Last week I read the book “Steal Like an Artist”, by Austin Kleon. It is ironic that the book is actually a copy of an article the author wrote following a talk he gave to students, and also available as a TED talk. Perhaps also ironic is the fact that I read it online, therefore depriving the author of any revenue. The author probably wouldn’t mind, as his message is pretty much ‘share freely, everything we do is basically a mashup of things we have picked up along the way’. He even wrote a second book, which I also read online at OpenLibrary.org, called “Show Your Work”, which basically tells creatives they should be very generous with their processes and discoveries, which a lot of people do. In fact, much of what I am able to do today artistically is because of the generosity of other artists teaching their craft online for free. I confess to not being very generous that way, and I will try to remedy that in the future. But that is not today’s topic, just a long winded intro! My original idea for this week’s blog was to try to explain copyrights in art, and these recent readings just complicate things further! Regardless, I will try! What is a copyright? A copyright is literally, the right to copy. This right applies to creative work, including books, visual art, music, poetry, films, fictional characters, etc., and it belongs to the person (or company) who created it. It lasts a certain number of years, depending on the country, but usually many years past the death of the creator. It can be ceded or sold, but only overtly, in other words, you should assume the owner is the creator unless there is proof otherwise. The copyright gives its owner the sole discretion as to what can and can’t be done with the work, for example if copies can be made or if it can be used as a basis for a transformed work (say turn a book into a movie, or use a character in an image or book). The owner is the only one who can give permission and can negotiate compensation for the use of the copyrighted work, which of course is the underlying idea here: giving credit where credit is due. Important to note, a copyright can’t apply to an idea, but only to the expression of the idea; for example, a duck can’t be copyrighted, but Donald Duck can. How does one ‘record’ a copyright? In its simplest form, a copyright does not need to be registered, but is often identified by the © symbol followed by the creator’s name and date. That’s it! In practice however, if a creator has to prove ownership if they find one of their creations has been ‘stolen’, that may not be enough. In a dispute, the creator has the burden of proof, so manuscripts or photos of work in progress will help establish that they indeed created the work. Most creatives do not bother to register their copyrights, but large companies such as Disney, where most revenue comes directly from creative work, have entire legal departments whose job is to make sure only Disney profits from Disney designs. Are there times when copying is legal? Copyrighted material can be used without express permission in certain circumstances, such as in a critique or a parody, or in academic work, as long as proper credit is given to the owner of the copyright. In painting, a practice known as “master copying” is often used as a way to learn to paint like the grand masters. The artist should never try to pass off the work as their own and should not sell the copied work. They usually will sign the work “after XXX”, where XXX is the name of the master painter. In 2001, Creative Commons came along to muddy the waters of what can and can’t be done with original work. Under Creative Commons licensing, the creator can choose from a combination of share/reuse options going from “not at all” to “in some cases”. Their aim was to make it simpler for creators to share their work under some circumstances. Creative Commons uses a different and complex set of symbols to identify which combination the creator chose. You can see an example in the bottom left corner of this great diagram made and shared by Ginger Davis Allman from https://thebluebottletree.com/ What are the odds of getting caught?
On Facebook recently, I saw a Quebec art gallery showing paintings for sale which obviously used well known Disney characters. Although I have no doubt they will find buyers, I would not want to be them or the artist if Disney comes calling, as I very much doubt they gave a Quebec artist express permission to use likenesses of Mickey and Donald! Possible, but not likely! I know from other creatives in a group I belong to that Disney does come after even small businesses when it comes to protecting their copyrights! And of course they will win! In the best case, they will force the artist to destroy the work, and in the worst case they will demand compensation. Here are some famous examples of copyright cases from the music industry. Conclusion Copyrights are both simple and complex. Simply, artists should stay out of trouble by avoiding using copyrighted material. They can use the idea, but have to modify it sufficiently to not be accused of copyright infringement. Following this simple advice will keep artists out of complex legal battles! As an artist, I have better things to do with my time than spending it in court! Don’t you?
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AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
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