Some time ago, a person (whom I am not going to mention the name) was banned permantly for art theft. I looked at the drawing that was claimed to have been stolen and was not convinced that it was stolen. The person was banned for theft immediatly after he/she was reported. Without any questions.
I would like to suggest that we do give suspected art theives some right to explain themselves. I suppose asking the 'thief' what they used to make their 'artwork'. They would have to tell what they used exactly. Specifying the brand, size, version and model of whatever they used. If they used photoshop or something, they would have to say 'Adobe photoshop 7.1' and 'wacom bamboo fun' or something. If they did pencil work they would have to say 'Uni Shalaku, sized 0.5, HB led, mechanical pencil' and 'Office paper'. I mean, they could just read off their pencil, like how I did just now. If they fail to tell what they used, then they fail to save themselves. I think art staff should help in identifying what medium the art work is. For example, if the artwork was identified as a charcoal drawing and the 'thief' said 'Uni Shalaku, sized 0.5, HB led, mechanical pencil', they have failed to prove themselves innocent.
If you're thinkin' 'what if they don't remember what they used?', well I'd say 'it's better than being banned without a word'.
I have had my art stolen before, by a member of Rescreatu by the way. But I didn't report it and I just let the thief go (s/he was just a little kid, I'm sure s/he learnt his/her lesson). This was over a year ago and the thief's account is no longer active. I can as.sure you s/he never stole anything again.
