Idea Theft

 

Babette - Watercolor and ink on mixed media paper

This isn’t a post about legal issues or intellectual property. This is a post about ideas, when to share them and who to share them with.

Take a minute and recall a social artistic situation (art class, drawing group) when someone stole your idea. How did that make you feel? Were you upset or were you flattered by the imitation.

Idea theft is a very touchy subject, we all would like to think our ideas are unique and original And so we should, if we take the time to create a concept, and flesh out the idea to become an accomplished piece of artwork. When someone swoops in and takes it like a seagull snatching a sandwich from a beach goer, it feels horrible! There are some artists who look at the situation differently, regarding their art as belonging to the world, and that’s fine for them. But for me, depending on the work, some of my art is quite personal and close to my heart. Some of my paintings are mine and those of you who I share it with are very fortunate to have that privilege.

Now that may sound cocky, but if you make art just to make it, and not for profit, then you understand my perspective. I do both and I definitely get upset when my art created for profit is stolen.

However, ideas and concepts are different from finished art. Ideas are free for anyone to use and create. And while intellectual property protects artists, it can’t protect entirely from altered concepts. The brain trust of your mind can be a vault robbers dream if you’re sharing every idea.

So what do we do? How can we share our ideas with our peers without having to compete with the idea of having a great concept, then having to eighty-six it because someone had seagull syndrome? Why is there all this idea stealing anyway? Is art in your world a competition?

Through collaboration, we can develop greater concepts, learn about others and ourselves, gain some education and improve our skills.  Of course collaborate with people you know and trust, that is a given. And perhaps, in some cases you could even collaborate with someone who has been an idea thief in your life.

Idea theft is due to admiration and/a lack of imagination on the part of the thief. The best thing about ideas is that they are endless. Endless enough to find that person with seagull syndrome and reach out a hand for collaboration instead of competition.