You might possibly have seen this before, since it is from June. Short story: The owner of a site has taken down the photos he put up there, and then gets an email with threats of getting sued if he does not put up the photos again, because those photos are used by another site (without permission). The photographer is a rather nice guy and explains the case to the offender, and after a talk with his lawyer, the thief finds out what he did was wrong. Or rather, found other images to put up, possibly without permission.
So here comes the case: There have been many a thread about piracy and art theft (art section only), and the offenders usually stand by their "right" to use these medias. As one of the comments says:
Increasingly, people are taking the attitude that if it's posted online, that makes it public property. I've had people insist to me "if I can google it, I can use it, end of story".
So, how come people are increasingly ignorant to the laws of copyright? We are living in a world where our lives are still more influenced by the internet, but yet many are not aware or even ignore what is legal and what is not, and in some cases like this one, they even thing they have the right to complain. Is it really how it should be, where nothing is secure and private (and commercially clean)?
Also, for more examples of this/hotlinking consequences, check the comments. /edit: quote
I absolutely do not condone hacks taking credit for and profiting from the creations of others. These people are clearly thieves and the maximum of copyright law should be brought against them whenever possible.
But practically speaking, searching for violators and dealing with the whole cease and desist crap is a losing battle for the independent artist. If you are serious about making a name for yourself as an artist (and let's be honest, the vast majority of DA doesn't count), then you need to establish an unquestionably authentic online presence - or simply avoid the net all together.
It takes an enormous amount of hard work and perseverance to really establish yourself as an artist, and no thief is going to be able to compete with you if you take your passion for art and pump that into the networking side of things. If you're talking about actual income, most of that is going to result from personal connections you make. If you keep yourself very visible and accessible to the type of people who love your work the most, you'll be successful in spite of the asshole down the street selling rips of your stuff at half price.
I talked about music because that is what I know when it comes to this.
Yes, music is a different ballgame right now than other art forms, for various reasons. As a working musician, I am much less concerned about someone actually stealing my work and taking credit for it. I mean it happens, but not as easily as in other mediums like photography.
Also, musicians have the inherent advantage that recordings do very well from a pure advertising standpoint. You ever get a group of friends together to go see a band in town, because someone found a file online, loved it, and shared it with the group? Incidentally, I think the Rolling Stones is one of the most bootlegged bands of all time. I'm just saying.
It would be likewise good for other types of artists to start viewing their material online as "romotional"... something that draws people close to you for an irreplaceable experience that *can't* be copied. For musicians, that's the live show. And what does that come down to? Again, it's about the personal connection between you as an artist and the people who love what you do. So if you're a poet, maybe you write a love sonnet for a man about to celebrate a wedding anniversary. If you're a photographer, maybe you capture some sweet memories of youth for an elderly woman. I mean, sky's the limit with ideas here, but you get what I mean. =)
