Stealing

But it was my idea?

We can’t help it. Some call it plagiarism. Some call it copyright infringement. Some call it stealing.

Everyday we read something or hear something or even say something that has never crossed our mind before. It may be significant enough to remember and that may carry over into another thought or action or sound or statement that wasn’t really ours to begin with but we just picked it up.

Isn’t that how we are educated?

We are taught facts and figures and our mind jumbles all these thoughts and calculates a new understanding of them with our personal experiences. As we regurgitate these facts we put our own spin on the meanings, as we understand it.

You will hear a note progression and remember the phrase and while writing a personal work add it into the piece. As a writer you will tend to phrase a statement with remembrance of a former read sentence.

Is this stealing another’s thought or just expanding the idea?

For all thoughts are built by exposure to other’s thoughts and ideas. Can education be copyrighted?

If you create something you want to protect the rights to that creation, but only if the lawyers allow you to do that.

A creative person has made a statement or performed or created a sound that is new and different and interesting, so why should it always be for profit. The artist still needs to survive to create another work but respect the appreciation of others to appreciate their work and copy it.

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country, that grants the creator of an original work, exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator to receive compensation for their intellectual effort.

Plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work. The idea remains problematic with unclear definitions and unclear rules. The modern concept of plagiarism as immoral and originality as an ideal emerged in Europe only in the 18th century, particularly with the Romantic Movement.

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process. Patents are a form of intellectual property.

As you can see there are many laws and many more to protect an artist’s ideas and creations, but no matter what, someone will pick up a line or a tone or a beat or a word or a move and include it into their creative repertoire.

Even our most celebrated artist has picked up bits and pieces that have come before. We build upon our history and hopefully make it better.

So I understand an artist needs to have compensation for their creations, but feel somewhat complimented that your ideas have been copied. The rest of us will call them ‘covers’.

Critic

Knowledgeable or just a disguise for a bad attitude

One of the most fearful consequences to producing a work of art is the critic review. No matter if it is a book or painting or performance, someone can read or view or listen or just attend then write their opinion of the work.

Some may have the knowledge of the performer or writer or artist but his/her words can excel to stardom and riches or crash a career. One person with a few moments can understand or not the ideas and emotions of the art. With a few politically incorrect words can debase the author, performer, and creator without legal repercussions.

And we all read these words and judge whether we will attend a performance or go to a movie or purchase a book or download the song and then we pass on the review. We hold the opinion of these critics, as we do to our trusted friends can prejudice our own attitudes and taste.

Now every piece of art or music or literature or design or fashion or even hairdos should be viewed and commented on so the artist can learn and expand his/her thoughts for future works. A friendly critique can be a helpful discussion without sounding like an authority spout out.

“Marvelous”, “Stunning”, “Shameful”, “A Disaster”, “Must See”, “Screeching Noise”, “A Wonderful Experience” and many more splatter the pages of magazines and newspapers and websites followed by a respectable experienced and licensed critic. As these words sway naïveté, no one thinks of the phrases as basic advertising.

My point is to you Mister or Miss or Misses or whatever ‘Critic’. I will read your review with a grand of sand and perhaps give it a bit of thought, but I will make up my own mind for what I like and what I don’t like. It may be great, but I don’t like it. It may be poor, but I like it. That is just the way it is.