Rampant copyright infringement

[thecreep]

I was told of this site from artist Lisa Falzon. The site is called Polyvore.com, and like Lisa said it is aimed at Tennyboppers and "allows a user to nick a photo from anywhere online and make it into a 'set". The main purpose seems to be for creating "looks" of apparel and items, but there is also an "art" section.

So any photo found anywhere, photobucket, google, myspace, artists websites and so on can be uploaded and turned into user created "collages". The site promotes this, and even calls this area of the site "Art". The users name the collages, claim it as their own, receive comments on their "good" work and are basically infringing on copyright of these artists.

I have so far seen work from Ben Tour, Art & Ghosts, Brian Viveros, Shepard Fairey, Sylvia Ji and so on used in these collages. Brian and a few others are at least credited, but Ben Tour and many others are not.

Here is a few examples:




If you right click any of these "collages" the site allows users to post their new "works" to sites all over the web. Like its fully their work to share....? This is ridiculous. Artists try hard enough to protect their work, and now it is able to be used to create new art?

The sites has forms artists can use to "request" material to be taken off the site, but honestly we all know it will just keep going as the users are the ones uploading the art.

Anyone know what to do?

Artists I have found so far:

Sylvia Ji
www.polyvore.com/blue_zombie/set?id=1335478

Greno98/Minjae Lee
www.polyvore.com/greno89_on_deviantart/thing?id=3345725

Brian Viveros
www.polyvore.com/the_art_brian_viveros/thing?id=4444462

Ben Tour
www.polyvore.com/ffffound/thing?id=4962248

[thecreep]

Ugh, this is digusting

[masao626]

several artists have requested their images be removed only to have it added back in later.

[oldfartatplay]

I checked out the site and thought about it. On one hand I feel that yes it seems like a bunch of teenyboppers having fun. Maybe it's a good thing that they are exploring art and being creative. On the other hand it is kind of sad that they are encouraged to go around the internet cutting, pasting and manipulating other peoples work and then posting it as theirs. As long as they are not selling it I don't think it qualifies as copyright infringement, I'm not a lawyer so I don't know for sure. I don't want to start a riot but what about people that use others' art work in their avatar?

[thecreep]

Jan 8, 2009 16:28:49 GMT -8 oldfartatplay said:

I checked out the site and thought about it. On one hand I feel that yes it seems like a bunch of teenyboppers having fun. Maybe it's a good thing that they are exploring art and being creative. On the other hand it is kind of sad that they are encouraged to go around the internet cutting, pasting and manipulating other peoples work and then posting it as theirs. As long as they are not selling it I don't think it qualifies as copyright infringement, I'm not a lawyer so I don't know for sure. I don't want to start a riot but what about people that use others' art work in their avatar?

I agree, with the basic idea, anything that gets "teenyboppers" to be creative is great. But there are other ways and other communities that facilitate this as well.

As far as the avatar thing, screenshots and animated gifs from movies are made into avatars as well, does this mean I can use movie clips to create a so called piece of art with? Even if I didn't sell it I think a mass of Hollywood lawyers would come and burn my house down.

I also don't want to create a slippery slope, but it is true about "giving people an inch...." So it might not be rampant now, but if other communities like Deviantart and Conceptart are any indication, it will get worse.

[Mount Franklin]

The fact that the site allows users to post their new "works" to sites all over the web is where it gets really messy.
I worry about y-gens.