Features

The Steal

From the beginning of AWhiteHorse.com™ in 1996, the internet has enabled us to share our coloring pages with the world. Our family has grown as we've watched the world change. Our family now includes our grown daughters, their husbands, and our grandson, Benjamin. He completes his daily schoolwork on a laptop or tablet connected to the internet.

Benjamin regularly draws and paints beside me in my studio, as I work on the website. I now spend need to several days each year tracking down and identifying my stolen images. Even some of the oldest images are still being stolen! Finding the stolen coloring book images is important, but it feels like a punch to the stomach. Fans of the coloring book sometimes find the "wandering" images themselves and they'll give me a call, or one of our daughters will find them. Sometimes, I'll find them myself, with the direct help of different search engines. It's frustrating to see my signature wiped out. I deserve to have the identity and origins of my artwork preserved.

A few weeks ago, I found a horse ranch's online pages that had "borrowed" thirteen pages of my coloring book. That took some effort. I don't want to use the law and get this ranch in trouble, I just want my rights respected. Thirteen stolen images from my coloring book posted to their own Tripod-hosted account must be some sort of record. I spent over an hour filling out the copyright claim at Lycos, one claim per image. They aren't only stealing my artwork, they're stealing my time.