Wow, this man travelled a long way. Today, images, news and art travel faster than ever before. Everything is copied and pasted and forwarded. Things will be recycled a million times and reinterpreted over and over until they mean nothing similar to their original context. I believe that it is wrong to plagiarize—taking someone else’s idea and naming it as your own is unethical. But I also think that suing someone for thousands of dollars because another artist is tinkering with your idea is pretty ridiculous. If they give you credit, then it should be enough. If they take it and make money on it… then they probably beat you to it. It’s unfortunate, but it happens all the time. If you have one good idea or one good piece of work, then you’ll come up with another. People are cheated out of their own good ideas all the time, and those interested in money will try to bank on someone else’s work. There’s no reason for artists to be at war with one another. As the author of this article condones, it is mandatory to try to remember the original context of a photograph, especially in this case of the historical events in Nicaragua. If and when someone takes something and completely negates its historical text (for example: starting an evil cult that practices human sacrifice), that is a time that someone should take other measures if necessary.
We’re all in this together, and it is most important to maintain respect for others. If anything, there’s lessons to be learned from the rendition, whether it be a more expressionistic approach or a contrasting viewpoint.
Everything comes from somewhere. The human experience is universal, and certain themes are timeless. I hadn’t even realized all of the references mentioned in here… such as the Disney references, south park, Simpsons, etc. The John Donne quote about all of mankind being one author is very appropriate for this discussion. Art and literature is a process, and quite a long one at that. As Donne mentioned, it is all a translation, retranslated over and over again. I think that creating a collage of different works is very different than plagiarism. Mixing and matching, comparing and contrasting in order to convey a new perspective has proven to be very creative and effective. It is very important to investigate literature and art closely, and then revisit it again throughout the years. Taking something old and turning it into something new is entertaining and enlightening. We discussed this in my creative writing class as well, and I think that the rule is that after an author has been dead a certain number of years then their work becomes a part of history and public domain. That is why someone could write the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies…which is exciting, and relevant (somehow).
This article summed up their point perfectly by saying that the primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors but to “promote the progress of Science and useful arts.” What is the point of creating something if you aren’t willing to share?
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