Lazer Harpoon
Speaking of whaling harpoons to the head, a friend in San Francisco alerted me to the fact that a DJ duo named Lazer Sword are using one of my paintings on their MySpace page in promotion of their new EP. So not cool. Not cool, because:
1. They didn't ask me if they could.
2. That painting belongs to somebody who actually paid me for it.
3. They're using my work for their own commercial gain which violates fair use doctrine. I own the copyright. And I don't even have to register the work with the Feds to claim that.
Ivan Lozano addressed the issue of copyright sanctity in the digital age on his blog, but that really only concerned images used for press/personal/blogging use and not images used to the economic benefit of someone other than the copyright holding artist. I don't mind if people want to use my images for blogs, reviews, or the like, but I do mind if somebody wants to make a buck off my back.
I had to think about it for a bit (internal debate about censorship), but I asked them to take the image down. I should be flattered, I guess, but I don't really like their tracks, so I'm not.
Sinistral *Select One*, Oil Enamel on Canvas, 27 x 24 in. 2005. (Image courtesy of ME, the artist)
1. They didn't ask me if they could.
2. That painting belongs to somebody who actually paid me for it.
3. They're using my work for their own commercial gain which violates fair use doctrine. I own the copyright. And I don't even have to register the work with the Feds to claim that.
Ivan Lozano addressed the issue of copyright sanctity in the digital age on his blog, but that really only concerned images used for press/personal/blogging use and not images used to the economic benefit of someone other than the copyright holding artist. I don't mind if people want to use my images for blogs, reviews, or the like, but I do mind if somebody wants to make a buck off my back.
I had to think about it for a bit (internal debate about censorship), but I asked them to take the image down. I should be flattered, I guess, but I don't really like their tracks, so I'm not.
Sinistral *Select One*, Oil Enamel on Canvas, 27 x 24 in. 2005. (Image courtesy of ME, the artist)
posted by Raymond at
11:20 AM
9 Comments:
People like to assume they won't get caught on the internet. Which is cute. Way to bust some shit.
You think Lazer Sword would get pissed if you put their song on your website and didn't give them credit for it?
Their remix of "I Get Money" by 50 Cent is pretty good.
Yeah copyright issues of this sort is a whole different issue. It's totally not cool of them to do that. I will say that DJs and club flyers are usually really bad about just flat out "borrowing" images without permission. You should email Myspace if they don't remove it (which, as of 2:12 on 03/25/08, they have not).
ok so i wasnt sure what you were talking about, since we have no idea ourselves what our EP artwork will be just yet... but after a quick google search i found your blog.
so first off, our EP will definitely not be using any of your artwork. apologies if seeing that graphic in our myspace player led you to believe this, but i think you've ever had a look around myspace you'd notice that it is a cesspool of stolen imagery, and when time comes to make any money from our music we know exactly what the rules are raymond.
in regards to your blog entry, i really dont think you should be flattered. this is nothing more than a relatively small electronic duo, with no official releases to-date, throwing a tiny image on our myspace because it looks cute. especially if you don't like our music. your painting is alright but it is nothing we want to use on our album, just a random image that probably showed up from a google image hunt.
your request for us to remove the image from our myspace player is compltely valid... and i am removing it right now. however, after reading your post i would conclude that you might just be short on material for your blog.
bryant
damn, these fools got it goin on... you could have developed a relationship, instead your blowing them off. collaboration is a big deal, it can lead to big sometimes huge things. confronting people is fine, and with the internet and major blasted available use of images, people will end up using your art for random different things without any worry. Its important to contact the people that are using your work instead of publishing negative comments about them. Im an artist, and i keep my name and copyright across those images i dont want reproduced and reused across the net... you might want to try that too.
Great reaction and post, not negative at all from my perspective, nothing like their response. This reminds me of when i nearly got run over by a car running a red light, and then the driver stopped and proceeded to yell at me for waking across the street at the proper time.
I'm glad you know what the rules are, Bryant. And thank you for removing my image from your page.
Best of luck to both of you in your work.
"You might just be short on material for your blog."
hahahahahaha
Compared to the shit on my blog, this post is EPIC.
I read your post and the resulting comments to my copyright attorney and she pointed out an interesting case that set a precedent for the fair use of thumbnail images even for commercial purposes. The case is Kelly v. Arriba Soft and I've included the URL to a wiki site that does a pretty good job of discussing the issues and provides a link to the actual case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_v._Arriba_Soft_Corporation
Nonetheless, I think that your situation warranted action, and I'm sure we both agree with Sparkuhl that the gentlemanly approach to such matters usually yields the best results—a sentiment that almost always occurs to me in retrospect.
Good points both Adriana and Axel! I would add, though, that the gist of my post is that we should always ask the artist before attaching their work to our own project, and this should be regardless of copyright law. The internet may make it easier to acquire imagery, but it also makes it just as easy to contact the producer of whatever image you want to use. And, as Ivan pointed out, DJ culture has a bad habit of attaching images that are not theirs to their product - something that applies to many readers of this blog.
As far as collaboration goes, I have friends who are musicians and DJs that I would tap first as they're part of my community. If I had found something special in Lazer Sword I may have had a different response. But you are both right, the more gentlemanly the approach is always the best.
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