Yay for Plagiarism!

I received an email from a friend today saying that in a Worcester, MA newspaper they saw this:

..and when compared to this:

..it's safe to say that some artists have no scruples.

update: discussion opened on the subject at ConceptArt.org, HERE.
The 'artist' is a Graphics Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

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Lastly, an example of what IS and is NOT plagiarism, respectively (via Thomas Nast):

Chinese Copyright Infringement: Published?

I've read something like this several times in the last few weeks, and I feel it's a great time to make use of our endless contact and information through the internet and work together:

I couldn't put it better, so the wording/links are taken from my friend Tom's blog - thanks, Tom.

Illustrator Luc Latulippe and the folks at the Little Chimp Society discovered a few weeks ago that a Chinese publisher stole content off the LCS website, namely interviews with artists including Latulippe and the artwork included, and published it translated in book format selling for $100. No kidding… a full book of “scraped” content complete with their illustrations. You can read the story about it here and here.

Of course there is little legal recourse here. I doubt China, that bastion of the upholding of human rights, is even part of the Berne convention of international copyright law… but even if they are this publisher used fake contact info and a fake ISBN, so finding them at all is going to be tough, let alone getting them into a court somewhere. Basically there are some places on the planet where you can do nothing about someone stealing your work… I’ve run across my artwork produced on postage stamps from South American and former USSR republics before and have basically no legal recourse.

Contacting the distributors and sellers of the book also yielded no results, as they refused to stop selling it.

Well, Latulippe decided not to take this lying down, so he called for a grass roots “spread the word” campaign to let people know what this was about and hopefully damage the reputations of the parties involved or at least cause a few less sales for them. The good news is that it has yielded some results. At least one of the resellers, Index Books, has agreed to stop selling it and has sent the remaining copies back to the distributor. Hopefully more of such action will follow.

So, here is [my] contribution to the cause in the form of links to increase their search engine ranking. Good luck guys, and keep fighting the good fight.

*Thanks to Cedric Honstadt and Tom Richmond.

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Here we go again...

Here's a unique level of dirty politics - abusing art:

In case you missed the latest news, you can read here on MSNBC how a well-known McCain 'hater' (possibly others) is using a flier sent to more than 80 newspapers in South Carolina to send a negative message about the beliefs and history of Senator John McCain, a Republican presidential candidate. A few of you might also recognize the art. It is a drawing that I completed while passing time at Sea World in 2005, posted on(and eventually taken directly from) THIS blog back in 2006:

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This is a clear violation of copyright. The image was chopped up and used without my concent, while the only changes are the re-tracing of the linework, minimal distortion in the eyes, and the cropping of the jowls to cut the size of the jaw and neck:

It's amazing how some individuals assume they can steal artwork and misrepresent someone with their dirty message. A mildly edited EXACT version of my drawing, stolen right here from my blog and used for negative political campaigning. It's quite sad.

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Lincoln Plagiarism: Moot

About a year ago I addressed this issue. If you didn't read it I can recap the whole thing very quickly:

• I did a drawing.
• I posted it online.
• Someone traced it and published it.
• I found out.
• The offender denied it.

*Here is a visual comparison; my image mirrored on the
left, sliding over the published illustration on the right.

So over the course of several months, I was communicating with the editor of the paper where this employee works, trying to come to (what was promised to be) an amicable solution. To keep it simple, I can tell you that it was not amicable, but the issue is over.

After emails, talks, discussions with lawyers, a phone call harassment from a husband and many weeks in between conversations (seemingly stalling the discussion), I decided to drop the issue. Last month I communicated this to the person in charge, on the publication's end.

I did this for three reasons:

1. The person in charge of this "investigation" apparently had very little knowledge about the logistics in this situation, making it very difficult to convey the seriousness, validity and obvious nature of the charge, as well as the proper solution. I was facing a 50 ft. brick wall that was saying, "I don't understand why you can't just walk over me?" - in as purely sincere a way as possible. He is really a genuine individual and I didn't want to get heated with him.

2. In my opinion, I was past an implied statute of limitations. By that I mean the matter had been stalled for too long by the employer of the offending party, as well as my delay in obtaining a lawyer to handle the situation. My defaulting to honesty and trust was a flaw in this particular situation. While I trust it overall in my life (HONESTY, INTEGRITY and ACCOUNTABILITY), it doesn't seem to convince anyone of a 'crime'.

3. I learned from my good friend Tom that this particular case doesn't really matter in the long run. Jennifer Boressen is in no way ruining my career, stalling my work ethic, obstructing future jobs or hurting me directly. An argument can be made the opposite, sure, but in this case, I learned more than I achieved. I will have to pick my battles, and much like the person on the city sidewalk printing my caricatures for their $5 charcoal sketches, it doesn't hurt me as much as it hurts them. I am somewhat a believer in karma and I feel that I need to worry only about myself and I'll be fine.

So yes, it is over and I had nothing admitted to me. I was assured that the issue was not taken lightly. Supposedly actions were taken in the workplace and "...a discussion has arose that will not soon go away." I've spoken with this editor quite a bit and gotten to know him as an individual and I feel he is sincere.

--- NOW ---

Although I treaded lightly this time, I have learned a lot. I have also already begun to legally copyright ALL of my own artwork as well as contact a lawyer for future cases of plagiarism or theft. Next time I know how to handle it and have decided that while I attempted to trust honesty this time, next time I probably won't be so nice. I'm not out to get anyone's head on a platter, but if someone steals, I will try to them accountable for it legally and financially (if reasonable and fitting).

I want to say that I appreciate all the support I got on this issue, and I don't intend to let it lay next time. It's great to know there are so many artists watching each others' backs, and that community is what really matters. I want to thank my buddy Mike Briggs in Worcester MA for the heads-up on this one. I owe him a beer!

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The Art of Thievery in New York

I have seen the 'artists' on the streets of New York drawing caricatures, from Times Square to Central Park. Sometimes you'll find a genuine artists with honest samples up, but most of these caricaturists seem to have no integrity and give us all a bad image.

Most individuals don't know the difference between (or have ever heard of) Sebastian Kruger or Tom Richmond... but we know.

Tom has mentioned this on his blog before (I've seen his work out there), and it's nothing to call your lawyer over, as it will surely effect nothing. But it really is a fun, when taking a day off in the city, to spot your own artwork, as well as your friends'.

While shopping near Rockefeller Center, I had a fun encounter. I first spotted a caricature by my friend, and former house-mate Glenn Ferguson, depicting master caricaturist Kage Nakanishi. This made me laugh, as no one on the streets will recognize Kage, a Japanese businessman and artist, so there is no logic behind it other than laziness and lack of respect or honesty. It made me laugh out loud, so I ran across the street, where my girlfriend took this photograph:

In it, you an see the tracings from the work of Chris Wahl, Thomas Fluharty, Glenn Ferguson and others!

This made me smile and give the guy a hard time:

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"Those are nice caricatures."

"Five dollars - you want one?"

"No, my friends already drew all of these. Where is your work? This isn't your art."

"..." (he ignored me of course, playing with his phone as though he didn't hear me, no longer interested in my money for some reason)

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And then to my enjoyment (a block later) we found yet another thief already drawing a nice couple. They look confused when I posed for this picture, pointing at my very own painting of Freddy Mercury, so I told them it was mine:

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"Yeah, I painted that one." (pointing at the image while the artist acted like he didn't hear me)

"Really? What do you mean?" the woman asked.

"Oh, none of these are his images. He stole them from the internet. That one's on my website."

"huh..." (slight confusion and disbelief)

"I'm not joking," I finished, with a confident voice and smile, "but have a good day."

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I don't mean to ruin their experience, but I felt they could handle the truth. They looked mildly entertained while being swindled.

I did bump into a Russian artist who laughed when I pointed out the dishonesty of the first artist. He was set up with all original art, right next to him and his reaction revealed that he agreed with my statement. He walked over to talk to me for a minute or two, and it was refreshing to hear someone be very honest and realistic; he came to the United States as a teenager and went to school for graphic design. Because he is so comfortable with the computer and imaging programs, a lot of his work had photographic elements and distortion, yet he was the first to point this out to me... how he needs to overcome this and he likes to practice. What an amazing juxtaposition within those 10 feet of New York sidewalk. It made me quite happy to meet him, after seeing implied plagiarism just seconds before.

Anyway... if you go to New York and get a caricature, find the artist that will talk to you before selling you a half-hearted sketch, because that's the one that matters. This isn't the last time I'll see my colleagues' work on the street... and it's sort of fun. While it doesn't matter to 90% of their customers (and it shouldn't), it's something that the artists have the right to point out. It's humanity at its best.

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