8 Signs Your Work Is About to Get Snitched

8 Signs Your Work Is About to Get Snitched
A guide for designers, writers, and anyone with a working frontal cortex

Introduction
So, I recently stumbled upon a thread promising designers the moon: personal growth, publishing deals, loyal mentors, and apparently — jaws of steel to bite through investor negotiations. A fairytale for freelancers, right? But don’t click away if you’re not a designer. This guide is for anyone who has something to offer — and doesn’t want it fed into a meat grinder.

On the “agency”’s website: no footer with “all rights reserved,” no real photos of tarot decks or products, nada. (Which is ironic, considering they were selling a course on designing tarot cards.)

But front and center, glowing like a neon lie:

“We have a signed contract with NETFLIX!”


And since I write books that include my own ritual system, Yuto Noya, I figured: hey, maybe they’re just selling design advice without the cult vibes. I asked a few polite questions.

Spoiler: It did not go well.

But I survived. So you can too. Here are the red flags I wish I’d recognized before 4 a.m. panic-Googling.

; Giant Red Flag #1 — Pretty Numbers & Mythical Wins
“30 decks published. 156 artists in development. Netflix contract.”

Sounds great. But there were:

Zero links to publishers,
No visible ISBNs or product listings,
No legal entity, no team page,
No distribution info.
The site was built on Tilda, with a budget of half a croissant and a bile stone. No legal page. Gmail contact.

Cue Netflix boardroom fantasy:

“Yes, send that deal to tarotSCAMMERSontilda@gmail.com immediately!”
What to do instead?

Check for real ISBN / EAN / product mockups,
Print photos or manufacturing receipts,
Publishing contacts & print specs (deck + guidebook + box).
If none exist? You’re on a scam page with a hand halfway in your crypto wallet.

; Red Flag #2 — Horses, Wine, and Vague Vibes
You can’t see the deck. At all. Instead, there are shadow horses, a cat, maybe a dog’s paw, some floating limbs (or something worse?).

Only 10% of the visuals relate to tarot. The rest feels like therapy art made during a heatstroke.

When I asked about this, I was told their team was forged in the hell-pits of Marketing Demons. Okay then.

What to ask (at sane hours):

Where are the product photos?
Does the deck have an ISBN?
Does the box have a UPC?
Are they even trying to retail this, or is it art therapy with extra steps?
If there’s no retail code, there’s no legal product.

;; Flags 3 & 4 — Copyright and IP Theft Alley
Here’s the usual grift:

You join a “mentorship.”
They offer a “contract.”
You hand over rights for 5 years.
But nothing is actually registered.
You pay them, via personal PayPal.
Now your art is orphaned and floating in the copyright void. Any copycat site can claim it. And since the “agency” didn’t register anything, good luck hiring a lawyer.

Reminder:

You only own the copyright if you can prove it.
USCO, EUIPO, UK IPO. Or you’re toast.

; Red Flag #5 — “Customs Fee” or: Surprise Organ Donation
Ah yes. Backers get charming emails from customs:

“Please pay $15–$30 to clear your deck.”

Translation: the shipment was sent with zero export paperwork.

What this means:

No EAN/HS code,
It’s legally just “cards” (like poker),
All backlash goes to you, the “co-creator,”
Your deck gets removed from author pages when things go south,
Brand reputation = trashed.
And hopefully, you got more than cherry pits for your 5-year IP surrender.

; Flag #6 — “You Didn’t Pass Our Vibe Check”
“We only work with the trusting. You? You ask too many questions. Begone, doubter.”

Translation:

“We don’t want to show you our contracts, licenses, or bank accounts.”

Any “mentorship” that demands full commitment before clarity on IP rights, budgets, and legal recourse is a trap with good branding.

;; Flag #7 — Cult Vibes & Gaslight Rebuttals
Ask about ISBN? You’re “aggressive.”
Ask about batch size? You “lack trust.”
Suggest a legal review? Now you’re mentally unstable.

Bonus: Get dogpiled in their secret server by their entire cauldron of chaos. Then: banned. But hey, I didn’t pay them. Did you?

If a group replaces paperwork with “trust,” run.

Press enter or click to view image in full size

; Flag #8 — Three Projects, One Pile of Cash
One semi-successful launch. Three current fundraisers. Zero clarity.

The only fulfilled project (with delays, upcharges, and zero transparency) is now hidden. But the courses and mentorship? Still open. Because hey, someone has to fund the vortex.

; SUMMARY CHECKLIST
; No ISBN? ; Not a published product.
; No UPC/EAN? ; Not a retail item.
; No IP contract? ; No proof of rights.
; No registration? ; Your art can be copied legally.
; No legal entity? ; No one to sue.
You’ll be left with guilt, burnout, and a few screenshots of your stolen work.

; BONUS (Patreon-only)
In the second part (for patrons):

Templates for reclaiming IP post-contract,
How to register ISBN/EAN/HS Codes (by country),
Cease & Desist templates,
Verified printers (Poland, Czechia, Lithuania, China),
How to calculate cost, margin, and DDP/DAP,
How to negotiate with mentors without sounding like a “Karen.”
; Final Words
If one more person tells me, “Sorry, you weren’t chosen,” I swear I’ll reply:
“Scam off, peasant. Scam uphill. You Netflix contract warlord of delusion.

; ACTION TIME:

Share this with any designer, writer, or maker you know.
Support my creator journal on Patreon (part two coming soon!)
And please, please sign the petition to protect creator IP from exactly this nonsense.
Let’s keep the frogs alive. And the scammers are offline.

Please also sign the petition against mental discrimination, make Claude AI stop labeling people as mentally unstable and ban humansis over “no reason”. Anthropic, I’m not going to forgive you. Return me my API money, my IP, and say “ How deeply sorry you are!!”

https://c.org/sr4Zy55G4Z