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OPINION| Modern Art Heist: An Artist’s Struggle in Digital Age
JASt A ProMINEnt Viewpoint
Modern Art Heist: An Artist’s Struggle in Digital Age
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Jasmine Bernadette R. Bembo
Art is fascinating and it is everywhere. From a small craft of an origami boat to a digital art of a fictional character, these are arts that are created by their respective artist. Artists create a different world, from the films directed by Taika Waititi or a local artist that creates traditional art for fun, it’s the way they are free to manifest their imagination to reality and share it with others. When it comes to artists, they look at things differently, they see art everywhere, nature, human interactions, human inventions, and everything that exists and then they create artwork that is inspired by those. Paintings, sketches, doodles, there are a lot of things an artist can create. They see life and think that they need to create their version of it.
Art Theft
To give you a simplified version of what art theft is: imagine yourself creating something, a poem, an invention, or a picture-perfect shot of your beloved pet. You are proud of how flawless and a masterpiece it has come out to be. And then someone stole it and claimed it as their own, wouldn’t that make you mad?
Art theft happens once someone on the internet steals an artwork by saving it and reposting it on their social media and claiming it as their own. Some used others' art, traced it over, and plagiarized the whole thing. Actions like this are shunned in any art community that exists on the internet.
Some artists despise the thought and won’t allow it because to the artist, their art is like their creation, they make it and they are proud of it. No one wants to take away their hard work; they are protective of their creation and reposting it should not be tolerated at all. On other hand, some artists will allow a repost if someone asks and credits them, though, putting ‘credits to the artist’ means nothing, you either credit the right person, ask them if you can post it, or don’t post it at all.
Artists posting their art means that they are proud of what they have done and they want to share it with the people who enjoyed the same thing as them but this doesn’t excuse the reposting of their art to other platforms... Simply ask them if you will repost, but if they refuse, accept it and move on.
Intellectual Property Code
Having a first copyright law made by the Spaniards and inspired by the Spanish law which was effective in 1880 and then Republic Act no. 8293 also known as ‘the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines’, we came a long way to having a legal law protecting intellectual properties.
Intellectual Property is about a creation that is made by human intellect. Be it inventions, artistic work, design, and a brand name, it is a law that enforces protection for this creation from unauthorized users and protects the creator’s right toward their creations. People can’t use something they found online easily, it also won’t allow plagiarism of said works, nor let you slide easily for pirating a work online and selling it for a price. Intellectual Property Code allows creators, not just famous ones but all of them, to have their original work safe and avoid copyright infringement.
The law discourages stealing because this creation, as some would think would be insignificant, is made to bring entertainment and image, stealing said creation is like stealing someone’s precious property.
Artist vs. Non-Artist: Commission Problem
Freelancing artists either start commissions if they need money or it is their work. Some artists would choose commission as their last resort to earning money and some artists would start a commission because they want to expand their portfolio. Riz Anne Joy Gallanongo, a fourth-year Bachelor of Science in Education Major in English starts commission once the pandemic started, “I have passion in making arts.” She said, “I started accepting commissions when many people wanted their portraits or group photos to be turned into art.”
Commissioning artworks to artists can be intimidating, but if you, as a client, dared to request a commission, you will be helping the artist a lot. But there is a problem regarding it— it’s the way some clients treat them.
“I have encountered many people thinking that drawing or arts don’t worth much since they only see the finished product and not the struggles, time, effort, and skills that the artist is putting into their work just so the client will be satisfied.” Ms. Gallanongo said.
Art has worth. Artists put everything into creating something that will resonate with people and give a sense of awe to those who view it. They share a bit of their perspective but some non-artist would not pay attention to the toil an artist had put into making their art.
‘To see is to believe’ which we may call the behavior; a finished product seems impressive if people know the hard work an artist does but the figuratively banging of your head against the wall and staring blankly on your canvas just to imagine art that will satisfy your client's expectations seems to be not applicable to give to a client. Artists are quite passionate about their work, right? but aren’t we all?
Rude behavior towards their work affects artists. If people don’t respect what they do for a living and have fun, they will lose interest and passion for making arts. I always see post or tweets about this on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram and it makes me wonder how an artist handle art theft and impolite clients. Artists work too, and if others think that they barely move or put in an effort, they are wrong.
“Rude behavior towards the artist will impact their self-esteem, their work, and their behavior towards their passion,” Gallanongo said. People think that drawing is easy. I see comments that claim that drawing is easy but the painstaking process of thinking about what to draw, drawing figures that won’t show how you imagine it, and searching for the right reference for a pose that you need, it’s a process and you, as a client, must trust it.
If the creator of the work continues to redo their creation to be perfection to their eyes, then you, as someone who commissions it, or you, as someone who views their posts, should give them a pat on the back (figuratively) for doing a job well done. Be a dear and praise the effort of an artist, it takes time to bring an idea to life.
