getting back to Judy's original post....
judith wrote:
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I post it as a reminder for those tempted, and as an educationnal posting for those who might somehow not know, that it is legally and ethically wrong to use pictures of work designed and created by others, without their knowledge or permission, for any reason. And it is escpecially wrong (and illegal) to use those photos to promote yourself in a way that implies that the work is yours, leading the reader to infer that it is indeed yours.
We (Vitrum Studio) recently discovered that a woman in Hagerstown, MD, has decided to teach glass fusing classes. She put out a flyer announcing her classes, using pictures of work taken from our web site and from other web sites (Peggy Carr and others) inferring that the work was hers.
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Aside from any legal action we (and Peggy Carr) may take, we want to use this violation as an entry into a positive discussion on this board to promote knowledge and understanding of ethics in art.
We have already instigated discussion with the professional teachers in the area, trying to design a way to include a lesson in ethics in our beginning courses. We would appreciate any comments and suggestions you all might have.
thanks,
judith
I have to say that it amazes me that someone could be so brazen as to steal images from websites and place them on a flyer for the class she was teaching without properly crediting the artists, thus somehow implying that she would be teaching people how to make these works. Frankly, it boggles my mind that this person would be stealing images of works done by local artists who would be likely to hear about this (as Judy did).
I have been thinking about all of the things I didn't know when I was first fusing glass. Whenever I saw someone's work I would look at it carefully and think to myself about how I could make it, and about how much it would cost me to make it. I try not to be rude and hope that I never walked into someone's booth and announced that I could make something in there and make it for less. There is plenty of rudeness out there. As time went on I learned about all of the other costs associated with production of glass art and began to realise that what I had once considered expensive was actually quite reasonable and maybe even inexpensive.
I would like to see some education offered around that. I think it is important for budding artists to understand all the costs associated with making a living as a glass artist so that they can appreciate the appropriateness of pricing, can more ably price their own work, and have greater respect for those brave enough to make a living as glass artists.
I never would have thought that ethics needed to be taught in a glass fusing class but this event has made that exceeding clear. While someone copying a work could argue that they were trying to learn from a master, selling their copies of an artist's work in stores just down the street from the gallery that represents that artist (and I just saw that this past month) is unethical. While it may not be actionable, I see it as theft. Taking someone's images from a website and representing them as your own (if not explicitly, them implicitly) is theft.
How would this be taught? Anyone out there with ethics instruction as a vocation?
just call me stymied and amazed...
