Freckled Fowl; 14 x 18" o/c...
...From a photo I took at the Box R Ranch of a Hamburg hen, that I turned into a rooster. Couldn't do without that big, red comb and wattle.
The copyright issue has been a hot topic in my online picture book discussion group since everyone learned about the various "search by image" tools. Fellow book illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba posts children's coloring pages to her website, which apparently are stolen routinely. She has a very informative couple of blog posts on the matter. She regularly collects fees from infringers who have used her work for profit or promotion. While doing so is certainly fair, many of us, however illogically, feel slimy and uncomfortable demanding money in such situations. However, it seems to be the only way to enforce copyrights and educate those who should know better. Infringers who get off a mere a demand to remove the images should consider themselves fortunate, regardless of how "nasty" they perceive such requests.
A very striking painting Connie!
Thanks, Mona. I have two shows this weekend and barely enough work, so mainly it was a fast painting!
Connie, Thanks for sharing. And truly, I don't know why you would feel slimy making people pay for art, that they would have had to pay for if they'd approached you through the proper channels. They're stealing. What makes me feel slimy is that people do it all the time and think it's okay. I'd rather ignore yuckies like that in the world, and I certainly don't want to talk to them, but what are you going to do? It's like somebody robbing your house and saying "Oh well. Happens all the time." That's how I look at it. e
You are absolutely right, of course. I was just reflecting one of the comments from the group about feeling sleazy. I guess I"m a push-over--DH told me I blew it by not asking for compensation--something New Yorker's would understand. Since the organization's representative was so unapologetic (upbraiding me for my "sledge-hammer approach" about merely asking that they remove the image they probably had been using for years), I can only imagine how they would have reacted if I had asked them for payment! But I wish I had.
You should send them the link to my article "Calvin & Hobbes and Copyright Infringement" at http://dulemba.blogspot.com/2011/11/calvin-hobbes-and-copyright.html . Maybe if she sees the potential lost income for you she'd understand? Of course, some people are just thick. So sorry that happened, and even sorrier they were unapologetic. That's just so wrong. Grrrr. e