Question about Possible Art Copying

[Prezaurian]

I’m not really sure where to ask this but it’s sort of an art question, so I’ll ask it here.

This past weekend I visited a coffee shop in my town that’s affiliated with a Goodwill that’s attached to it. Like many coffee shops I’ve encountered, it had work from local artists displayed on the wall and for sale. In this case, it was only one artist and there was a lot of his stuff up on the wall for sale. I looked it over and was immediately struck by how similar it looked to another professional artist’s work (Leonid Afremov specifically). The scenes pictured were almost identical as was the painting method and style. The only difference was that the local artist’s work was of a lower skill level.

I’m not sure what I should do. I mean, it looks like this local artist is copying another artist’s work and trying to sell it. Should I say something to the coffee shop? What if I’m mistaken? I’d feel pretty awful if I made a false accusation. But at the same time, if this local guy is copying Leonid’s work it isn’t fair to the original artist. Any advice I could get from more experienced artists?

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[rachelled]

I’d be pretty wary about saying something unless you’re 100% sure… Any chance you can get a photo to post here to compare side-by-side?

[Prezaurian]

I’d be pretty wary about saying something unless you’re 100% sure… Any chance you can get a photo to post here to compare side-by-side?

I can try to get some. I’ll stop by the coffee shop after I get off work and take a couple photos (if they allow it).

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[Melody]

If you feel that this artist is infringing on another’s art, I would contact the original artist and let him/her know about it. It is up to the original artist to sort this stuff out!
Usually a friendly letter from the original artist is all it takes to get them to stop. Many beginning artists don’t understand that what they are doing is a problem, after all, in school they teach you about composition by having you copy other artists pieces!
I was amazed when one of my early art ( Jr high school?) teachers said “don’t copy photos and other peoples art anymore”. My early sketchbooks are collections of copies of everything. Copying has its place for learning, but you can’t sell it unless it is copyright-free art.

It gets complicated when painters sit together and paint the same scenes! They do this sometimes, I have seen it. They gather in flocks and all paint the same trees, or cactus or whatever.

[Prezaurian]

If you feel that this artist is infringing on another’s art, I would contact the original artist and let him/her know about it. It is up to the original artist to sort this stuff out!
Usually a friendly letter from the original artist is all it takes to get them to stop. Many beginning artists don’t understand that what they are doing is a problem, after all, in school they teach you about composition by having you copy other artists pieces!
I was amazed when one of my early art ( Jr high school?) teachers said “don’t copy photos and other peoples art anymore”. My early sketchbooks are collections of copies of everything. Copying has its place for learning, but you can’t sell it unless it is copyright-free art.

It gets complicated when painters sit together and paint the same scenes! They do this sometimes, I have seen it. They gather in flocks and all paint the same trees, or cactus or whatever.

Hm, I’ll have to see if I can contact the original artist in some way. He lives all the way over in Mexico and I’m in Georgia. But I suppose it would still be a good idea too take a few pictures of the local artist’s stuff. At least for a visual aid.

You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_name

[Jennifer]

If you feel that this artist is infringing on another’s art, I would contact the original artist and let him/her know about it. It is up to the original artist to sort this stuff out!
Usually a friendly letter from the original artist is all it takes to get them to stop. Many beginning artists don’t understand that what they are doing is a problem, after all, in school they teach you about composition by having you copy other artists pieces!
I was amazed when one of my early art ( Jr high school?) teachers said “don’t copy photos and other peoples art anymore”. My early sketchbooks are collections of copies of everything. Copying has its place for learning, but you can’t sell it unless it is copyright-free art.

It gets complicated when painters sit together and paint the same scenes! They do this sometimes, I have seen it. They gather in flocks and all paint the same trees, or cactus or whatever.

Bolded for emphasis. ONLY the copyright holder (the original artist) can do something about it, and otherwise it can create a lot of hurt feelings and possibly worse. If you can, get a photo… or at least the artist’s name. You might ask the shop if the artist has a website or anything. Then send that info to the original artist if possible.

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[Prezaurian]

If you feel that this artist is infringing on another’s art, I would contact the original artist and let him/her know about it. It is up to the original artist to sort this stuff out!
Usually a friendly letter from the original artist is all it takes to get them to stop. Many beginning artists don’t understand that what they are doing is a problem, after all, in school they teach you about composition by having you copy other artists pieces!
I was amazed when one of my early art ( Jr high school?) teachers said “don’t copy photos and other peoples art anymore”. My early sketchbooks are collections of copies of everything. Copying has its place for learning, but you can’t sell it unless it is copyright-free art.

It gets complicated when painters sit together and paint the same scenes! They do this sometimes, I have seen it. They gather in flocks and all paint the same trees, or cactus or whatever.

Bolded for emphasis. ONLY the copyright holder (the original artist) can do something about it, and otherwise it can create a lot of hurt feelings and possibly worse. If you can, get a photo… or at least the artist’s name. You might ask the shop if the artist has a website or anything. Then send that info to the original artist if possible.

-nods- I haven’t done anything one way or another just yet because I don’t want to commit some horrible faux pas. The local artist’s name was displayed (which I’m not stating here because it has no business being here) and I did get some pictures, but there was no contact information at all. I’ve looked for a website, but none seems to exist. And I don’t think I have a way of privately contacting the original artist. I’ll have to look around more carefully. But I’m thinking I’ve hit a dead end. -sighs- The whole situation is just really lame.

You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_name

[Rusti]

http://afremov.com/Contact-Leonid-Afremov.html

Here’s a place to start to get in touch with the original artist.

[Prezaurian]

http://afremov.com/Contact-Leonid-Afremov.html

Here’s a place to start to get in touch with the original artist.

Thank you Rusti.

You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_name

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