How do professionals feel? Is fan art plagerism? (fan art people should post too)

[daniela]

I was just wondering, with this Chris Runyon thing going on, how do professionals feel about the people who base their drawings, paintings, etc. on the artwork that they (the professionals) have published. Where does it stop being fan art and become plagiarism? I'd love to get some feedback on this question.

To me doing fan art once in a while is okay, but if that is all you do, how are you going to develop any ideas of your own. I get so sick of seeing so much fan art and no originality. Copying the same pose as the artist and just making a few minor changes (clothes, weapons, etc.) goes from being innocent fan art to plagiarism in my opinion. Especially if you do not reference the original artist when you post your image; even if you think everyone will know the artist you based the work on because he/she is so popular. People who want kudos for being able to copy the work of great artists make me sick.

[DragonGX]

It becomes plagiarism when people take credit for the designs and give no credit to the artist they devised ideas from.

I think Fan Art is ok, especially when you use it to learn how other artists think and use their technique, but you need to be creative in your own sense..

[daniela]

Thanks for your reply DragonGX. I agree with you totally. Anyone else out there want to give this a go? I would love to get a debate going.

[daniela]

I know some of you are voting. Why don't you post your opinion too? I am suffering from extreme boredom, and a debate would be the perfect cure.

[LaPalida]

Well ok lets start at asking the question "How do you define stealing?" and then "Why is it wrong?" and "Is it ever right or justified?" if you use photographs made by others for reference say for poses or shadows ... is it stealing? what if you copy a photo by redrawing it is that stealing or is it practice?

Do you feel that using a wheel on a car is stealing the idea of the wheel from the guy who once invented it? Do you believe in intellectual property? If yes should libraries be banned? Should the students who can't afford to buy books be sued for copying them or programs if they want to learn how to use them? Do you think cd's and movies are overpriced and do you think its ok to copy and burn them?

P.S. Don't think that I belive that it was ok for Chris to steal that art that he claimed as his own ... I just want to point out that right now with the intellectual property laws its becoming ridiculous ... look at amazone.com who patented the single-click buy feature ... they sue anyone who would use that. Or the people who invented the gif technology wanting to sue everyone who uses it (yes if you save your file as a gif...). What about all those dead artists?

[LaPalida]

Just in case here are a few definitions of the word steal stealing and theft:

To use, appropriate, or preempt the use of another's idea, especially to one's own advantage and without consent by the originator.

To take (the property of another) without right or permission.

To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully: steal a kiss; stole the ball from an opponent.

To move, carry, or place surreptitiously.

To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer: The magician's assistant stole the show with her comic antics.

Baseball. To advance safely to (another base) during the delivery of a pitch, without the aid of a base hit, walk, passed ball, or wild pitch.

[LaPalida]

One more thing just in case.

Don't leave your shit lying about ... you know full well that there are people out there that would take advantage of you if you do. Take precautions otherwise you're just inviting trouble. Sign your art, date it on the back if you have to ... etc etc so that you don't get stuck between a rock and a hard place when time comes to prove that the art was yours to begin with... in other words don't be stupid and too trusting .... there are sharks in every pool and they are ruthless. On a personal note... I wouldn't get angry if someone stole my art ... because I would know full well that if they are doing it it is because they can't draw it themselves ... but if they profit from it I would track them down and murder them ;)

[daniela]

Whoa, LaPalida. Slow down. If you read my post, I called fan art stealing when people just changed a few things and then called the work their own. I also raised a question about whether fan art helps the artists who are doing it or hurts them. How do you develop any originality in your works when you are copying someone else? I'm not talking about the fan art where you take a character you love and put them into new situations of your own creation (unless you say that you invented the character). I am talking about doing the same character over and over in the same pose as the original artist.

Your first post was going a little far. The only stealing I am talking about is taking ideas and characters from someone's artwork and claiming it as your own. By the way, burning DVDs and CDs is stealing if you do not already own them. It's not fair to the people who produce them for you to get a free copy of something they worked very hard on to put together. It does not matter if you think that movies and cds are overpriced, the creators still have rights.

As technology advances and society changes, the laws need to change too. Amazon has the right to sue people who copy the one-click buy feature because it was their idea first. If anyone else wants to use it, they should pay Amazon. You shouldn't gripe about intellectual property laws. What would happen to you if they didn't exist? Some publishers used to take artwork that people sent into them, change the picture a little on the computer, and then use it without giving any credit or money to the original artist. Would you want someone to do that to you?

[egerie]

daniela : I find your pool a bit ambigous since there are many subtleties to this issue. This is the reason I won't vote but ramble a pile of letters instead :)

Fan art is ok but it should stay out of portfolios. Always. Forever and ever :) Unless it kicks some SERIOUS ass... There's always an exception to every rule.
Then again, there's fan-art and fan-art. Some, you can consider it as a tribute. Some other fan-arts just copy a pose or exact looks and/or character concept.
In other cases *coughbengalcough*, the whole scene is rendered with the artist's usual style / signature but they make reference to existing characters. Usually a tribute implies that you state the source and all is good since the piece is infused with respect.

I think good fan-art is art that makes something already existing even better. Or at least shows another facet of what a character could be. When that is achieved, I think having it showcased is forgivable :) I'm kidding, some fan-art we've seen floating around is actually extremely interesting to look at, since you have a given artists' take on an existing universe.

Lapalida : You can edit your posts did you know ? :D

ege, the demanding (?).

[daniela]

egerie: Thanks for posting your honest opinion. I started this thread because I was bored and I didn't really give it a lot of thought before I typed it in. I just let it all flow, and now that I look back I see the problems.

What would you do to improve the poll?
(anyone with a good idea is welcome to weigh in)