Week 2 Whose image is it anyway?

Week 2 Whose Image is it anyway?

This week we are looking at business basics and business plans. We will also briefly touch on copyright law.

There have been some notable art copyright cases in recent decades. One of the most significant is French photographer Patrick Cariou’s claim, suing Richard Prince and his gallery, Gagosian, for copyright infringement. Read more about the case here (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., or an even more detailed report here (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Please post in the forum below whether you agree or disagree with the court’s final decision, and why. Comment and discuss with your peers.

3 Oct 2017
Copyright is a minefield whether to do with art, music, inventions, products etc etc. Everyday we see close copies or blatant replicas maybe with one or two small almost imperceptible differences from the original. For me it is a question of ethics and relating to the person who made the original work/item to ask permission or negotiate a profit share. However I realise that aspirations for profit dominate and that individuals and corporations will always find ways to do the minimum to stay on the right side of the law. I have often wondered about photographers who photograph images from books/artwork and apply layers using these pieces to their own images to create novel effects. I guess some maybe so old they are out of copyright years. Visiting the Rijks museum the other day and seeing The Night Watch by Rembrant was interesting not only because it is huge and impressive but hung to it’s right was a much smaller copy by another artist Gerrit Lundens. In the “olden days” original artists were flattered to be copied and the work of the copier was revered as well as that of the original artist. It is a valuable copy of the original which was trimmed in size taking out some of the notable details to fit through a doorway (the museum guide told me!). The Night Watch has inspired many musicians, authors, artists and others who have recreated the image in various forms. For me that raises another matter. Is it the intention of photographers to capture a moment or make a creation for a moment in time or is it the intention to create something that inspires new works in various forms well into the future so that the original photographer’s name (if credited as inspiration) lives on well beyond their life time?
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/gerrit-lundens-after-rembrandt-the-company-of-captain-banning-cocq-the-nightwatch
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturevideo/artvideo/9969256/Cultured-flashmob-recreates-Rembrandts-The-Night-Watch.html
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