A couple of days ago I walked into a cafe that is relatively local to me ..about a 20min drive away.. and what did I see??? Copies of my original canine pop art on the walls of the Cafe. Two of the originals are currently in galleries.
To say I was first shocked and then very very upset is an understatement... this artist had taken my images and painted them to sell as her own work... a very big breach of copyright ©.
Its not OK to use another artist or even photographers images without written consent..
I invest a lot of energy and time working on and creating my original pieces so clients and followers can purchase and own them for themselves... for someone to come along and steal these is not only copy right infringement and can incur a legal outcome.. its lazy as well.
The artist in question appeared to think it was OK for another 3rd party to send her images of not only my work but others to copy and market/sell as her own work...
Its not OK to do this and in the case of my stole images I am pursuing legal action against this artist... not something I take lightly and am saddened that I have to do so..
But its the only way to protect not only my work and name but also the rights of my clients... the sad thing is I have no way of knowing how many other pop art pieces this women has copied and sold...
It saddens me that I must now go through all the images I post and place a big © symbol on them to try and stop those who wish to steal my work for their own ends..
Copy right of each and every piece of my original artwork is owned by myself .. if you wish to use my images you must first seek written permission.
Catherin McMillan
http://www.animalarthouse.com/
email: catherin@animalarthouse.com
