Discourse Chronicle

The thing is– those who swipe profit from the work of others– period. Swiping is a shortcut, be it defined as an homage or as a swipe. And it’s unlawful as well. It’s not legal to plagiarize. People have gotten in serious trouble for swiping photos and any number of things. These images are protected by the laws of the land. The copyright holders own them and they’re not up for grabs. Parody is protected, yes, but that doesn’t mean you can feel free to rip off everybody on everything. It’s unlawful and it’s wrong.

[…]

For some reason– in comics– it has been deemed acceptable to swipe something as long as you put a little disclaimer on it– if it says “after Jack Kirby (or whoever)” it’s all good. In the real world, things don’t work that way. If Patrick Nagel did a drawing of a saucy brunette and some other artist copied the drawing, made her blonde and put a little “after Patrick Nagel” on it and sold a million prints– Patrick Nagel’s estate isn’t going to feel as though it was a lovely tribute to Patrick Nagel. They’re going to sue the thief’s pants off.

[I remember how Gloria Hochstein handled plagiarism at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Outside of her office, she has a small plastic skeleton with a string tied around its neck, hanging from a thumbtack off of a fabric board. The skeleton also has a sign around its neck with “Plagiarizers” written on it. Awesome! BK]

category: Comics, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics