Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Art Theft -- Editorial on Artsy.net about fighting fashion industry plagiarism

some bullet points below on this 9.19.16 article "How Artists Are Fighting Back Against the Fashion Industry's Plagiarism Problem" an editorial by Isacc Kaplan on Artsy.net.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-how-artists-are-fighting-back-against-the-fashion-industry-s-plagiarism-problem

This article includes story of theft of image by artist Kesh ... which was done as design in collaboration with American Apparel (below right), then was produced as unauthorized version by Versace.





1) cites more case studies of art theft and outcome

2) interesting point by lawyer Jeff Gluck,(in NY) urging caution on calling out infringes on social media. "If the infringement isn't made public, companies may be more inclined to settle... artists should be very careful their statements are accurate and not libelous." also Gluck advises artists to always, somehow, get (their) signature onto anything they produce."

3) When lawyers get involved, settlement is usually the outcome. 

4) update on Tuesday Bassen case.... "Bassen has found an attorney to represent some of the 40 artists in negotiations with Zara's lawyers." The legal fees are on a contingency basis.


5) Lawyer Gluck notes that lawyers will often take these cases on contingency. "Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for an artist --- even if they have no money and are living paycheck to paycheck -- to reach out to us." 


Article also discusses importance of REGISTRATION of copyright. 


While the article cites a registration fee of $35 per work (which is true) article neglects to mention that it is possible to register copyright for bundles of unpublished images and that is a good habit for artists to get into.

For more case studies of art theft -- and ways artists cope --- see this previous post: http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2016/09/combat-art-theft-case-studies-and.html

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