Help! How Can I Stop People Breaching my Artist Copyright (Part two)

Since I made my last post I’ve been having a good think about the various responses I received and have come to some conclusions. I spoke about some basic steps the layman can take  to protect his artist copyright and realised that I had already come on quite a long journey in this respect. And so I decided I would share those insights with you here.

When I first started silk painting I had no idea how to get it out there and get the price right, let alone how to deal with the issue of people trying to copy it without my permission. And it soon became obvious to me that the more I worried about these things, the more I was attracting them into my life. Many people honestly wouldn’t know what they were doing unless I educated them.

It wasn’t until I began working in article marketing a few years ago that I really became exposed to putting my work out there on the net and just letting it go. I remember the guy we all worked for telling us to run some tests by Googling the first one or two lines of our articles and seeing where they appeared. Well, I was stunned at how many people had actually lifted my work and published it on their site with so much as a simple acknowledgment that it was mine. One specialist even claimed it was his work. Many of these magpie sites just disappeared overnight but it exposed me to the scale of this whole business.

Okay, back to the artwork. I began to realise that there will always be people who give themselves permission to use my images in whatever form they choose without my permission. I have decided that it is impossible for me to be vigilant round the clock. I have also decided that as long as I don’t know about it, there is little point in me worrying about it and wasting my energy. Just as there is little point in me worrying about the possibility of it happening. I am not a huge shark in the artworld, rather still a very little fish. So, to be honest, people aren’t going to be queuing up to use it.

And if I become as famous as Leonardo da Vinci is now (one of my all-time favourites), then why would I worry about bandits trying to steal my artwork?I feel at ease about sharing and trust in the process and will cross these bridges if and when I come to them and not before.,

I’m in a good space as far as artist copyright is concerned. I take care to point out publicly that my work may not be reproduced and that I am likely to take steps if this is not adhered to. But in terms of where my life is leading me now, others will find it very hard to copy and steal me, my very own brand. That is definitely something I am not afraid of.

For those of you who would like to know more about using images on the internet, have a look at this great post put together by Kathy Alice Brown about public domain photographs.

And what about you? Do you agree with me or do think differently on this matter? I’d love to hear your comments.