Thoughts on Intellectual Property and Artists

This is a very rare mid-week blog, but it is something I feel I need to discuss and it is too long for my usual Sunday Blog.

 

Earlier today I shared a post on Facebook regarding a particularly loathsome individual who was stealing other artists work and selling them at Wizard World.

 

Over the years I have dealt with one other person who was a plagiarist, a despicable and mentally deranged man named Michael Goodwin.

 

I won’t get into the details about that person, as it would take hours to write everything about him.

 

Stealing artwork and claiming it’s your own is really not a good idea. I’ve seen plenty of artwork at the Calgary and Edmonton Expo which I had to wonder if it was stolen and printed for sale, as I have seen the images at DeviantArt.

 

On the off chance I might have been mistaken in the incidents where I saw what I figured was art belonging to someone else, I was decided to not say anything. I could have been wrong, and after all, most of the artists I know of on DeviantArt do not use their own faces.

 

Sometimes it’s best to be safe than sorry or make a scene when it comes to this sort of thing. I sent a couple of private messages to the artists on DeviantArt, but never heard back from any of them.

 

It was good to see this individual called out and forced to close his booth. I have read since this incident he has likewise shut down all his social media pages and has essentially gone into electronic exile.

 

Probably a good idea on his part.

 

I’ve been on the receiving end of this as well, having been called a plagiarist due to my sources of inspiration, as well as using the OGL licence to write up material for Mutant Future.

 

See - it is a slippery slope when it comes to something like this. When I read something I believe could be useful in one of the articles I write, I will use the idea, and I have to be damn careful to make sure I re-write so that it is not word for word.

 

Still even after that, such work could easily be called theft. Ideas – it could be argued – are intellectual property.

 

This brings up the next part of this post.

 

I have read at least one person who was discussing this situation on another friend’s page that he considers artists who use characters, such as superheroes, characters from movies and books and so forth to be in the same category as the man who was stealing art and selling it as his own.

 

Those who SELL their versions of these characters that is. The art work may come from them, but the characters do not belong to them!

 

Artists want to make money, and selling familiar characters is a great way to do so. A lot say it helps broaden the exposure of these characters.

 

Well the characters already have a ton of exposure, and often these characters greatly outsell their own original work, making it quite lucrative for the artists to continue to do so.

 

Is it theft though? That is the question.

 

This is a real conundrum.

 

Should artists who use the intellectual property of comics, movies, television and the like be forced to cease and desist? Should they be forced to give a significant portion of their proceeds to the original owners of the characters?

 

And that brings into question other places, like the Daily T-Shirt companies which are pretty much 99.9% using images from the intellectual property of others. Look at the Superhero shirts that are available. Or shows such as Supernatural, Doctor Who and so forth.

 

And the ton of shirts which are available from Star Wars alone!

 

How about the other companies which make bobble heads or similar merchandise, should all these companies be shut down and forced to close?

 

This is difficult for me to consider.

 

Legally it is theft of Intellectual property.

 

But at the same time the big companies which own the rights to the characters are NOT taking action.

 

At least not overly aggressively, although… I’ve heard rumors that Marvel and DC are starting to enforce the sale and distribution of their characters at some conventions and expo’s in the states.

 

I’ve even heard this is extending towards cosplayers who dress as these characters.

 

Personally? I don’t have an issue with people who create their own art and sell it. I guess this makes me a hypocrite in the eyes of many, but it is the way I feel.

 

Have I purchased any artwork from these individuals?

 

As a matter of fact, I have. I rarely purchase art, as there is really no place for me to hang it on my walls, but over the past year I have purchased three pieces – one for Fallout 4, as well as a beautifully rendered image of Korra and Mako from Avatar: The Legend of Korra.

 

Does this make me a thief because I purchased artwork from these two artists?

 

Technically I guess it does.

 

Will I continue to purchase original artwork in the future? Not very often, as I have stated the reason above.

 

In this case I have to say it is up to the individual to decide if they should or should not use characters that do not belong to them.

 

As long as it is your original art, and you’re not taking the art from someone else and passing it off as your own.

 

I have a feeling this is going to become a major issue in the next few years. A wait and see situation.

 

Hell people could argue I'm stealing intellectual property by using the image I am to attract attention to this post!

 

Judge me if you will, but you had best be polite in doing so.