[☼]RotB[☼] Farewell, friends. See Front Page

[The Grand Weaver]

exclaim Please read the announcement on the front page. By no design or desire of our own, Realm of the B'alam has been ordered closed. We will keep our discord open for further news- but for now, we are leaving gaiaonline.

[GunSniper]

The Grand Weaver

xxxxxxxxxx Updates
09.30.2018

◘ Female Dark Magus Primaries Complete!



xxxxxxxxxx Announcements
o2.11.2019- [ A Regretful Farewell ]-
Friends and B'alam Fam- we regret to inform you that Realm of the B'alam is being forced to shut down.
This morning, we woke up to the following PM in our inbox:

Junai Bokunenjin

Hello,

We have been notified of the owner of the lineart you are currently using for your shop Realm of the B'alam no longer giving permission to use said lineart. Because this express permission has been revoked, any images that use this lineart going forward may not be used in the shop. This does not affect images that have already been bought or sold prior to February 16th, 2019.

Please remove all works including lineart made by Leelakins that was previously purchased for use by Little Yellow Jacket. This includes art in your thread [☼]Realm of the B'alam[☼] and your corresponding guild Realm of the B'alam.

You are being given 30 days to comply to these changes. If after 30 days there is still linework that is being used that you do not have express permission to use (such as by the creator of the art or the person who has purchased a license to use the art with permission), we may be forced to remove both your guild and thread for art theft and place a permanent ban on your account for art theft and scamming. To reiterate, you may still host the art that was created prior to this permission being revoked, but you may not create new art (such as new pets or breeding) with the lineart that you no longer have permission to use.

If you have any questions about this request, please reply to this message. Alternatively, if you have additional evidence to provide, please reply with said evidence to support your case.

Regards,
Junai Bokunenjin
Omni Moderator

Our staff has attempted to fight this decision by producing the original agreement between Thalion and LYJ wherein Thalion paid for the right to her work but Gaia's rules apparently usurp the agreement made between LYJ and Thalion.

As per their next PM:

Quote:

This contract made in 2015 is invalid due to Gaia's rules over-ruling your contract. This contract also does not say that your re-did lines are yours to use. Our rules on copyrighted content and how this contract is written (as well as credits given in your shop) outline that Little Yellow Jacket still has ownership of those lines. If you were given express permission to use these lines if they are redrawn, I require you to link me to/report the content as evidence of an agreement. Without that, we must go on the assumption that she is in full control of these lines and they cannot be used going forward by you or the shop that she is no longer a part of.

Even if your bases were re-drawn by you, they are based off of/copied/eye-balled from the originals that she is in control of. If you do not have evidence that she said you may use these for the shop forever going forward, you are unfortunately unable to use these lines from now on as she ultimately owns them and is ceasing to allow you permission to use them. Tracing/copying/eye-balling/heavy referencing is still a copyright violation, and therefore is still considered art theft/scamming. Whether or not additions were made (such as horns, wings, etc.), the bases that they are based off of you no longer have permission to use.

Again, from her PM contract with you, there is no evidence that she said that these line art pieces may be used by the shop indefinitely. This contract is also invalid. If you have evidence of Little Yellow Jacket saying that these lines may be used forever within the shop after you had obtained ownership of it, I would like you to forward that evidence to me at your earliest convenience. However, without this evidence, our decision on the matter is the same: you must cease using any lineart that belongs to Little Yellow Jacket going forward as you no longer have permission to use it.

So, as this move against the shop has officially closed us and stripped the staff of any further reason to remain on gaia- we will go full exposure.

In 2014 LYJ approached Thalion hoping to revive Temple of The B'alam. It was the first set of lines that LYJ had purchased and she had hoped to revive the old shop. After many attempts to work with the old lines, Thalion offered to re-template the entire set of lines to make them easier to work with, edit, and expand upon. The next few months involved a lot of work, redlining, inking, shading, and world building. Thalion built the realm from the ground up with minimal input from LYJ outside of the occasional thumbs up.

As any who frequent the B/C know, it's common practice for this particular individual to buy up templates and rights to shops that, back in the day, had quite the cult following, revive it for a few weeks, then move right along. The staff at RotB never drifted- they stayed focused while their "owner" drifted in and out with the tide, opening their new shops, running it into the ground, returning to get their hands on whatever current cosplays they wanted, then drift out again. Eventually, the staff came up with a compromise- revamp another shop for LYJ in exchange for the rights to RotB. LYJ agreed and for nearly three months, Thalion re-vamped East of Eden from the ground up, re-wrote the lore, redid the certs, guild, and templates much the same way she did in RotB. An agreement was made and full ownership was shifted over. Here is that contract:

Quote:

I, Little Yellow Jacket do hereby give up my rights as owner to the shop Realm of the B'alam in accordance with the following conditions to Thalion. These conditions must remain met for the full ownership to remain transferred to Thalion alone.

A breach in conditions 1 or 3 will result in the co-ownership of the shop once more. If that occurs, Little Yellow Jacket will pay Thalion for the Pony templates once more.

Condition 1: Little Yellow Jacket will remain permanently on staff as a colorist for all time. She will have no quota requirements and may continue to take all types of work offered in the shop. (customs, RL customs, breeding ect)

Condition 2: The transfer of ownership will remain quiet from the general population of gaia to avoid harassment. No change will be listed on the front page of the shop to aid in this matter.

Condition 3: In in the event Thalion decides to leave gaia, close the shop or decide to willingly give the shop up, Little Yellow Jacket will be able to purchase the ownership of the shop and art, for an agreed upon price of 20 billion gold.


In exchange for the shop, Thalion will be completing the new templates for the shop Ponies of Panavalon. The templates can include at Thalion's desecration any number of additional manes and tails but are not required.

Our side was fulfilled- and then some. Two sets of Pony lines were completed- one from East of Eden and one from Ponies of Panavolon. We did twice the amount of work requested of us in exchange for the rights to own the fruits of our own labor.

The events leading up to this closure are hardly secret. LYJ wanted the lines back, Thalion refused. LYJ hired another artist to re-do the original lines but when that project fell through both on gaia and deviantart, she resorted to this measure.

One lesson to learn from this is that it is not the artwork that defines its community: It's the spirit of the community. B'alam was founded in 2014 as a safe haven for those on gaia who have found themselves in the shadows so to speak. Shops became massive cliques in many regards, pets became outlandishly expensive, shops prioritized quantity of pets over the quality of character building or lore, and the hostile political climate off-gaia was infesting even the b/c. B'alam was built to be different- the pets were almost always given away, the staff worked without pay. We built colonies, kingdoms, cultures, and tear-jerking plots together. We had our lumps, sure, but our community put everything we disagreed on aside because we were able to focus on the things we had in common. People who stood at polar ends of an issue could find a middle ground and plot together. People who felt like the odd one out in the bigger shops could come in, have a new pet given to them, and a flock of people looking to welcome and plot with them.

We were different- and it wasn't the art that did it. It was you guys, it was the community.

If we could find a way out of this- we would take it. We've tried to be civil with those who wish to bring us down. We've tried to reason, we've tried to ignore the problem- but in the end they did it. And for what? It's an empty victory for them and if their intention was to hurt the staff here- they clearly did not care about the casualties in the community.

So from the staff-

We love you guys. B'alam lived half a decade and saw highs and lows. We looked forward to coming home and cooking up new plots and ideas. We've been through a lot together- and we'll never forget it.

If you are owed something, we deeply apologize that we have nothing to give you. We've lost the right to even make good on the backlog we have.

The discord is up- if we come up with something new, it will be announced there, but it's been made clear that Gaia is no longer a place for us. We'll miss you guys. Thank you for everything.

[magnadearel]

cat_crying

[Owlsomniac]

I'm not even a part of this shop and I just....

I am so, so, sorry, you guys. :C

[ChaosTheories]

Farewell to the ONE TRUE B'alam. You will be missed! Thalion was the best owner the shop had during my time here and it's sad how a supposed friend could take advantage of a friend like this.

It isn't even about the lineart in the end, either. It's the destruction of a community that is the worst part. Everyone's stories and plans with each other. Yes, some people may move their designs to a new shop or even whatever LYJ has planned, which is out of anyone's control even if it does feel very disrespectful to the staff here. But, the community, the place they started, was HERE. And that will not change.

[Ice_Dragon_DemonIce_Dragon_Demon]

Owlsomniac

I'm not even a part of this shop and I just....

I am so, so, sorry, you guys. :C

Had you posted a few days ago one of the staff would have given you a lovely pet.

This is just really sad on so many different levels. I don't even have the words to describe what I'm feeling.

All my years of work amounts to didly squat now. I'd never transfer ANY of my pets over to whatever LYJ has planned.

[caffeinektn]

Well, by the sound of it transferring anything to anything LYJ does means it'll just go belly up in a few months anyway. >.>

Just... I've been in several BC shops over the years and sure, I'm quiet and disappear a lot, but this one's the one I've always come back to. :c I hate to see such a welcoming shop be shut down, and honestly I think the mod that did this should have their position removed. Anyone can see it's a load of bull and this shop above any other does not deserve it.

Really hoping something new comes out of this, because you guys are awesome and I'd hate to see such a great community disappear. No other shop fosters the community that this one did, no matter how hard they try.

[USS_Galactica]

Just saw the guild announcement.

Haven't been active here in a few years, though I still have quite a few B'alam (mostly ones from the original shop, so it has been a while).

Sad to see it go.

[Snowbelle Thundara]

I was never really active here but... I do have a few Balam from little events. Im so sad to hear what has happened. It honestly sounds like a crap-shoot and LYJ is just being a jerk. I wish you all, all the best. This was such an interesting and unique shop. <3

[belloblossom]

Oh, I'm gonna be bitter about this for a while. B'alam was my safe haven after I fell on some hard times. It's crushing to see that it ended like this. I'll be awaiting better news, if any comes through. My love to all the staffers that kept b'alam going for so many years. emotion_bigheart

[AstoriaFallenAstoriaFallen]

This is unfortunate. It was the people that made this a home, not the artwork. <3 love you guys

[Dea and #Teddy#]

There was such pretty pets here, it is just a shame it has to end.

[Fea Line]

Well rip to a good shop this breaks my heart and is utterly disgusting. Won't bother to transfer anything as LYJ will just kill it in two months like all their other shops. So sad I loved my cats here even if I didn't post much :/

[Ars Naberius]

Aw man, I'm so sorry - I've watched this shop for ages and it's terrible to see it go like this. sad

[Teigra]

Honestly, the art was nice, but what made RotB shine was the people and the community. The comraderie, the plotting, the characters, the friendships made here -- those are what endure. LYJ can't take that away and certainly can't replicate it.

Take some time to breathe and we'll get back on our feet. The stories are still ours. So we get some new art to go with it. Cool. That's not what's most important. This community is. heart