The 4/23 entry in Blaugustine reminded me of my long unsolved mystery. Last fall I received this image in a forwarded email with the following text:
While we're on the subject of football...
Nancy
READ BELOW BEFORE YOU OPEN ATTACHMENT !!!!!!!!!!!
What happens when you have
1) nothing to do
2) a sharp knife
3) a large lime
4) a patient cat
5) too much tequila
6) and it's football season?
Now, I never never forward email, but I found this image hard to resist and forwarded it to a friend. She immediately responded and said that she just received a mail from Japan with the same image claiming that this picture was taken at a friend's party. Then I found out this has been circulating around the world... Does anyone know the origin of this?
I find this kind of phenomenon fascinating. While I strongly adhere to the code of ethics regarding artists' rights, and believe that artists should fully be compensated for any damage incurred by infringement of copyrights, or when someone makes a huge profit by copying another artist's work (as in Jeff Koon's String of Puppies case), I cannot help being intrigued by the idea of an image acquiring life of its own and circumnavigating the world, spawning countless stories along the way. I am not sure if this is damaging to the artist. If anything, it would be advantageous to him/her especially if she is a professional artist.
Imagine Natalie's juxtaposed cartoons beginning to pop up everywhere. Since she has a highly recognizable style, people will take notice, and begin to wonder who the real artist is. Most people will only use one or two images that are fitting in a certain context. And if someone tries to rip off a large volume of her works and pretends to be the artis herself, it would be an easy lawsuit for Natalie. So, after a while, when she comes out with a book or a show and is seen by those who had been wondering about the origin of the cartoons, she is more likely to benefit from such exposure.
Even when the artist is not professional - for example, if I find out that the creator of the above photo has a blog, I would definitely check it out. Of course it would be a loss for me and the artist if the origin is forever lost, but then, the idea of such an endearing (and silly) image floating in the digital stratosphere like a lost baloon is so compelling that I would not mind it if that happens to my picture.
This is in no way a justification for Vampyroni or Black Dock who lifted Natalie's cartoons without posting credits, nor encouragement for anyone to do so. I am thankful as a fellow artist that Natalie put a spotlight on such misconducts.
Situations would be different for writers. Since there is no degradation in the output quality for texts on the web, writing would be more difficult to prove its authorship. Still, if, for example, someone misused Dick's poems and if it comes to a lawsuit, he would have an army of fellow bloggers as witnesses, and his blog itself would be a strong case of evidence.
So in the end, it is the integrity of the work itself that will protect the artist, and turns a bad situation to a winning opportunity - I hope.
4:34:39 AM 
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