a.) In the past, I hardly ever take another person’s creative work and I have never done so without giving them credit. If I used someone else’s creative works, I would use it only for class projects. Back then, I would find it on Google Images, but I would find the original artist and their information so I can credit them properly. I would always cite their work to give credit to the original artist. I have always known that plagiarism is illegal, so I’ve never done it. You have to take into account how the original artist would feel if someone steals their work and claim it to be their own. It’s not a good feeling. I would not want someone stealing my work and then claimed it to be theirs, and I would most definitely sue that individual. So, it is important to give the original artist credit.
b.) The Obama “Hope” poster is one of the most iconic posters in the world. This explains why this is such an important matter when Shepard Fairey was found guilty of copyright infringement. It’s a huge issue when you’re dealing with a creative work that becomes iconic only to come and find out that. Shepard Fairey admits that he used a photograph of Barack Obama from the Associated Press. He even admitted that he tried to cover it up by destroying and fabricating some documents. While what he did was wrong, I can appreciate the fact that he ended up being honest about it. Unfortunately, there are artists out there that are totally dishonest. They would lie about owning the work itself or some of the works content, such as photography and illustrations. I see this turning out very differently had Shepard Fairey not been honest. I do believe that honesty is key, and I’m glad that Shepard Fairey eventually admitted that he was wrong.
Obama ‘Hope’ Poster Artist Shepard Fairey Fined: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19522210
Ethics on Graphic Design: https://www.aiga.org/aiga-design-futures/
