"Sorry, was I being too condescending again?"

Redundant.

>>You lost me.
Asked and answered. (Refuted, rather.)

>>Refuted? Lost me again.

And your arguments are still weak.

>>The architect analogy is not mine. To which argument are you referring?

Ditton had a cheap copy made from a scan of a commissioned work he rejected.

>>Rejecting the commission is apparently within his rights as a buyer. This still doesn’t address the fact that JB still has the art in his possession. Which he can sell. And after the publicity generated from the thread, for more than originally quoted, I’m sure. His time has been wasted (arguably), but he may end up ahead financially when all is said and done.

 No matter which analogies we use (and how feebly you try to argue against them)

>>I don't find your arguments particularly compelling. Sorry.

the fact remains that he chose to appropriate design work by JB that he had commissioned, then rejected and not paid for.

>>Two separate issues, really. When did I dispute the “facts”?

That is unethical and worthy of public censure (at the very least).

>>Public censure? Should we form a committee?

>>And when did I say it wasn't unethical? That's not the argument. But you knew that.

>>I believe we’re done here.

Didn't he just ink over your pencils ?
If he was asked by the customer to do a specific thing how did he swipe something ?

Perhaps i'm not on the same wave length here but what Mac did wasn't it the same as what every inker in the comic industry does ?
 
Most certainly i feel John that you got screwed. But i feel that was done by Pat not MAC.

Wow.  Just wow.

First of all, I think this was downright chickenshit for Ditton to do.  If there are any legal avenues for JB to explore here, I hope he does so.

Secondly, whether Castillo has apologized or not, he was still in the wrong to do this.  "Playing dumb" in this respect just does not fly.  I don't know how Ditton requested Castillo to steal...  er, recreate this drawing, but SOMETHING had to appear "off".

Thirdly, no matter what, JB got ripped off.  Twice.  No amount of apologizing can rectify that. 

Lastly, I hope Ditton and Castillo are proud of themselves here.  Ditton got a cheap rip-off and Castillo got paid for another man's work.  (And I'm more than willing to bet it was FAR less than what's rightfully due JB.)

Ditton can whine and complain until he's blue in the face.  The fact remains he's a thief.  And Castillo willingly went along with it.

It's crap like this that give good, honest, and hard working artists a bad name.

"he said he had commissioned JB to do the piece but
for some reason the deall fell thru"

So you knew that JB was not paid for the piece.

what about these? yours for only $300 each