One needs only to compare what Tracy is trying to steal with the original
artwork.  It is obvious that she has stolen... but what makes this more
tragic is that I don't make money on my artwork.  I donate a great deal
of it to the ferret community.  When someone takes from me, they steal
from the ferrets and that makes me even angrier.  Thieves need to be
stopped as well as those that hide behind the 10% changed working rule.
They need to be challenged as to why they simply don't ask for permission
to use what they want.  Many of us are willing to share but only want the
courtesy of being asked the question.  When people do this, it makes me
less likely to want to donate my work to anyone.
 
Thank you all for your support.  Justice will be served... I have no
doubt about it.
 
betty and her blur o'fur
 
[Moderator's note: "10% changed working rule"?  As far as I know, and
I'd consider myself rather familiar with copyright rules, there's no
such guideline.  That "rule" is simply a myth, I'd say.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4424]