Copyright and “fair use” issues are something all artists – in licensing or otherwise – should be very aware of. Some say “if I change at least 25% I’m fine” – as in, I can take something that someone else did, alter it a bit and call it brand new. Well… not always and really, is this the best way to create?
There are enough instances where two or more artists have similar inspiration without ever seeing the other person’s work. Perhaps they were tracking the same trends, watching or listening to something that sparked an idea… who knows.
The recent ruling in the case against Shepard Fairey by the Associated Press has upheld copyright protections – “use someone else’s art – in the case a photograph – and there will be consequences.”
I have been seeing quite a few issues with people copying my artwork lately. Some of them are almost exactly the same except they flip items over to make them 25% different. Swirls are in the same places and same size. Come on people! Get your own ideas or at least add some of your own ideas into it. I have also seen alot of the same trending artwork. When a manufacturer sends out a request to multiple agencies it’s hard not to see the similar stuff.
Another issue I have been dealing with is when a manufacture send me another artist work and requesting me to create something similar. I change it up and add my own style into it, but it’s hard to say no when it’s requested. How do you deal with this?
Jennifer – that is a really good point about art call-outs affecting what is available as well. I remember one year at SURTEX a manufacturer commented that there were cupcakes everywhere – I said, “Well, a big company just asked for them recently in an email to dozens of artists”. Now they are trending again – go figure!