I'm going to make a post here simply to appeal to your rationality. I'm also going to be nice and polite about it, so this is in no way a flame so don't take it as such.

I think the whole anti "art-theft" thing that's happening on DeviantArt and other on-line communities is nothing more than a ridiculous witch hunt.

If you look up "art theft" on Google, you'll be inundated with news reports about folks actually stealing works of art, and not copying them or recolouring them. The Rotten.com library even has an entry about art theft, which you can read here:

[link] (Don't worry, there's no vile imagery on this page and it's work-safe. The rest of the site is pretty much not work safe, so just fair warning.)

Real art thieves are folks who want to take an actual physical piece of art and make it their own. It's a lot like being a comic book or trading card collector but on a much, much larger scale. There's Da Vincis, Michaelangelos, Van Djiks, and Holbeins that are in some rich man's basement that the world can't see right now because they want it all to themselves.

What you consider art theft can't be defined that easy. I've seen folks who have pointed out legitimate cases of tracing or re-colouring, but the majority of the accusations have been because a character just seems to resemble another character too closely, or the pose or composition of the work seems to be a copy of another.

Here's the facts of the whole matter: If someone traces your artwork, or copies your composition, or takes your character and draws it for themselves, or recolours what you've drawn, or even if they take your artwork and paint a mustache on it and paste it up claiming it's theirs, that is _not_ art theft. Having a similar composition or pose is most definately not art theft, either. Art is the form of expression, nothing more and nothing less. There is no limits on what someone can or can't do when they wish to make an expression.

From a legal standpoint, you have nothing to work with either. Copyright litigation is a long, hard, and very expensive affair. If the defendant throws out the whole fair use/parody plea, your ship is sunk.

Finally, suppose someone does copy your artwork. I don't know about you, but I'd be flattered. That's telling me that someone likes what I do so much that they they're trying to imitate me. I should point out for the record here that I have had folks copy my art[1], for benevolent and flat-out mean reasons. I encourage them to continue because that's just another baby-step into the fun world of art.

Instead of attacking these individuals you see as a threat, why don't you positively encourage them to take the next step and attempt to be original? Art is all about growth and expression, and creating a vigilante club to go publicly humiliate these folks simply isn't the way to do it.


Footnotes:
[1] I love to draw and interperet the world around me. I don't copy other folk's work, if that's what you're wondering. And yes, people have taken my artwork and claimed it as their own. So what.
[2] I don't host any of my art on DA, yet. Perhaps I will, eventually. Right now I'm going to enjoy the anonymity.