Copyright - CASEing Issue

This is in response to Paper Trufflez post. See her post and read my personal opinion below in regards to this issue. I was going to comment on her blog but my argument is just way too long.

This is just my opinion. . .so anyone who reads this, please don't take what I write personally if you disagree with my opinion.

****when I say "you", it's a generalization meaning "anyone"***

Although I agree that copying someone else's work and not giving credit to the person who created the design is at times annoying to the original designer, to some more so than others, I do disagree on several points.

My only beef in regards to copying is taking a picture of my work that I posted on my blog or gallery and putting it on their site without giving me credit. To claim or even imply that they created it themselves, well, that's just wrong.

Here is where I disagree with the issue of CASEing when it comes to copying a design and someone else re-creates the card themselves. Personally, I blog pictures of my card "knowing" that it will be recreated by someone else . . .that is why I blogged it in the first place. I prefer that they take the idea and not copy it EXACTLY but there are a few people that just can't for some reason or another.

I post samples of the card for the purpose of teaching others who may have problems coming up with their own ideas. . .and hopefully, with my help ,they will eventually create their own design without having to CASE. That's the ultimate goal.

We all in some form or another CASE'd someone else's work or idea. Heck, by virtue of rubber stamping the image and posting it on a web site and not crediting the artist who drew the image or crediting the company who made the stamp, is copyright infringement in itself. I guess you could say I'm guilty of it from time to time.

How about crediting the person who designed the pattern on a ribbon or scrapbook paper, who created the mold for the punch, the person who created the design of an embellishment and all materials used on a card - try watermarking all of that. It would cover up the whole card.

Furthermore, for the sake of argument, you place a specific stamped image smack dab in the middle of the card and add a ribbon right above it. Yes, it's a simple design. Now, Suzy in her own little world, does the same thing without ever seeing your creation. You post your card in your blog and Suzy publishes her work. You scream foul because you now feel she "CASE'd" your work. Well, she can say the same for you. That is the problem with designs. . .there are only so many ways to design a card and by chance someone may be coming up with the same idea.

With sketch challenges, color challenges, technique challenges on SCS, some of us may cross paths and by chance create the same exact card. Rubber stamps and other materials are not exclusively sold to one individual so there is a possibility that someone may create the same thing.

To solve the problem of CASEing is to simply not post cards or projects on the internet. Give instructions or sketches of the design itself but don't post a sample so that there won't be any chance that a person will or can CASE your work. Another way to solve this problem is to draw your own image so there's very little chance that someone will be able to recreate it. In this case in particular, you can honestly say that you are the creator of the particular design or artwork. It's a different story if you use materials made by someone else. For example, do you credit and watermark the scrapbook paper that you used (someone actually came up with the pattern)?

In my opinion, once you post it on a website, you are opening your design to be copied. If they create the exact card or project themselves, in my opinion it's now their work.

Furthermore, it would be difficult to conduct a class and credit every aspect of a particular technique, design, layout, material to every person who came up with it. That would be silly.

One cannot expect a person to create a log of every creation they make in order to credit the "owner" of a particular idea - in the case of cardmaking, all materials used are collectively created by someone else.

It's a different story if you and you alone exclusively have a stamped image or material that you bought to exclusively use and someone (a dang good artist) recreates it or if they bought your card and sells it or showcase it as their work. . .well, again. . .that's a problem.

Again, I would like to say. . .don't post an image of a card or submit a card for publication if you don't want it copied. That should solve the issue of CASEing.

Just another point of view. I welcome your opinion! Don't worry, I won't yell at you if you disagree!