Original?? It’s all been done before…

Yep.  That’s what I reckon anyway.  I can’t help but wonder if there is just ONE original idea left in the entire world.  Sure, there are new twists on old ideas.  Probably enough of a twist to make the old idea look new.  So in this world of lampworking where we are all trying to come up with “new” and “original” ideas, how many of us can really say we thought of “our idea” first.

So then we have the issue of “copying” someone else’s work.  What constitutes a “copy”?  I take a risk here…delving into this incredibly sensitive and emotive subject – of which everyone has an opinion (including me) and the opinions vary greatly and loudly!   I mean, take dots for an example – who owns them? Can anyone “own” a dot? Or stripes? Or birds?  Or frogs?  Or leaves?  Or angels?  Or owls? Or peyote stitch, or , or…..the list is endless.  Some people say that copying another’s work is the greatest form of appreciation…..I say to copy another person’s work exactly – is just plain rude…mostly (Why mostly??  Hang on, I’m getting to that bit…).  Now having said that, have I ever copied another artist’s work exactly (or tried to)?  Yes, I have (on the odd occasion)…but I would never dream of selling them and profiteering from it.  So what do I do with them?? The beads sit in my beautiful  glass bowl on my lampworking table as my personal tribute to that artist and as an inspiration to me (usually tells me that I suck at that style and I should stick to what I know I can do…..lol).

So when is it ok to copy, if ever?  My thoughts are that if you sell a tutorial – either online or in printed form – the person who buys the tutorial has purchased the right to make and sell the subject matter within, whether it be beads, murrini, jewellery, knitted jumpers, soap, tomato sauce – you name it – by selling the “recipe” I believe permission has been granted to reproduce the goods within for whatever purpose the purchaser sees fit.  Whilst my personal belief is that the person buying the tute should usually change colours and “tweak” things a bit to create their own style, if they choose to use the exact same colours etc as the instructions and offer it for sale, then would that be wrong?  Most authors of a tute would suggest that you change “something” when you sell what you make.  I have seen a couple of tutes where the author expressly says that this information is for your own personal use and items made from it must not be put up for sale.  In this case, you should respect that.  If you’re not happy with it – don’t buy the tute.   Most tutorials that I purchase – such as the one I used for my cupcake beads and also eye cane – give permission from the author for you to sell whatever you make as a result from the tute.

I also gain so much inspiration from looking at the colours that other lampies use together!  Some people just have the most amazing sense of colour.  So is it “copying” when you see an amazing colour combo together and you do it too? No, I reckon nobody’s got dibs on colour combos – good luck to whoever gets it right!

So – it’s not ok to copy another’s work and sell it unless you have permission either from the tutorial you purchased or because you have personally asked the artist.  It’s preferable not to copy exactly, even if you have purchased a tute.  It also really ticks artists off when they see their lovely original designs showing up in mass produced inferior beads from nations that do that sort of thing (none of which have permission by the way!).   By all means, take inspiration by how someone else uses colour to create magic, how beads are grouped together, the placement of dots and stripes, the use of charms, mixed media, different types of clasps etc.  Sometimes we feel we need to copy a little bit to get our own creative juices churning over but dare to be different, create your own style and shine in your own light – whatever you’re creating.

Now, I’ve had quite a few “original” ideas of my own, you know.  Problem is, someone else has had the same “original” idea too.  I’ve been all excited because I’ve come up with this screamer of an idea, wrote it all down in my journal, made a “prototype”, thought I was finally gonna take the world by storm…..then, in amongst my frequent late night internet trawling for various forms of eye candy…..there it is.  Staring down at me from my monitor.  MY IDEA!!!  Except, that it’s now an idea that belongs to someone else.  Fair dinkum pricks your bubble….   So…I’m not gonna look at the internet any more.  Nope.  Gonna go and make some beads….hopefully some “original” ones!!  (Right after I finish looking at  Manuela Wutschke’s awesome beads….on the internet….he he…)

Have a great day!!  Chat again soon….

PS:  Even the subject of this blog is not new or original!  Someone, many in fact, somewhere has covered this topic before – most probably in greater depth and much better than I could ever address it. Now I have added my 1.5 cents to it…for what it’s worth…

Advertisement