Re: Gah.
I know of a fair amount of actual people, not faceless 'companies', who use the word thusly.

Yeah, I know it's a common usage of the word in some fan circles, and I see the rationale. I still don't like it, and I can see how people from different internet communities can misunderstand each other over the usage of this word. I get the impression that when artists use it they are usually referring to plagiarism (e.g. someone tracing or Photoshopping over someone else's art and passing it off as their own -- so credit is what is being "stolen"). When companies use it, they are complaining purely about copyright infringement (and their usage of the word attempts to evoke an image of tangible and unambiguous material loss). Then there's the separate issue of whether the perpetrator is making money off the infringed or plagiarised work (something else which could be considered "theft"). And there's the problem -- saying "this art has been stolen" does not say which aspect(s) of the infringement you're actually objecting to.

...oops.
*mops up*