Don't Steal. A Knee Jerk Reaction.
This post is related to a comment posted by gapingvoid via Twitter “”Don’t Steal”. Sums up for me why some artists are so CLUELESS about the world we now actually live in.” And, the ‘Don’t Steal’ post at The Rally Flag
Normally I don’t like posting knee jerk reactions to things posted online but after reading a few posts recently with regards to intellectual property theft or ‘stealing’ I felt it was time to clarify a few things for the online community.
First: When you toss about the term ‘Art’ or ‘Artist’ on the web it is not limited to or exclusively a reference to the digital medium and it’s writers/ bloggers, film makers, music /companies, web designers, graphic artists and photographers. It may surprise many of you to know that there are people in this world that produce physical properties i.e. paintings, sculpture, jewellery, fashion, accessories, objet d’art. Shock horror I know. For those of us who choose this path (for whatever insane reason) do so with the additional challenges of rampant commercial idea theft [see: fashion industry], lazy and aggressive companies, middle men, cost of materials, cheap international labour, mass manufacturing, love of our craft. The problem is when we digitize that work for promotion on the web these factors are amplified.
I am not arrogant enough to think that all or any of my work is good enough to be knocked off but it is hard enough to penetrate the world/local market(s) without the work being devalued generally in the public by those who *doodle/shoot/click/type upload and then move on to the next idea. (*See what I did there, I undermined the creative process, oversimplified and commodified). I know how hard it is to produce content, and appreciate it. I’m just not sure those on the web do. I believe it is ok to start with someone else’s idea, evolve it, make if your own that’s what art is about master/apprentice/influence but it is NOT ok to tell consumers to simply “Steal” because it has a new marketing ring making it the new ‘Free’. As mentioned in the comments here it may work with doodles & indirect marketing just not so much in the physical world.
Part of me posting this is to stamp my feet, rant and bitch, because I believe consumers (all of us) are losing in the end. The other part is because I’m eager to have someone change my view rather than conveniently have this conversation ignored. Or continue to be one sided.
I don’t use comments on Tumblr, I do welcome @replies on twitter & friendfeed: http://twitter.com/ryantaylor http://friendfeed.com/taylor
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