An Introduction to Nads6969
Let me start off by saying that 37 year-old Nadia Stepputat, aka Nads6969, is the inspiration for this site.
An avid fan of Sailor Moon, she has devoted 12 years to creating artwork, fanfiction, and original characters. There is no denying that she is passionate about the franchise, and that art is her outlet for an otherwise humdrum life as a stay-at-home single mother.
But every artist has their limits, and hers are more obvious than others. The fact of the matter is, Nads6969 cannot draw very well on her own, and admits on the front page of her Deviantart that she “sometimes traces” in order to perfect the Sailor Moon art style.
But what happens when “sometimes” becomes “often?” What happens when “sometimes” becomes “almost all the time?”
That’s where my experience, and the experience of many, MANY others, comes in, as detailed in these journals documenting Ms. Stepputat’s behavior and actions:
https://www.deviantart.com/fireflea-san/journal/Don-t-Support-Art-Theft-Update-802254293?offset=0#comments
https://www.deviantart.com/cheddar99044/journal/Open-Letter-to-Nads6969-7-19-2019-update-750864400
https://www.deviantart.com/fireflea-san/journal/OH-HELL-NO-never-ending-x2-758281151
https://www.deviantart.com/fireflea-san/journal/Don-t-Support-Art-Theft-Update-802254293?offset=0#comments
https://twitter.com/hashtag/nads6969?lang=en
https://www.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/boyj9u/years_worth_of_deviantart_drama_about_a_user/
In 12 years, Ms. Stepputat has traced off of the works of nearly 100 different artists across Facebook, Deviantart, Tumblr, Pixiv, Twitter, and Instagram. She might trace up to 90% of someone else’s work, then add a paltry message on her traced version claiming she “used a reference.” Her fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between “referencing” and “tracing” is what has fueled a growing base against her, and the more people attempt to correct her, the more she digs her heels in and swears adamantly that she is not in the wrong for her actions.
Whether or not something has an actual on-paper copyright on their work, whether or not you are passionate against or indifferent towards the practice of tracing, the work is still the property of the original artist and they can decide who gets to use it and how. So if people have disclaimers on their work saying “don’t trace/copy,” or if they don’t have such a disclaimer but are still not okay with people tracing/copying their work, they get the final say.
Unfortunately, Ms. Stepputat’s victims’ complaints against her and requests for her not to trace their art have fallen on deaf ears. She has been banned from Artstation, WeHeartIt, and Pinterest after many people submitted DMCA takedown notices against her for unauthorized use of their work without their permission, and her remaining strongholds are Deviantart and Facebook.
The purpose of this site, then, is to document the staggering amount of artwork she has traced without permission and without remorse, and the effect that her actions have had on her victims and the art community.
