Inspiration or plagiarism?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="05bfd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Inspiration or plagiarism?</B></div> <div> <B>347-LOVE-ART  (347-568-3278)  </B><B> Toll Free 1-877-512-3333    Email: </B><A HREF="mailto:mike@mikealbin.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:mike@mikealbin.com"><U><B>mike@mikealbin.com</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="05cd2043.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mike Albin.Com "><U>Mike Albin.Com </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="wd.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Web design"><U>Web design</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="ma.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Articles"><U>Marketing Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="sr.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Show Reviews"><U>Show Reviews</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Tools"><U>Marketing Tools</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="l.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#777777" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Inspiration or plagiarism?</div> <bR> <bR> <div> How closely does one artist have to copy another's technique before inspiration turns to plagiarism? We all are influenced to a certain degree by other artists' methods when producing our own work, but most of us try to put a new spin on our art by combining several techniques that we have seen or developed. However, some see successful artists selling their work and winning awards, and try to copy their style stroke for stroke in an attempt to cash in on their success. Most artists who have their own styles agree that copying another artist's technique is wrong, but where do you draw the line? </div> <div> The event that inspired me to forego my usual article on marketing tips and instead focus on another subject that is near and dear to me occurred at last June's Boardwalk Art Show and Festival in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Primitive painter named Doug Odom won best in show for his work. According to an article by <I>Virginian-Pilot</I> reporter Teresa Annas, other artists at the show started talking about how closely Odom's work resembled that of another painter, Michael Banks. Artists complained to show officials, claiming that Odom was either selling Banks' work or had copied his art. Either way, they thought his award should be taken away.</div> <div> Boardwalk officials launched their own investigation and determined that Odom had indeed painted the pieces himself. They also said that the dogs in the award-winning painting lived on Odom's farm. So until someone could prove that this was not Odom's work, the award would stand, they said. (Boardwalk's rules state that works must be produced by the artist, but there's no statement saying the work must be original in concept.) </div> <div> As it turns out, Odom and Banks used to be friends, and even lived together. Banks claims that he was painting in this style first and making as much as $50,000 at two-day shows. At that time, Odom was still selling his birdhouses made from materials gathered from old barns. However, Odom claims he came up with this style on his own and that the two artists' works do not look that much alike. (The complete story is available at content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=106458&ran=50163&tref=po.)</div> <div> I do not bring up the article to rehash that particular incident. Instead, I want to open up a dialogue on the subject and see if there is anything artists can do if this happens to them. Copyright laws protect us against someone making outright copies of our work, but do we have any recourse if someone mimics our techniques too closely? From what I've found out, yes.</div> <div> Some show directors have rules stating that works of art must be original in concept. These shows do not allow copycats. On the other hand, some events, such as the Boardwalk Art Show, recognize the difficulties of enforcing such a rule and simply state that works must be produced by the artist. Midwest show director Amy Amdur is sympathetic to artists who think that someone has copied their work but admits that it's difficult to insist that all work be totally original in concept. "Artists have been copying other artists' style for hundreds of years," she says. "It's not up to art-show promoters to enforce. Let the public decide. We'll put what we feel are the best-quality artists in our shows. If someone is duplicating another artist's techniques, the public will choose which they like the best by their purchases. Where do you draw the line between what's too close of a copy and what's not?" </div> <div> Richard Sullivan, executive director of the Naples National Art Festival in Naples, Florida, takes a slightly difference stance. "We try to protect the originators," he says. "Sometimes, however, there are people who have never crossed paths and who have never seen each other's works but create similar works. That happens, too. Deliberate borrowing and copying of art is not going to be allowed at our shows, unless of course we don't know about it. But we will figure it out sooner than later. I have seen a little copying from artist to artist in booths, and since I pay attention and know who was first, it degrades my respect for the copier." </div> <div> Barry Witt, executive director of the Bonita Springs National Art Festivals, says, "The first rule in our … application states: `Artwork must be original in design and executed by the applicant.' Copiers are not allowed." </div> <div> Lynette Wallace, executive director of the Bayou City Art Festivals in Houston, says she does not knowingly allow in artists who copy others' styles, but she admits that it's difficult to enforce. She says some artists also go overboard when claiming plagiarism. "Once I had a painter come to me and claim another painter was using her exact shade of blue and that should not be allowed in the show," she says. "I told her she could not claim a color as her own. We all own colors." </div> <div> How would a show director feel if a rogue show suddenly popped up next to theirs on the same weekend? What if a group of artists set up tents in a parking lot adjacent to the promoter's show, thereby getting all of the benefits of the promoter's advertising and patron traffic? That just wouldn't be right. Well that's exactly how artists feel when someone steals our ideas, techniques and style! </div> <div> To get exhibitors' opinions on the subject, I wrote to my usual list of artists and got a wide range of views. "We see this all the time where styles are so similar, and, especially, street artists try to mimic another successful artist they see at a show," says Jennifer Kerr-Marsh. "Take my brie baker. I'm not the one who came up with the idea, but [I] made one of my own. At a show in Alabama, another potter from Oklahoma bought one and made the exact same thing and just made copies of my recipe. I called him on it, and he buys me dinner at that show now every year. … He gave me his bread baker with a recipe to copy, so we were even. Of course, it's not the same in the 2-D world, but it can't be a great surprise. You hear about it and see it at every show. I guess it's up to the director of the show to maintain the integrity and not allow too many of the same into one show. That's what I rely on: the judges' and the show directors' integrity." </div> <div> "It's one thing to simulate a technique and put a new spin on it," another artist told me, "[but] it's something else to copy another artist's original ideas and style so closely that your work has the exact look and feel of their work. If you are feeling the urge to copy another artist's style and technique, at least go off to a different part of the country or world where you're not showing up at the same shows. It really takes a special kind of arrogance to copy someone's work and apply to the same shows where the person you copied from sells their work. Whoever said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery never did art shows and should be taken out and beaten." </div> <div> One of the most objective responses I received was from art-show veteran John Margerum. "Artists are no different than the rest of the world when it comes to their rights in the marketplace," he said. "If you are going to put yourself in the marketplace, such as [at] art shows, expect no less than the competitive spirit that exists in the real world. In other words, expect to be emulated. I am not talking about ripping someone off. You cannot copy their work and sell it, but you can copy their style." </div> <div> But copying can cross the legal line. For example, you cannot open a fast-food restaurant named Mike Donald's and sell a "Big Mike" sandwich with two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, onions and pickles on a sesame-seed bun. Trademark lawyers from McDonald's would put you out of business in a week! Those same trademark laws protect us as artists. </div> <div> "How free is an artist to incorporate aspects of other artists' works into his or hers?" asks Caryn Leland in an article titled "Protecting Style: When Imitation is not Flattery." She discusses at what point influence crosses over into plagiarism, and at what point imitation becomes theft by citing two recent Federal Court cases, one in Louisiana and another in New York. "In each," she writes, "an artist asked the court to halt sales of a competitor's works, which the plaintiff claimed were unlawful copies of their own.</div> <div> The first case she cites, <I>Mistretta vs. Hunt, et. al.</I>, addressed copyright law, while the second, <I>Romm Art Creations, Ltd. vs. Sincha International, Inc.</I>, "expanded traditional notions of trademark law," according to Leland. "The fascinating twist in both cases was that the defendants' images were not literal copies of the plaintiffs' works in the usual sense, but, rather, a copy of the stylistic elements and total concept and feel of the respective works," she writes.</div> <div> "Under existing law, a work is an infringing copy if the work is `substantially similar' to the `copied' work as determined by an ordinary observer looking at both works," Leland continues. "In these two cases, it was the `substantial similarity' of the total concept and feel of the stylistic elements of the plaintiffs' works which the courts found to have been copied by the defendants."</div> <div> So you DO have legal recourse if you feel someone is copying your style too closely for your comfort. </div> <div> With all of the rules we must abide by at art shows, it would be really nice if the original-in-concept rule now in place at some shows were adopted by more. I know it would be very difficult to enforce, but does that mean we should throw our hands up and not have any rules? Some of the other rules we must now abide by are equally difficult to enforce.</div> <div> It's only my opinion, so this is not a case of me being totally right and others totally wrong, but an original-in-concept rule could go a long way to weeding out some of the copycat artists. It would at least encourage artists to put a creative spin on their work so the techniques aren't identical.</div> <div> Certain artists seem to have beaten the copycats by developing a style all their own. Making names for themselves with their unique techniques are artists such as sculptor Jim Budish, painter Jeanne Maddox and photographer Clyde Butcher. But for the rest of us, once again, where do you draw the line? You draw it to protect the hard-working, creative artists who have come up with original ideas and used those ideas to create works of art that come from their soul! People who copy those techniques so closely that it's difficult to distinguish their work from the originals don't even deserve to be called artists. If they are in the business for the purpose of making a profit, they should be forced to pack up and leave just like the people caught selling buy/sell goods. That's where I'd draw the line! </div> <div> <I>If you'd like to voice you opinion on certain issues and would allow me to quote you in a future article, send me an e-mail at mike@mikealbin.com. The next time I need artist input for a story, I'll write you. </I></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>