There’s always a lot of discussion about copyrights when it comes to any form of art and its usage; especially when the internet is involved. With sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr having been so popular for so long; and now Pinterest and Instagram becoming very popular social networking sites for sharing photos of virtually anything with anyone, the debate continues to grow.
As artists, we are faced with both an incredible set of tools to promote ourselves to millions of prospective viewers and possible clients around the world; and, faced with having that very same resource pool being used against us to steal our work.
My thoughts on this may be considered quite progressive by some. I tend to fall right in the middle of a generation of artists with very conservative ideas on art and rights; and another generation of highly progressive people who like the idea of easy access to all.
I am in love with the idea of being able to share my work with viewers I could otherwise never reach. I however need to make a living and don’t want to be taken for granted or have my work diminished in value or outright stolen.
So, here’s my solution.
Intelligent sharing.
Simply put, most of the work you can post online is of such low quality, if done correctly, that the most anyone could use it for is a screensaver on their computer or phone. It is a simple matter of learning how to upload your work in a manner that maintains the quality presentation you need to market yourself, without making it very usable. That is where it s up to the artist, in my opinion, to learn the technical aspects of how to save and upload work and even add a copyright to it when necessary. It is a technical world, and that is not going to change and it will never reverse itself unless the Mayans were correct.
It is up to the artist to protect themselves by making it their job to know the technical aspects of the modern world we live in (keep in mind, I am merely speaking from the point of view of the photography and illustration industry).
To me, the risk of people downloading my work to use it as a screen saver on their computer or their phone is far outweighed by the prospect of new clients and increased sales. In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff.
And, the alternative is, if you don’t want to share it with the world, then just don’t upload it. You have the ultimate choice.