When is Inspiration Considered Plagiarism?
Ever since I can remember, art has always played a large role in my life. I had always had a love to create something profound and different. As an artist, you put your heart and soul into creating a masterpiece not only for the world, but for yourself. Artwork is created out of love, anger, sadness, and a lot of other emotions. There are times when you just want to give up, but you keep going. As an artist, you have many failed attempts and until you finally land that high kick, hit that high note, or that nice even brush stroke. When you have spent a lot of time with a piece, it becomes your own kin. I'm in no way saying that creating art is the same as creating a child… but it is almost the same. So just imagine putting all of your blood, sweat, tears, money... everything into a beautiful masterpiece, just for someone else to claim it as their own. Someone just comes out of nowhere and claims your work...your child as their own. This person didn't put in all of the long hours, and they didn't go through the same emotional journey with this piece like you did. You confront this imposter only to get a watered-down response like, “I'm just so inspired by you…” or, “I just really liked your art style and I wanted to give it a go!” It's one thing to draw inspiration from other artists, but it's another to steal art. So, the question is, when does inspiration cross the line of plagiarism?
Before we get into this question, it's important to know what plagiarism means. With a simple Google search will tell you that plagiarism is the “wrongful appropriation of an author's thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and using those as one's own original work.”
Art plagiarism is actually a pretty controversial topic in the art community, especially with smaller artists on social media. Many artists on social media are just trying to get a nice following for their art accounts, and it's an easy way to get your name out there. Unfortunately, because not everyone is honest and genuine, some accounts steal art from the original artists’ accounts and pass it off as their own. Even artist who watermark their art on social media still have their art stolen.
Copying art is different from inspiration. It's one thing to have an artwork influence you to make something of equal value, but it's another to see an artwork, make an exact copy, and pass it as an original idea. So, would The Garden of Emoji Delights by Carla Gannis be considered a copy (or plagiarism) of the work, The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch? Well actually no. Gannis’ piece is not considered plagiarism because she doesn't claim the idea of Bosch, and she also takes her own spin on a classic piece. The Garden of Earthly Delights is now also a part of public domain (this link provides insight on when it is and is not okay to use photos from others), meaning the copyright on the piece has been expired. If you've never seen her piece, it is a parody piece featuring emojis instead of the actual characters in the original painting. We are aware that she's not claiming that The Garden of Emoji Delights as her own piece, but we do know what is was based off of and why it is not plagiarism.
The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch, and below is The Garden of Emoji Delights by Carla Gannis.
Being inspired by an artist and their work is how we have evolved art and how we continue to grow. But as an artist, it is important to give credit when it’s due, and to remember to find your own individual style. John Mason once said, "You were born an original, don't die a copy." We live in a world where it's now easier than ever to repost, re blog, and share any forms of art work without receiving permission from the original owner. It is too easy to claim someone else's work as your very own. Where do we draw the line? Is a parody going too far? Can learning from another be too invasive? These things are what we should take into consideration when being "inspired" off of a piece of creative work.
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