Name: Michael Hirtes

AKA: mhirtes, m_hirtes

Applicable links:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/689043/
http://www.crushyiffdestroy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3559

Modus Operandi:

Michael Hirtes has a long history of cheating and abusing artists in addition to his other abrasive behavior, going back almost a decade or more. His usual method is to ask for constant sketches to see the progress and make sure the commission is going as he wants it. He will ask for these sketches and numerous revisions (many infamously involving more and more elaborate toe rings) until either he has had enough sketches and simply abandons contact, or the artist becomes frustrated and calls off the commission.

A secondary tactic of Hirtes' seems to be to actually complete the commission, then find something that the artist did (posting the image in their gallery being one example) to demand a full refund lest he file a grievance with PayPal.

Whatever happens... whether the artist drops the commission, whether they cease to play along, or in any other method when Hirtes sees that he is not going to be able to abuse them into continuing to do as he wants, he will attempt to play the wronged party, making numerous public posts (both under his own name and anonymously) to attempt to vilify the artist and make them out to be the cheat.

Advised Action: Do not interact with Michael Hirtes in any fashion. While this will not fully protect you (he may try to say that you are rude or standoffish for ignoring him), it will insulate you from becoming more thoroughly involved in the drama and anger he creates. Accept a commission from Michael Hirtes at risk to your money, time, effort, and the quietude of your online journal.

Name: Asphyxiation

AKA: Uknown

Applicable links:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/658363/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/663972/

Modus Operandi:

From what we can gather, extremely long wait times are this artist's weapon, in upwards of a year. The arsenal is bolstered by sob stories, attempting to befriend commissioners (or accepting commissions from friends), and self pity.

The main story that brought Asphyxiation to our attention was the journal above where she simply announced she was dropping all of her commissions with no intent to ever pay them back with the infamous two sentence journal: "droppin everything, sorry guys / can't pay you back, got no money". She later recanted and said she'd eventually fill the commissions, but did so while declaring everyone who expected her to fulfill her obligations to simply be whining.

This is the only major event known for this artist, but it warrants a warning of approach with caution. Commission Asphyxiation at your own risk.

Real Name: Richard Helms
Current Alias: Betawolf
Other Known Aliases: Sinister Taz/snistrtaz

Applicable links:
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/betawolf/
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/snistrtaz/
>>/wtfur/5380

Modus Operandi:
For the record - of what we know about Richard's activites as it pertains to actually commissioning people, he makes good on payments and doesn't cause much trouble with artists, nor does he whine if they refuse to draw the kind of content he wants. Helms is on this list for a wholly different reason.

Helms used to (and may still) operate under the delusion that he owns the copyrights to images he's commissioned from artists (and that he owns copyrights on ideas, which is impossible) simply by paying for the commission, which would give him the right to sue people and/or use the DMCA on sites that distribute said commissions on the Internet. He once threatened to sue e621 because they had several of his commissions on their site, and refused to listen to a number of people - including the administrators of that site - who tried to explain that he had no legal grounds to sue and that there were better ways of asking the admins to have those commissions taken down.

After this debacle, Helms made it clear that he would no longer buy commissions from artists without having them sell him the copyrights to the commissions; he also insinuated that he will eventually use these commissions to open up a paysite, assumedly to make money for himself without giving a cut of the subscription fees to the artists behind the images. He later openly admitted that he does plan to make a paysite with images he owns the copyrights to, but only after an artist who'd worked with Helms in the past revealed a very questionably-worded "contract" Helms had them sign prior to the commission work.

Helms seems to hide his true intentions from others; a public comment on an FA journal (now deleted) that asked about his intentions for the commissioned images he owns the copyrights to wasn't openly answered by Helms, leading many to wonder what his true motives are. He may prey on artists who don't have an understanding of copyrights in order to completely own their work and do with it as he wishes, though we have no proof of this; it is merely educated speculation based on his past behavior.

Advised Action:
We advise all artists to avoid doing commissions for Helms ONLY because he wishes to get artists to give up the rights to commissioned images. We believe that he will use such ownership rights to attempt to sue others for distribution of his art or use the DMCA to get sites that allow for such distribution (such as this one) taken down, in addition to the aformentioned paysite plan, all in an effort to make money off of work he didn't do himself.