Agio Ergo on Etsy

Agio Ergo is a company based in Greece that produces prints of icons that are glued on basic wood boards that are then coated with a sealer. They sell through Etsy. There are several of these kinds of companies around where, because of the process of printing up the image, gluing it on a basically styled board, and sealing it, they then refer to the product as a "handmade icon".

Agio Ergo stole my original image of St. Charbel Makhlouf and they are making money from it. 

Here is the original image that I painted of St. Charbel. It is not a Byzantine style icon that has been passed down and "copied" countless times.

Agio Ergo lifted it, squeezed the figure slightly more to the vertical axis, and placed it on a different background with different lettering:

 

The thing though that gets me is that the image they display on their page is "watermarked" so that no one can steal the image and use it to make money from.

But Agio Ergo, that's what you guys did. You guys stole my image. You guys literally went to my blog and lifted my original image, without asking my permission, and you guys used it, and are using it, a stolen image, to make money from, and now you guys have it watermarked so that no one can steal it and use it to make money from.

By the way, I haven't sold my painting of St. Charbel. I don't make prints. I haven't made money from the image, but hey, "glad" to help you guys out, Agio Ergo!

I find it hilarious that you guys refer to the "handmade icon" as "blessed". Oh what's that you say? You guys got a priest to bless it you say, eh? He may have pronounced certain words over it, and used holy water or even oil with incense. But does God bless a print of an image that's been stolen without recompense to the one who painted it?

Ah, a question for the theologians! LOL.