Imagine That
Apr. 28th, 2008 09:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerYou are an artist that does a lot of social commentary in rather irreverent ways. You are walking long on the street and you see an image that you created in reverse with the phrase you attached to the piece underneath. You politely stop the person and ask where they had gotten it. They tell you one of those hip chain stores that is very popular with the teen set. You go to the one in your local mall and see that shirt being sold for $24.95 and according to the manager it is one of their better selling ones. You write corporate and very politely explain the problem with the t-shirt. They inform you that it is not their fault since they bought it from this vendor so you need to take it up with them. The vendor says that they bought the image from this artist and they will stop making the t-shirt since it is apparent that you did create the image but if you want money you have to go after the artist of the image they did use. So they get to keep the money that they earned so far off of your work and you have to go after someone who doesn't have much money and it would cost you more than you earn to sue the guy for not much return.
You have your art out on the net. You are on one of the more popular sites for artists to post. You have a following of artists and others who watch for your new work. You know enough to carefully watermark the work and put a "don't not use for anything or even copy from this site" notice with each and every piece. You have done everything you can think of to protect your work. One of your watchers informs you that they saw a poster of your work in their city. They send you a cell phone picture of it. After a little digging you find out that a student at a local high school won a city-wide contest with a painting that is your work down to the detail of the number of circles in the hair. He has gotten much more acclaim and public notice than you ever got for your personal work. You have to then set about to prove that this kid ripped you off. He claims that a buddy gave him the idea and he copied that. There is no money to be had here but your work after all that careful wording to avoid this sort of thing has been taken away by from you by a kid.
You are an artist that works in rather difficult natural mediums. Your work is known on sight and sells for a decent amount of money for the originals. You are informed of someone else who is coming doggone close to doing copies of your work onto similar forms of mediums. However they are not selling originals but what is the equivalent of a color Xerox of their work. You know you don't have a copyright on your medium choices and there are no direct rip-offs of your work just close enough to keep it legal and confuse some potential buyers or past buyers of your original work.
I had an artist friend once tell me that you made it when they keep trying to rip you off or copy you. Because then you know you did something that was attractive to someone else's eye. With the Internet, getting your art work out there for others to see is so much easier but it is also easier for someone to decide that since you put it out in public that they have the right to take it for either their own personal use (less bothersome) or for commercial gain (very bothersome).
The music-sharing problem has been beaten to death, resurrected, and beaten to death again. The industry used its clout to get the idea across of what was right and wrong and had laws made to protect themselves. The problem for the artists is that most of them don't have that sort of clout to protect themselves. So they do what they can and use the existing laws to try to protect themselves and their work.
I know everyone reading this is not guilty of art theft. I do think we need to find a way of informing the Internet denizens that taking someone's art is wrong like they know taking music is wrong. (And yes I do know that a lot of people do it anyway. There are always going to be those who think they are entitled to whatever they want.) There are a number of artist groups that are working towards that goal. I know of a group of doll artists that are trying to educate the public as to what is allowed and not allowed and doing a pretty good job of it without screaming at people. I have to agree with one friend who said that we need to educate the children about what is theft on the Internet so maybe by the next generation this will not be as big a problem as it is becoming now.
It's a problem that I don't have a solution for but I wanted to put it out there for people to be more aware of.
(Note: I changed some of the circumstances on my examples so it is no one specific but each is based on something I have seen happen.)
I am grateful for people who respect the artist's rights.
You have your art out on the net. You are on one of the more popular sites for artists to post. You have a following of artists and others who watch for your new work. You know enough to carefully watermark the work and put a "don't not use for anything or even copy from this site" notice with each and every piece. You have done everything you can think of to protect your work. One of your watchers informs you that they saw a poster of your work in their city. They send you a cell phone picture of it. After a little digging you find out that a student at a local high school won a city-wide contest with a painting that is your work down to the detail of the number of circles in the hair. He has gotten much more acclaim and public notice than you ever got for your personal work. You have to then set about to prove that this kid ripped you off. He claims that a buddy gave him the idea and he copied that. There is no money to be had here but your work after all that careful wording to avoid this sort of thing has been taken away by from you by a kid.
You are an artist that works in rather difficult natural mediums. Your work is known on sight and sells for a decent amount of money for the originals. You are informed of someone else who is coming doggone close to doing copies of your work onto similar forms of mediums. However they are not selling originals but what is the equivalent of a color Xerox of their work. You know you don't have a copyright on your medium choices and there are no direct rip-offs of your work just close enough to keep it legal and confuse some potential buyers or past buyers of your original work.
I had an artist friend once tell me that you made it when they keep trying to rip you off or copy you. Because then you know you did something that was attractive to someone else's eye. With the Internet, getting your art work out there for others to see is so much easier but it is also easier for someone to decide that since you put it out in public that they have the right to take it for either their own personal use (less bothersome) or for commercial gain (very bothersome).
The music-sharing problem has been beaten to death, resurrected, and beaten to death again. The industry used its clout to get the idea across of what was right and wrong and had laws made to protect themselves. The problem for the artists is that most of them don't have that sort of clout to protect themselves. So they do what they can and use the existing laws to try to protect themselves and their work.
I know everyone reading this is not guilty of art theft. I do think we need to find a way of informing the Internet denizens that taking someone's art is wrong like they know taking music is wrong. (And yes I do know that a lot of people do it anyway. There are always going to be those who think they are entitled to whatever they want.) There are a number of artist groups that are working towards that goal. I know of a group of doll artists that are trying to educate the public as to what is allowed and not allowed and doing a pretty good job of it without screaming at people. I have to agree with one friend who said that we need to educate the children about what is theft on the Internet so maybe by the next generation this will not be as big a problem as it is becoming now.
It's a problem that I don't have a solution for but I wanted to put it out there for people to be more aware of.
(Note: I changed some of the circumstances on my examples so it is no one specific but each is based on something I have seen happen.)
I am grateful for people who respect the artist's rights.
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:39 pm (UTC)That is probably one of the greatest pre-Internet examples I can think of.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:48 pm (UTC)Wow.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 02:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 02:28 pm (UTC)I entered a piece in a state-wide sixth grade art contest, and it had been chosen to be displayed in a Boston exhibit and judged again. Each winner had their art teacher accompany them (like a field trip chaperone). Mine, however, must have decided two things:
A) he thought my work could be improved upon, so he "fixed" my oilstick portrait by adding a gap between her teeth, extensions to the hair to make her look more "feminine", and extra shine to the eyes. The result was hideous, and looked as if a small child had been dabbling. Plus, he had smudged and streaked the colors.
As consequence, the committee took one look at my portrait and moved on. I got an honorable mention only because I had participated.
B) that it would be easier to pass my work off as his own. When I was in college, my mom sent me a copy of our hometown newspaper with my care package, and I did a double-take because my art teacher had received special attention for his latest portrait. A very nice article complete with a picture, it detailed how he had given up on trying to pursue a career in art, until recently. It was noted that oilstick and pen &ink was not his usual medium, but that they hoped he'd continue because it was very good.
I don't care that he thought it needed something; it was my art. I put so much effort into it, and the judges had originally thought that it was "good enough". Before I found the article, I had been angry that he altered my portrait. I had been proud of my achievement, and proud of my work. He had no right messing with it.
As if that wasn't bad enough, though, he substituted his replica for my original at the art show and then later tried to use mine to further his career. He used his student's artwork once without any repercussions, because by then I had no proof and did not think I could do anything about it. I was stunned that anyone could do something like that.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 02:54 pm (UTC)I am sorry that happened to you. I have a concern when a teacher does something like that esp. when they think they are "helping".
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 02:55 pm (UTC)I have never worked in oilstick. Is it hard to control?
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 05:18 pm (UTC)Eventually, I just shoved it into my art portfolio case, which was destroyed a few years later when my old place was torn down. (I'd left some of my belongings in my mother's apartment before the landlord sold the property, and she had only two weeks in which to pack and find a new place to live.)
Oilstick and pastels are fun to work with because they satisfy my inner child, who misses being able to fingerpaint and mold clay. I've played with many types of art, but they bring me the most pleasure and come in such vivid colors. I like blending colors to create skin tones and a textured look to clothing, i.e. highlighting the weave of a sweater, for example. I like using oilstick because with practice, you can bring out subtle nuances in a person's features.
Most oilstick art tends towards the abstract, but I'd combined it with the inking so that the finished project looked a bit like a Velvet Elvis, if you get my meaning. So, not difficult to control, but a little messy, like a firm lipstick.
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9476/elvis1220xb1.jpg
http://www.ehow.com/how_2098968_use-oil-pastels.html
A step-by-step demonstration of using oil pastels
Date: 2008-04-28 05:24 pm (UTC)(Ooh, brainstorm! If I ever go back to using them, I would love to create a faux Velvet Elvis for my mom.)
no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 12:24 am (UTC)I'm acquainted with the fellow behind artaid.org. I worked with him at Ground Zero. He's done amazingly beautiful posters and flyers, and his work can be seen in many areas.
Even dollar stores. I bought a lighter recently with this image on it:
http://artaid.org/artaidnewFDNY.html
I really need to contact Keith and ask if he knows that his images are now on things for sale. He's freely given away his art for so long, but I somehow don't think he licensed the lighters. [sigh]
no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 12:35 am (UTC)I read recently that anime dvd sales in *Japan* are down nearly 50% due to illegal downloads. The US is more dire. So I proselytize for legal downloads.
Honestly? I'm not sure I believe this will go away. I think instead we'll figure out a way to monetize it differently. Somehow.