Copyright

Photo Copyright © KarenBaker2010



What is copyright??? and who owns the sun anyway????

Collins Softback English Dictionary Page 341

Definition: Copyright noun 1. the exclusive right to produce copies and to control an original literary, musical or artistic work, granted by law for a specified number of years (in Britain, usually 50 years from the death of the author, composer etc.
Symbol ©
adj 2 (of a work,etc.) subject to or controlled by copyright
vb 3(tr) to take out a copyright on.

Copyright is a law, is enforceable and exists for a reason.

The person or creator of a work whether it be a piece of art, a writing- book, a piece of poetry, a play or even a photograph,- is the one who owns that asset, that intellectual property, that has come from him or her. It is theirs to own, to appreciate, to market, to distribute, to sell and to receive the benefit of. It may be deemed to be an intangible asset, but it is that creator's asset and that person only should benefit from that creation.

I am not art trained, so I do not know much of who came before me, but in this small field where I dipped my toe -the mosaic pond, I have seen people write- "inspired by" and written an artist's name.

In my humble opinion you cannot do that and call yourself a creator. You are a copy-er. Someone else has developed their idea, and you see it and take it and use it and put your name to it saying this other person inspired you. The Law supports this notion and copyrights if deemed to be infringed can have judgements made and compensations awarded as a result of breaches.

I wrote this some time ago on my Flickr site.....

Copyright © mosaic and design 2009 Karen Baker.
MosaicArt by KarenBaker. Please enjoy, but don't copy- it's just not nice!!! .....oh and it's unlawful! :) Copyright Laws exist for a reason, so the person who creates (ONLY) benefits from that creation.
I dislike reading inspired by someone else, and especially when it is obvious someone has copied someone.........
Let your own life,
.....your own self
-inspire you to create.

NOT ME!!!!

So I look into myself and question what is my inspiration for the work I do? Being alive is the main inspiration, just breathing each day for me is enough to inspire me to create. I am not art-trained, nor have I spent any time considering myself an artist, .... I am happy to be label-less if it is up to me- I am creative, and I love to play with glass and colour and materials and see what inspiration flows through me, and what results.

Sometimes I have an idea I develop on paper, or an idea that sits in my head for a time, and then when I give opportunity for these ideas, they manifest either how I imagined or in a manner I did not expect. Creating mosaic art for me is a learning process, and I hope soon to get some time to try different techniques, just so I can do them... instead of excitedly becoming slave to the idea of the moment...... not that there is anything wrong with that. I have learned that what I sometimes start with ...is not what I end up with,......... I try to just let it be.

I notice sometimes that a couple of people will upload similar photographs on the same day, and I always love that because it begs the consideration that maybe inspiration comes through us, and maybe through many people all at once. Some are able to use that inspiration and create, and others do so at another time.

I now have many books, of sketches and ideas written down, as there are just too many to have them swirling around in my head saying "please make me, make me......!!!" Are these ideas inspiration thwarted, or just delayed, compiled for another moment....??? All I know is that recording them enables me to sleep and dream at night.

Just because I mosaic a sun, does not mean I own the sun. I love the sun, I toil under the sun, I hide from the sun sometimes, I work in it daily, but I do not own it, I do not own the image of it, but if I create a sun mosaic, it is my intellectual property. If it is of me, it is mine. I guess it is mine in the respect of the design of it, the materials I have used and the colours I have chosen, and the way I have constructed it. The images I take by way of photographing it, are also mine, and if I choose to share them on the internet, they are still my property- my intellectual property.

I imagine if 50 artists were in a room or even 50 different rooms and were to produce artworks of a sun, that 50 different images would be created. If you are true to yourself, then there could be 50 different creations..... I wonder if twins or triplets would produce the same or similar artwork??? .... but I digress....

If you see a sun mosaic and you want to copy it- you just cant, because it is the wrong thing to do, and what goes around does come around. Maybe a nice legal professional will visit you and correct your way of thinking by way of a summons, or maybe you will think you can get away with it. But all you are getting away with is cheating yourself. You are cheating yourself of your own creation, or of what could be, and taking a shortcut and allowing yourself to make what you can of someone else...

Sometimes people aren't true to themselves, or sometimes people are misinformed, or misguided, but what seems apparent to me, if you want to make art and you can't, maybe you are supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else.!!

What I do know for sure is that doing what you love is the best way to live. And usually if you love something, it is easy to do. So, you do it while it is easy, and you don't do it when it isn't!! Copyright all your work and respect everyone else's Copyrights.

Am I equally unlawful, or misguided, being inspired by the whistle of the wind, the red head feathers of an Adelaide Rosella, the undulations of a sand dune, the fragrance of lavender or the wisps of gold in that sheet of glass.... this is all someone else's creation ......and am I just being inspired by it.......?????? is IT copyright?????