Copyright Infringement and your art

104b leaning back
Originally uploaded by rudisillart.

I had an unfortunate incident with one of my pieces lately. When I happen to run across an artist's color version of my work on Flickr, I approached him and asked for attribution. I know that artists often copy other artists' works in order to learn new techniques, etc. BUT one should always credit the original artist. In this case, the artist who copied my work declined to credit me and then the Israeli artist deleted the images from his website.

It is clear copyright infringement where the artist from Israel, saw my drawing/painting on the web, and copied it with almost the only variation being adding some color. He then posted his images to Flickr (showing a watercolor and canvas copy in preparation for an exhibit he was having in Tel Aviv ) where I was surprised to run across them.

Of course there is not much I can do unless I want to hire a layer to chase him down in Israel, but clearly my copyrighted watermark on my piece did nothing to deter this artist from disrespecting me (and all artists). Somehow it is espcially upsetting when it is another artist who rips you off, not a "corporation" or someone who doesn't understand the personal investment we all make in our work.

Copyright law is different in every country, too, which makes us all the more vulnerable when we use the web to promote or share our work. It's a double-edged sword.