It appears that the image featuring Nessaf’s copied work has been removed from Texprint’s award page, but not Burrows and Stewarts. Hopefully it will also be removed soon. Beester is still listed as the winner of the colour award.

RE Samantha Beeston:
The following is a letter I wrote to her professor, Simon Clarke, at Fallmouth college, where she won awards, and was cited by the instructor below as having a unique talent.

simon.clarke@falmouth.ac.uk

Dear Sir,
Though I am sure by now you have heard of this shocking betrayal of all that we, as artists, believe, I did want to make sure. Ms Nassef is, in fact, the unique artist whose work you
praised, while Ms Beeston has treated all who believe in her with a kind of saddening contempt. Of course I am sure she is quite ill, but that does not mitigate just how
stomach turning this entire business is.
Sincerely
Jon Robin Baitz

Thanks so much to Julia for posting about this. I’m feeling pretty hurt that someone would steal my work so shamelessly (and then go on to win a prize with it!) and hopefully this will serve as a warning to anyone else tempted to rip off other people.

Looking forward to reading what you find out about copyright. Using photos as reference is a big question. At RISD, of course we had the whole clipping file…everyone used photos for reference at one point or another, but certainly there is a line between drawing a flower from a reference photo and copying someone else’s work outright. Thanks for posting all this Julia!

This is just so sad, it breaks my heart to see such beautiful work stolen like this. I’m actually going through the same thing with a shop abroad so it would be great to get some more info on copyright laws.

Thank you for bringing it to our attention, it’s great posts like yours that really help!

As far as I know, something is public domain 70 years after the death of the author/artist.

Using a photograph for reference can infringe on the photographers copyright, if “a substantial part is used”. “Infringement will not necessarily be prevented merely by the application if significant new skill and labour by the infringer, nor by a change of medium” (quoted from the Writers’ and Artists’ yearbook).
So it’s best to be careful in the case of using photos for reference.

A good source for checking when works go into the public domain is: http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

As for using a photo for reference, it’s a very slippery slope. Just look at the court case concerning Shepard Fairey.

What this woman has done though is really horrendous. How she thought she could get away with it is beyond me.

Keep in mind that website is for American works; PD varies in other countries.

julia,
thank you for taking the time to raise consciousness about this. i am going to be posting about my sister’s situation on my blog in the next few days. we are waiting for her to consult legal advice.
cheers,
lisa

You may have found this already…might be useful: http://www.artlaws.com/

I’m shocked, I wonder how could she go on at the school. By the way, it didn´t say too much about the school either…

Julia,

Thanks for taking the time to post and share. Imitation is definitely not the sincerest form of flattery and it’s disheartening to see this blatant rip off.

I have a copyright question, albeit a more specific one. I’ve been approached by a teen book club to create cool book club materials inspired by famous books. For example, they want to celebrate the Harry Potter series and I was thinking of illustrating some portraits of the characters (not copying from photos, of course) to put on pins, etc. I think this is acceptable, but am not sure.

Thanks again!

It’s amazing how things like these still manage to happen in this day and age..
It’s really sad that ppl do not even have conscience, if not morals or ethics.

Lizzy is an amazing illustrator and its pretty pathetic for someone to rip off her work.. so blatantly!!

I really hope that Lizzy’s artwork gets the justice and recognition it deserves. To win a prize using someone else’s work is just so shameful.

Hi Julia,
Thanks for taking the time to research and cover these topics.

It is terrible what has happened to Lauren…I guess what Samantha Beeston didn’t realize is that it might have been easy for her to take Lauren’s images and trace them, but it’s also just as easy for the world to see that Samantha is a fraud.

As for the topic of photographic use, etc, that reminds me of a couple of articles I read regarding Sheperd Fairey’s use of Obama’s image for his Hope poster, as well as some of the other works where he appropriates images.

http://www.printmag.com/design_articles/MiltonGlaseronShepardFairey/tabid/492/Default.aspx

http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

Thanks again and ps I love your blog!

Lizzy and Jez are incredible. Couldn’t believe this when we saw it, but it’s good to see it’s been caught and will be taken care of.

(Although I’m now thinking Jez and Lizzy should make a set of pillow cases and bedsheets using that pattern! … Is it too narcissistic to sleep within the artwork of your own album?)

Hi, I’d be interested to understand more about the use of DERIVATIVE works and the copyright implications? For example, let’s say a craftster makes a felt item, or a button, or something. If someone else takes a photo of said item, and uses that in their work or in their logo, is this copyright infringement? In my web design work I often get requests like this and I always want to make sure my clients have permission to use images but don’t want to unecessarily overstep the mark by suggesting to them they don’t have copyright when in fact they may do! Thanks for any insight you can provide..

An update – I see now that Texprint have removed the piece of Beeston’s work stolen from Lauren. Success! The one ripping Lizzy’s buildings still remains, bewilderingly.

I didn’t notice the copyrigth of Samantha Beeson on the image, she was worried about that…

The depth of this womans betrayal to not just the artists that she so blatantly stole from but the entire art community as well is just beyond words.

this is all such a nightmare. i really feel for the artists. i’ve had issues with copiers but not to this extent. it’s a really bad feeling.

Wow…read the previous post with the story and it definitely is sad and horrible. It makes me feel sad that sharing your art suddenly becomes a vulnerability because bad people can take it. I’m amazed that this Samantha just copied it straight out – was she an art student?! I’ve seen instances where works seem to be in the same family or vein because someone was inspired by someone else…but this is copy and paste. Like people wouldn’t notice?

I’m also interested in learning more about this topic in general. Obviously, if I wanted to draw a bird, I might draw it similarly to many who have drawn birds before me. It’s easy to make a decision in clear cut cases of copy/paste…but the grey areas still confuse me a lot.

This has got to be a top ten nightmare come to life. I appreciate your post and the mounting indignation that it’s generating. I would love to know how the professor responds to this. I ‘ll bet that her student work was much the same. She ought to be ill. I’m interested in reading more about the copyright laws. Thanks for including this in your posts.

Thanks for researching this topic, Julia.

I am in the process of copyrighting some of my illustrations for a children’s book I am collaberating on. I have a few questions that I haven’t been able to find the answers to and would be so grateful if you happened to find the answers, if you would post about the topics:

1) How does infringement come into play in the realm of collage: when text/images from magazines, books, etc are used in conjunction with the collage artist’s own embellishment with paint, etc.?

2) Can an artist legally demand her images removed from a website, even if its not being used for monotary gain by the offending blogger/webmaster?

3) What are the laws concerning an artist taking a copyrighted image or artistic object as a found object, and embellishing it or adding some changes and then reselling the object on sites such as ebay or etsy? For example, there was a problem with etsy being sued by Hello Kitty because so many etsy users were taking Hello kitty statues and other objects, dressing them up or painting them, and then selling them.

4) What legal protections are given to an artist whose non-copyrighted images (those made by the artist but not applied for copyright) were stolen? For example, many artists share their sketchbook drawings online, but since these aren’t his or her portfolio or commerical work, they haven’t been submitted for official copyright. What if someone was to copy an artist’s noncopyrighted sketchbook drawings from his or her website or flickr?

5) What is the line between homage and infringement? Can an artist pay homage to other pieces of art, classic characters, etc by spoofing or including elements of well known images in his/her work? For example, could I create illustration to a copyrighted poem/text (like making a book of images visualizing a Robert Frost poem)? Could I include a drawing of Charlie Brown in a painting that has my own images in it? Could I paint a Mona Lisa in my own stylized spoof?

6) What are the steps you take to confront someone who has been selling copies of your drawings online and in both the circumstance of copyrighted and non-copyrighted drawings?

7) Is there a large distinction between using copyrighted images for personal drawings that are NOT FOR SALE (for example posting online your re-drawing of a Gustav Klimt’s ‘Kiss’ displayed as a sketchbook page) and blantantly copying images and passing them off as my own profit– FOR SALE (ie, in the case of Samantha Beeston)?

I think there is something about 30% of a piece needing to be changed. Scary for us surface pattern designers. I have heard of major companies taking artist’s ideas and not necessarily tracing them but using the same motif, layout, colors etc.

In that situation I suppose the artist has no recourse but to be disappointed and second guess being so free to put work out there.

I feel like I have no choice but to send stuff around or put it online with the hope that if someone saw it they’d like to work with my rather than rip me off.

At tradeshows I’ve had designers and design teams come into my booth and look closely at designs and literally say they are there for “inspiration”. Looking forward to reading more on this from you Julia.

I looked at the Textprint Prize page and found five women’s work with individual photos (Beeson not among them), but at the top there’s still a group photo of six women. This must be terribly embarrassing for them, and rightfully so. Thanks, Julia, for bringing this to our attention.

Hi Julia,
Thanks offering to look at all these copyright issues! I have a question for you about hand drawing type that I haven’t been able to find an answer for. I was wondering if it would be breaking copyright to hand draw a typeface designed by someone else? For example, hand drawing text in the Gill Sans typeface.

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your questions so far. At the end of today I am sending them to a copyright lawyer who has agreed to guest post about this information. Please continue to send your questions today and hopefully by the end of this week we’ll all be less confused about this.
Thanks, Julia

Hi
This is a really interesting debate, and has really opened a can of worms about how artists and the creative industries in general use the internet for ‘inspiration’.

I am also thinking about buzz phrases like ‘rip mix and burn’ , ‘creative mashups’ and creative commons that seem to be arguing for more flexibility in how much control you retain on your work’s copyright.

My question is what are the mechanisms for marking whether your work is cc or c, and what would the legal implications be if you felt someone was plagarising your work rather than ‘reworking’ it?

thanks, Desdemona

I’ve been watching this unfold with an interested if rheumy eye for the last couple of days. Of course I have a certain amount of sympathy for Lauren Nassef. I’m an artist myself and have been the victim of similar things in my own career. But I’ve got to say I’ve not heard such a lot of sanctimonious, self-righteous bollocks for a long time. Seems like I finally stumbled on the moral high ground and it has a prick called Jonrobinbaitz (leading playwright apparently) sitting atop it. Why don’t you all just get over it – plagiarism is and always has been rife in art.

Hello! I thought you might be interested by my story:

I came to work here in the US a while ago. On the side I draw a lot, and post mot of my pictures on my website.

I couldn’t sell my pictures because of visa issues, but enjoyed a lot sharing them so it was not such a big deal.
Some pictures where stolen, and published in children books and magazines, they were even found partly in Elle (the French one) magazine, on posters…
Most of the time I manage to get an arrangement with the thieves, but still. It’s always a shock.

But there’s worse, and it happened only last week:
Someone stole a picture I made 3 years ago. She made fabrics, cards, and her logo ripping it. Last year I made prints out of the same picture (mine!). She treaten to sue me for copyrights infrigements. Being stolen, then accused, was such a shock that part of my hair turned grey in a night. I managed to get out of it but I’m still recovering.

I’m completely with Lizzy in this shamefull case, and hope everything will be OK for her from now.

(To Mr Savage pencil, I do suggest he goes to his favorite bookstore, buy a dictionary, and read about the difference between plagiarism and stealing. )

To finish on a more cheerfull note:
Since I never know what to do of the money I could make from people who steal from me, I make them give it, with proof, to my favorite charity.
And to make fun of the thieves , I make tutorials on how to draw on my blog. A good laugh and chocolate is the best way to get out of it.
Cheers!

Texprint have released an official statement stripping Samantha Beeston of the Award and announce new winner -

http://www.ftape.com/media/?p=2445

Thank you thank you for posting this truly horrifying story! As an illustrator and artist myself this is my worst nightmare – surely though – because the artist owns the originals and posted them on the web pre – the imposter it would be fairly easy to build a case against the perpetrator? I understand in this case everything was admitted to – but what if a big multi national did the same – would your leg to stand on be that you have the orginal and that you posted it pre the date of the imposter?? Really quite freaked out actually!!

Sad story indeed, but kudos to Julia for the great site and for bringing the matter to attention.

I have to say, though, that after reading the above comments it’s amazing how many creative folks are completely uninformed in regards to the laws around this subject. There’s no magic % that something has to be changed, no ‘process’ to copyrighting your own works — the list of misconceptions is long. Every creative professional should research these matters thoroughly. I’ve learned what I know as a result of self-education, and more recently an issue I’ve encountered with my own work being copied — not adapted, but taken. I’ve written a bit about it here:
http://www.jacobheftmann.com/news/archives/7588

Next step is to get an attorneys take on the matter. All that said, personal research only gets you so far.

Best of luck to all parties involved in said sad story, and that it may be handled quickly and easily.

I should add:
if these questions are indeed reviewed by an attorney, I’d love their thoughts. I, like many creative folks, can’t/don’t want to deal with attorneys’ fees.

i’m just in shock!

how could someone do this and think that they could possibly not get caught?

this is so milli vanilli. But seriously, such a terrible thing for the rightful owners and creators of the works.

if you are doing some research on copyright, could you see what the international laws are. Here in Australia we have some very easily accessible and strict laws which cover both national and international agendas regarding artists.

thanks for bringing this to our attention.

for the dishonest, the web is a great place to steal, but a fantastic place to catch them out!

ps. Julia, on a totally different note, have you read, Traction Man by Mini Grey? a really funny and well illustrated children’s book.

A friendly reminder from an attorney (but not your attorney, and not the attorney Julia referenced above): The legal information you find here cannot fully substitute for the advice of a licensed legal professional in your jurisdiction. Copyright law is a fairly tangled mess just in the US between the varying term lengths depending on when a work is created or published and whether it is a work for hire. Fair use makes that look straightforward by comparison.

I know many people balk occasionally about the costs of attorneys but they are paid to sort out this mess for you, assert your rights when necessary, and let you concentrate on doing what you do best: create art.

Julia, I’d also be happy to field a few questions – this is a topic that hits fairly close to home as my sister is attempting to break into the art field.

My sympathies go out to Lauren and the other artist as well. This is such a shame and I’m sure a source of much stress. Lauren has always been so generous sharing all her work as she creates it on her blog and her etsy store. I’ve enjoyed following her work for since I stumbled upon it almost 2 years ago.
Though I’m sure she must feel guarded after this event , I hope she continues to share so generously her images and ideas which are such a source of inspiration.
Thank you for bringing this to light, and I look forward to seeing what important lessons regarding copyright that result from the discourse.

[...] – the plot thickens … Since the original post on Books by its Cover, there has been an additional response in light of some readers comments which make the case even worse. As well as ripping off Lauren [...]

I think the problem is that the internet makes it too easy for students to steal/copy work. While the internet is a great tool for self-promotion, it can also be a curse in this sense. (Although it is also easier for the copy-cats to be found out).
Whereas a few years ago, students who had no real talent/imagination just produced crappy work or no work at all, nowadays it seems they just copy/trace/take very strong “inspiration” from other people’s images.
It has happened to me a few times (one girl was directly copying my drawings, she got found out. Now she’s just, er, taking inspiration from my work but there’s not much I can do about that!) and I know it’s happened to a lot of my illustrator-friends too. It’s incredibly annoying but good to know that there’s such a strong online design/illustration community backing you up.

Oh, sorry to sound horrid, but I would just LOVE to see that Beeston woman behind bars! Disgusting little criminal!

This is a subject I’ve been dealing with on a greater degree each year for the past five years. This year being the worst year ever in that I have already had “50″ cases of people, businesses and companies infringing upon my copyrighted artwork, stealing my art, or using it without proper permission.

Two cases I’ve had to hire a copyright lawyer but most the infringers have hid behind the DMCA here in the states with little to no repercussions.

Just today I had to publically call out another designer who had taken my art and had it posted on his site, even selling it as a product.

So a question I’d have would be: Is there a cost effective way to legally respond to such cases so we can not only stop the usage but recoup a fee for such usage?

The few times I’ve hired a copyright lawyer only made sense because it was a business or company who was infringing not an isolated single person.

I’ve spent well over 100 hrs to date this year just responding to copyright infringers. Figuring out who it is, how to contact them, sending a letter etc. It’s costing me money to protect myself with no way to get anything back?

It’s a growing problem and I place a lot of the blame on design and art schools that no longer teach core drawing skills but push learning how to use a computer or program.

Sadly the end result is creativity that is no longer facilitated by image creation on ones own but on “finding” the idea outside their own ability.

Thank you for posting about this I appreciate it.

Von

Again i ask you to stop posting comments about my daughter the mater has been resolved now leave us alone and DO NOT call my daughter a Disgusting little criminal

The issue with copyright and intellectual property laws is that the grey area is expansive when it comes to design even in a local setting, so when a design is available globally, the rights of the designer become even more tangled.

In the architecture industry, it’s been a shock to see -entire buildings- reproduced in various corners of China, yet as the IP laws are so undefined internationally, there is very little recourse for the original architect/s unless they’re willing to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees that will most likely result in an unacceptable outcome (according to a friend/Intellectual Property lawyer at least!)

Just because a building is ‘in the public domain’ so to speak, that by no means equates to the fact that the design, which would have taken hundreds, if not thousands of hours to design and document, can simply be reproduced. The same can be said of graphic design, illustration, even web design. Though the lines of copyright may be blurred in the online realm, that is absolutely no excuse for the complete lack of ethics and morals it takes to execute such a blatant infringement as this case.

Re: using photos for reference / possibly infringing on the photographer’s copyright

I feel for Lauren. What a nightmare. While browsing through her portfolio, though, I found a drawing that looked familiar.

One of Lauren’s drawings — http://www.laurennassef.com/winner

Where I recognized it from — http://www.shorpy.com/beauty-prize-winners-1922

???

I witnessed so much copying and disquising when i did my degree recently. Glad I never fell into the habit. I used to say to people ‘why are you tracing’ they thought it ok as long as colour/scale was changed. So glad I stuck to my own iffy stlye of drawing. I even had some work sort of copied in that it was a further development to some samples i did but ive never said anything to the person because of the fuss it might cause. They now have the work in some galleries and web sites. I see it now and again and could spit!

Expose these thieves for what they are trampling over people like me to win fancy prizes. A lot of good will come out of this if only people end up being able to spell plagiarism which many degree students cant.

People trace others work for the same reason they ’sample’ others music – because they have no talent. When we buy into this we make it seemingly acceptable and the norm.