Thread: Is this a problem

Interesting subject,and no doubt of concern to certain members of the arts and crafts world , for mine if someone wants to take photographs of my work they are welcome for the most part they are already photographed and submitted to places like this forum almost all pens are copies of something we have seen around the place or at least been inspired by someone elses creation . With art work and original stuff like has been mentioned it may well be a bit different from our situation as pen turners ,which in most cases is just the way we dress our work to make them attractive or unique . I have never been to a "Juried " show so no Idea on that side of things , I do attend arts and craft shows to sell my pens ,as do many others ,to try and recover some costs and to share our products with others who may well be less able to produce what we do, if I came up with a stunning original (like watch pens etc) if I didn't want the idea used by others then it would not get posted on forums , but my aim like many in our field is not so much to (show off) but inspire others to have a go and advance their own skills ,or try something different , a bit like CA finishes ,there are many ways to achieve it ,but in the end it's still a CA finish For me I have made and sold thousands of pens over the last 6-7 years ,and still so much I have not yet tried in pen making . So from my point of view at least any one is welcome to copy or photograph my work, which is most likely a copied Idea from some one else and so it goes hehe.
Cheers ~ John

I believe it is.

It will be interesting to see the range of responses to this article and about the wider knowledge of copyright & Interlectual Property (IP) in general.

Unfortunately the ready availability of high tech equipment and miniatureised devices to facilitate this sort of behaviour makes it very difficult if not impossible to curtail. Photographers may own the copyright in an image however the item or subject of the photograph may also be protected by copyright itself. The photographer and publisher of images of works protected by IP & copyright laws must respect those rights.

I have had similar concerns for a number of reasons about well meaning amateur photographers and others who photograph items at craft fairs, exhibits and competitions then post them on-line. Mostly it is a fairly benign exercise that the poster sees as a "public service" to the wider arts/crafts community but it can quite easily have impacts to an artist's lively hood or standing in the arts/crafts community in some cases.

Where an idea or technique is well known there is no real or significant impact but where a technique or "work of art" is rather unique, progressive or perhaps even ground breaking there could be considerable impact to the originating artist when others copy "their" IP and make competing sales before the artist can fully reap any personal benefits.