Thanks chris!!!
You rock, man!!!!
Happy anniversary in the business and I hope there'll be many, many more!!!!!!
Actually, I knew about the exclusivity problem but didn't know it was with Bionic Joe! I own two Steves by him and he seemed to be a rather nice guy to deal with! But i'm not surprised by the counterfeit copies actually. I remember at the time he was selling many, many heads and they obviously were copies! I guess it's an inevitable thing in this business. as long as you don't have the copyright to a head, I can't see how it can be avoided! It's not as if you could file a claim against him or whatever. But it kinda sucks to know that some people resort to this.For me the crime is not as much in the copy as in not giving credit where it's due. Still, when somedy breaks their end of a bargain, I say just do the same as a retaliation! There again, he's not gonna file a claim against you!
Actually in th USA and most other countries, any original artwork is, by definition, under copyright by the creator from the moment it is created. The subject isn't necessarily, but the work is and cannot be duplicated without permission, so, in fact, legally he has no right to duplicate and sell my work. He could find himself in a sticky situation legally if he doesn't cease and desist immediately. Plus, he is using my name, not just without permission, but despite being directly ordered NOT to use my name. Again, he has no right and is in violation by doing so. I can provide the email in which I demanded he cease and desist using my name and his reply agreeing no to use it again without permission. Also, he is making false claims about the nature of the work, claiming to be "the first in the US to have this". Clearly untrue since I released it last year.
I thought he was a nice guy, too, until I received, out of the blue, the most obscene and offensive email I have ever seen from him. It was a misunderstanding that could have been cleared up with a friendly email pointing out he had a different understanding. Instead, he chose a very questionable way of dealing with it. On my side, I kept it clean, polite, unemotional and professional.
I listened to his side of things, tried to explain what I thought we had agreed to, and took the unilateral response of offering the period of exclusivity I normally offer but which I was under the impression he had expressly declined. I have stuck to my side of the bargain only to find out he turned around and, in essence, stole from me.
Very disappointing and very strange. I really thought we had come to an understanding.
When someone like me puts that amount of time and effort into something only to see it stolen, devalued and produced at an inferior quality it makes you wonder why I would bother making anything new since it will just happen again. So, every step should be taken to discourage this kind of thing and every collector should be aware of the problem.
I charge little enough as it is and get very little return on my investment, then to have someone else feeding off of me with virtually no effort, investment, talent or skill on his part is frankly disgusting to me. There are descriptive words and names I could use that good taste demands I refrain from using....
A quick illustrative example about copyrights: Tonight there is a new episode of the animated TV show,
Family Guy. Tonight's show apparently is using OJ Simpson as a character in the story. It is unlikely to be flattering and was done without his permission. Fox does not own the copyright to OJ Simpson's persona... but they do own the copyright to their depiction of his persona. You could create your own artwork portraying OJ Simpson without worry but you could not legally steal their portrayal of him, put it on a tee shirt and sell it. Then you would be violating copyright.
Same deal with my or any other sculptor's work.
:chew
