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Image courtesy of The Daily Nail blog |
I'm still battling an upper respiratory infection (hello round 2 of antibiotics) but with fall and winter polishes piling up around me, I am making a conscious effort to get posts out to you to read (and not just press releases, although many of you have told me that you do appreciate the news!).
I got a text this morning from Manifest Destany asking if I had heard about the latest stolen pictures being using for an international nail polish company's fall promotional line. I hadn't but it only took a quick look on Twitter to see what was going on.
First off.
DON'T STEAL PHOTOS.
It's one thing to download a photo to your computer so you can look at it later because it was inspiring or pretty or funny.
It's another to download a picture, use it as if you created it, SELL IT and think it's okay.
When I started college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in and one of my options was graphic design which I stayed in for a year. I learned lots of valuable information that I still use today and while I didn't stay in that education path, I saw how much work someone puts into creating their masterpieces. As a blogger, I take a lot of time in photographing and editing images for you to see and sometimes my photos are used in publications for companies or for the company's own use.
I will not comment on the company in question or similar companies that have been accused of stealing artwork off bloggers, art sharing or social media websites because I am confident that the companies in question will do the right thing and work towards an agreement with those who should have been rightly compensated for their work. More so, I hope that someone lost their job over this and those in charge of that person were also reprimanded. If this was an outside graphic design firm that was hired to create this artwork (which is very common), I hope they are also reported to the Better Business Bureau.
Sharing is caring. Stealing is not.
Update!
For starters, I ended up in ER last night. That was not fun. Doctor says I have Pleurisy.
The good news is that the company in question immediately was in contact with the true creator of the artwork, issued a public apology and a partnership between creator and company may be in the works! Very happy to see a company work swiftly. They hired an outside artist (as I suspected) who passed off this work as his own.
Heard about this today.. can't believe that major companies are doing this and not thinking twice about it. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel that it's individuals thinking they won't be caught, not entire companies just being art thieves.
DeleteMan that sucks... I think it's really embarrassing for a big company that can afford graphic designers and photographers to stoop down to stealing!! Pathetic really :(
ReplyDeleteMore like graphic designers with horrible work ethics! Please do read the update :]
DeleteI read about this latest "incident" and was shocked. Especially after what happened previously. I thought for sure that companies would be much more careful in future. Guess lessons still need to be learned. Higher ups meed to research the sources of artwork used in their promos and packaging carefully. Especially now. smh
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, I worked in the gaming industry, and I proposed that after we have our alpha run of something, we give it to a beta of volunteers who were from all walks of life and areas of the world who could maybe see something we couldn't. Unfortunately it never happened but I'd love to see this same idea applied in other businesses... Entertainment industries have focus groups all the time for new shows and movies... why can't beauty companies look to bloggers? I've been a DeviantArt fan for 10 years now!
DeleteIt baffles me why ANYONE would steal creative property and use it for profit, but I'm always astounded when large companies do it! Did they seriously think no one would notice or say anything? Honestly, what a joke! I just hope they're ready to deal with all the negative PR. Looking back, CG, was it worth it?
ReplyDeleteIt's the fault of the graphic designer who was hired as an outside third party company but please do read the update - the company was swift to handle this in a way that the original artist was very happy with!
DeleteSTOP! THIEF!
ReplyDeleteNo kidding!
DeleteChina Glaze has already reached out to the artist - they actually did not steal her art.
ReplyDelete"We would like to actually thank all of you for bringing to our attention the similarity of our Wicked art to that of the talented Abigail Larson. China Glaze had hired an outside contract artist from the LA area to help us develop what we thought was an original piece of art for this collection.
We have reached out to Abigail personally as well as our legal team to resolve this issue."
reposted from the China Glaze facebook page. On the artist's page, she says that she has been contacted by China Glaze and is more than satisfied with their response.
It's bad enough thinking that some soulless corporation would do something like this. Somehow it makes me even sadder that one artist would do it to another.
Yeah I had seen the update but ended up in ER yesterday so I'm just now updating my posting.
DeleteI'm very thankful for the millions of internet fans who are quick to recognize someone else's work and make sure everyone knows about it. The graphic designer in question better be hiding the heck out and needs to consider a career change.
I'm dealing with pleurisy myself right now and I can atest to the fact that it indeed sucks !!!!
ReplyDeleteFeel better !!!
Thank you! I'm on a combo of new antibiotics and pain killers and it's helping!
Delete