Friday, March 30, 2007

Bronze art copyright theft


Did you think software was the only thing being copied freely and illegally in Asia? Not so, intellectual theft is apparently becoming one of their biggest industries.

The hugely talented Victor Issa (who is working on a small sculpture for DOMAI) is one of those hit hard by bronze art copyright theft.

I would really not have thought that a labor-intense craft like bronze sculptures would lend itself to fraudulent copying, but that's the thing: if anything is cheap in the east, it's labor.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's based on the 'Anything man can make, man can break' saying. Just exchange steal for break. :o(

Anonymous said...

Victor Issa... With such a name, I wouldn't be surprised if he or his parents were fellow countrymen of mine.

Emigration, hard work and success all around the world are practically Lebanese traditions.
Very common. Except at home. :-/

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Join them abroad.
There's an apartment empty in this block.

Anonymous said...

the japanese do the same thing constantly with automobiles. especially american made models.
disgusting.

Anonymous said...

the world's people care nothing about decency, as far as i can see, it all boils down to the love of money and what one can obtain.
it's always been like that and will remain that way.

Anonymous said...

"the world's people care nothing about decency, as far as i can see, it all boils down to the love of money and what one can obtain.
it's always been like that and will remain that way."

Not true. We do behave this way but only up to a certain point. As soon as we come up with something of our own, an idea, product, or an act, with which it is possible to earn a living, our attention switches from copying others to 'doing our own thing'. It gives more pleasure, and at least holds the promise of being more lucrative in the long run.

You can see this with China, a country well known for its copycat industrialism. In recent years they have started to innovate. And when a billion people otherwise willing to work for a low fee discover the concept of innovation and the financial possibilities in it, there's no telling what will happen.

Same with Russia. As an example, in the field of software they were known for copying pretty much everything from the U.S. Not anymore. They are now ahead of the rest of the world in many areas.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Good point, TTL.
Also after WWII, Japan was doing the worst knockoffs of everything. But in the last forty years they have left the rest of the world in the dust in camera and electronics inventiveness.

Anonymous said...

The Chinese don't think it's illegal to copy other people's products, in fact it's supposed as their way to admire the skill of the originator (!).
They are very pragmatic, though, they can make things out of nothing.

Xiao Beep :-)

(See, they even copied my screen name)

Anonymous said...

TTL said...
"You can see this with China, a country well known for its copycat industrialism."


When I was a kid, this was the reputation of Japan, like Eolake said. How things have changed! Now, cheap electronics are being made in China by stealing quality japanese ideas!
And even "Made in China" toys are no more the automatic synonym of cheap and rickety, far from it. Most quality manufactured toys are ALSO made in China.
Which is getting a bit scary. Reminds me of B-movie horror flick "the Blob", where the shapeless monster keeps eating and growing, eating and growing... for seemingly no other reason. Is such development sustainable? The Chinese seem to be reflecting over this too, which proves they're not stupid.

As for Russia... Perhaps the most famous and addictive videogame in history, Tetris, was created by soviet citizen Alexei Pajitnov. The CIA even considered the hypothesis that it was a communist plot to sabotage western company productivity by making thousands of employees play on their PC during work hours (these capitalist degenerates!). Really, they did believe so at some point, it's no April Fool fib. Pajitnov was greatly amused when he heard that.

Monsieur Beep said...
"The Chinese don't think it's illegal to copy other people's products, in fact it's supposed as their way to admire the skill of the originator (!)."


"Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery." (Author unknown, so I just stole his words!)

I'm not sure the Chinese are always that candid when they "borrow" somebody's ideas, but this is definitely an interesting people with lots of intellectual potential (same could be said about India). China invented masses of life-changing things : the compass, the ink and paper, bank notes, the sismograph, noodles, gunpowder... They may very well become a world giant in far more than raw economic/industrial development, if they're wise enough.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"The CIA even considered the hypothesis that it was a communist plot to sabotage western company productivity by making thousands of employees play on their PC during work hours"

LOL!
Secret police people are fucked up in the head.

Anonymous said...

Talk about unusual sexuality... :-D

Robert said...

Huge problem for anyone in sculpture (and painting too). Thanks for the sympathy