No Trespassing
Here's a question: Has anyone been lambasted with hate mail or had their artwork appropriated from their blogs?
These are two new experiences in blogging I've had recently. I know there's a part of that I should feel somehow good about--like I am on to something, and people are reacting to it, but I just don't like it. They are the two things that have made me want to quit having a blog.
I don't mind telling my story--given that it's a PARTICULAR part of my story. I don't mind people from out of the blue finding me out. That part doesn't bother me. I will admit that when people I know say out of the blue "I see from your blog you're not around this weekend." THAT'S a little weird, when I didn't know they knew about my blog. Other issues are people believing they are IN TOUCH with me by reading my blog, and therefor having a whole relationship to the blog that I am not privy to. That's been a problem a couple of times. On the whole, though, my friends and enemies and ex-boyfriends and old college cronies and whoever might give a hoot want to read my little musings, GO AHEAD. I write in public and I can't control who reads it.
Turns out I also can't control how people react to it.
Recently I had someone write to me and say they had found a piece of my artwork by Googling, and they were using it for their product. Could I send them a better quality scan of the image? Whatever happened to asking FOR THE IMAGE FIRST? I would have had a totally different response if they had said, hey I found this, and it’s totally cool, could we use it? I would have been PSYCHED. I told them as much, but there hasn't been any response and as far as I can tell they are still using it. This is more than a little troublesome to me. Since they are artists themselves, I wondered how THEY would feel if their art was just snapped up and used for whatever thing someone else wanted. I appealed to this part in them. Apparently, that doesn't move them.
Then there is the hate mail, which is strange and ugly. Nothing says FRESH MEAT like anonymity and the internet. People will say some of the most inhumane things because they can do it without responsibility. I don't like anonymous comments because even though there are a wide variety of people commenting under the name 'anonymous'--it seems like just one, schizophrenic person. Anonymous is one voice. People feel freer to say what they want in anonymity, but I'd rather they made up a name than did it anonymously. If you say something nice, do you want to be grouped in with people who want to kill dogs and call people names? Seriously, that's who you're buddying up with. I open up Anonymous comments with my breath held. Will it be something thoughtful or a cow pie in the face?
There are a lot of good reasons for blogging: connecting to a larger world, witnessing your own process, and your own life, getting your voice out there, and a daily practice of writing. This is why I still do it. Yet, these new developments disturb me and make me want to run for the hills. I must admit that.
What is sacred? On the internet, not much. It's like the New West, we are trying to establish and figure out. There's a lot of good and promise and then you come up against the people who just like to wreak havoc because they can. In the grand scheme of things, and even in the internet, my blog really doesn't mean that much. It does however, mean something to me--and so does my artwork and so do my feelings. I am asking how do I withstand, in my SMALL CAPACITY, the vulnerability that it creates? And then, as an artist, knowing once you let something out into the world, it has a life of its own--how do I make peace with that? Do I shut up, fold up camp and head back where I came from? I don't want to, and I doubt I will, but it's weird. And further more, what can I do for my own behalf? On my little plot of land, in this big bad New West, I can set up rules and notices and then do my best and hope my best is good enough.
These are two new experiences in blogging I've had recently. I know there's a part of that I should feel somehow good about--like I am on to something, and people are reacting to it, but I just don't like it. They are the two things that have made me want to quit having a blog.
I don't mind telling my story--given that it's a PARTICULAR part of my story. I don't mind people from out of the blue finding me out. That part doesn't bother me. I will admit that when people I know say out of the blue "I see from your blog you're not around this weekend." THAT'S a little weird, when I didn't know they knew about my blog. Other issues are people believing they are IN TOUCH with me by reading my blog, and therefor having a whole relationship to the blog that I am not privy to. That's been a problem a couple of times. On the whole, though, my friends and enemies and ex-boyfriends and old college cronies and whoever might give a hoot want to read my little musings, GO AHEAD. I write in public and I can't control who reads it.
Turns out I also can't control how people react to it.
Recently I had someone write to me and say they had found a piece of my artwork by Googling, and they were using it for their product. Could I send them a better quality scan of the image? Whatever happened to asking FOR THE IMAGE FIRST? I would have had a totally different response if they had said, hey I found this, and it’s totally cool, could we use it? I would have been PSYCHED. I told them as much, but there hasn't been any response and as far as I can tell they are still using it. This is more than a little troublesome to me. Since they are artists themselves, I wondered how THEY would feel if their art was just snapped up and used for whatever thing someone else wanted. I appealed to this part in them. Apparently, that doesn't move them.
Then there is the hate mail, which is strange and ugly. Nothing says FRESH MEAT like anonymity and the internet. People will say some of the most inhumane things because they can do it without responsibility. I don't like anonymous comments because even though there are a wide variety of people commenting under the name 'anonymous'--it seems like just one, schizophrenic person. Anonymous is one voice. People feel freer to say what they want in anonymity, but I'd rather they made up a name than did it anonymously. If you say something nice, do you want to be grouped in with people who want to kill dogs and call people names? Seriously, that's who you're buddying up with. I open up Anonymous comments with my breath held. Will it be something thoughtful or a cow pie in the face?
There are a lot of good reasons for blogging: connecting to a larger world, witnessing your own process, and your own life, getting your voice out there, and a daily practice of writing. This is why I still do it. Yet, these new developments disturb me and make me want to run for the hills. I must admit that.
What is sacred? On the internet, not much. It's like the New West, we are trying to establish and figure out. There's a lot of good and promise and then you come up against the people who just like to wreak havoc because they can. In the grand scheme of things, and even in the internet, my blog really doesn't mean that much. It does however, mean something to me--and so does my artwork and so do my feelings. I am asking how do I withstand, in my SMALL CAPACITY, the vulnerability that it creates? And then, as an artist, knowing once you let something out into the world, it has a life of its own--how do I make peace with that? Do I shut up, fold up camp and head back where I came from? I don't want to, and I doubt I will, but it's weird. And further more, what can I do for my own behalf? On my little plot of land, in this big bad New West, I can set up rules and notices and then do my best and hope my best is good enough.
posted by Summer Pierre at
10:30 AM
3 Comments:
Hello! I have long enjoyed your blog and admired your music and the pics you have shared of your work. As a fellow artist, I am infuriated about someone just appropriating your art without permission. There are thousands of pages of new copyright law due to the internet. I remember some specifics coming up in a writing class about this actually. Apparently, as soon as you place something into the world wide web, it is copyrighted, a fact that has becoming a hindrance as much as a help as some publishers refuse anything that has been previously copyrighted or 'published.' Maybe you should check this out and wave it in their face. If nothing else, you should be compensated and be able to say yay or nay about the use of your work with a clear end to the right of use. Good luck with it! And congratulations on your engagement!
From what I have read on copyright, Kat is right..
Although it's a difficult thing, because it's not like these people have approached you in person- you don't know where they live, so they can slip back into the vast depths of net anonymity, if you express that you're not happy about it all..
I'm not sure if computer savy people can easily get around this- but I've never been able to save gif files from the net to my hard drive- What if you only post gif images??
So far as the mean psychos-
You're the one that has to ultimately 'deal' with it- so it really is a constantly evolving equation for you to consider..
But my thoughts have always been that if the positive, the joyful and the kind people SPEAK up, they can somewhat drown out the little, but incredibly annoying voices of the assholes..
I'm glad the trespasser came around, because when I read this post I couldn't believe the nerve...that someone would steal from you and then ask you for a better image! Sheesh.
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