 The definitive and distinctive style art such as the original Texas Modern aka Texas Road Trip size: 8 ' tall x 10 ' wide x 2" dept. A 2006 Mixed Media on canvas is by James Sasso. Private Collection in Dallas,Texas. “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine… “- Mathew 7:6 Jesus Sermon on the Mount “Congress shall have the Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” – United States Constitution, Art. I, Section 8 ( Artwork examples depicted, TEXAS ROAD TRIP ( aka TEXAS MODERN) is an example of a completely ORIGINAL & DEFINITIVE style Fine Art canvas) ----------------------------- In 1790, the Constitution enshrined in American law the principle that an author of a work may reap the fruits of his or her intellectual creativity. Copyright protects through law original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, architectural, cartographic, choreographic, pantomimic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and audiovisual creations. Today, copyright provides to an author the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute his or her work. The Copyright Law also provides, in the case of certain works, a right to publicly perform or display the work; in the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. The author may also grant to others a license to engage in these activities. We hope this educational blog will help Artists (and others) to be aware of and protect their art from the unauthorized copyright infringement, unlawful derivatives or usage by for profit entities without them paying the artist any fees or residuals.  Detail middle center of distinctive city styles from Texas Modern artist Sasso. We hope artists young and old will learn to protect their artworks or definitive style as the copyrighted & valuable intellectual property that it is. Similar to music rights and royalties, artists should be paid for their works usage on anything, including consumer goods. Each item. Even though the copyright holder is automatically protected against infringement, the artist should also register their works with the Library of Congress as a singular or collection submission, so as to give more weight and teeth to their actions against criminal violators of their works. A good work of art can have tremendous commercial value beyond the physical piece itself. Protect your rights against the parasites of culture so that you benefit financially to your satisfaction. You the artist owns the Copyrights to your works. We hope that any artist reading will learn something about protection of their work especially when submitting their artwork to others for specific circumstance such as a “cause” or purpose.  Texas Modern being constructed in Venice, California 2005. Finished in 2006 and later auctioned off for $13,500. in Texas to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The Basics:
For your information and according to online sources: The FBI's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) program investigates theft of trade secrets, counterfeit products, and copyright and/or trademark infringement cases. Intellectual property crime is committed when someone manufactures, sells or distributes counterfeit or pirated goods, such as patents, trademarks, industrial designs or literary and artistic works, for commercial gain.  Texas Modern - hand drawn details of land out in west Texas. Is copyright infringement a crime? Yes, copyright infringement can be a crime in the United States. Criminal copyright infringement is defined in 17 U.S.C. § 506(A). This is the principal criminal statute protecting copyrighted works, which provides that "[a]ny person who infringes a copyright willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain" shall be punished as provided in 18 U.S.C. When is copyright infringement a crime?
 Texas Modern ( aka Texas Road Trip) is filled with the distinctive whimsical hand drawn style of Sasso inspired by old maps. If you are the author artist of the Copyright to an original work, you need to be aware that you also have the copyrights to any derivative works. A derivative work is one that is constructed largely of a pre-existing work or derives from it.It can be a series or edition. Original works are the work created directly and personally by a particular person/artist, while infringing derivative works are based on the original work of someone, an imitation of others' work, style or renderings. Is producing derivative works of someone's art a copyright infringement crime? Yes, creating a derivative work without the copyright owner's permission is copyright infringement and considered a crime.
· The derivative work must be substantially different from the original work to receive copyright protection. ---------------------------------------- On a different note but same page: Sometimes cultural images in history can be appropriated for movements or political slogans. People committing Art theft of paintings, or appropriations, plagiarizing, making derivative works or such things for commercial or idealistic purposes is nothing new. People will steal when they want something good but don’t want to pay for it. The swastika is at least 11,000 years old. The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit word svástika . In the early 20th century, the swastika was a symbol of good luck in the West. In China, the swastika is called the "Wàn" and denotes the universe or the manifestation of God.  Examples of Hindu & Buddhist swastikas with Nazi logos shown on right. The Nazi movement of ww2 stole/appropriated this symbol from the Buddhist, Indian & other cultures which consider it a good luck blessing. By subverting the context & purpose of the powerful symbol for their own visual usage & power, they committed a form of cultural art theft/copyright infringement, to go along with all their many other crimes against humanity. Now when most people see this symbol they don’t think of good luck, blessings or other feel good stuff but they think of the Nazi movement & some countries have even outlawed this ancient symbol. ---------------------------------------- Closer to our recent times is the artist Frank Shepard Fairey (b.1970) & his Obama poster situation and how the issue of copyright violations come into play during the 2008 presidential run. Fairey is a popular artist who uses new technology to create his art works and became very well known after his powerful Obama Hope poster caught the public’s eye. Fairey's art has been described as a "bold iconic style that is based on styling and idealizing images." The Hope Obama art image was heavily used to politically market the presidential candidate & helped to get him elected. The image was widely described as iconic and came to represent Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.  Left- Associated Press photo by Mannie Garcia. Other images by artist Fairey. ] Artist Fairey used an AP (Associated Press) photo by freelance photographer Mannie Garcia, without permission or credit to "create" a new image, and was eventually sued by the agency for violating copyrights. That case was eventually settled. The digital process simply involved creating a source bottom layer for the photo which he presumably found online, then used layers placed over it to create the vector art image on top of the photo. Later the photograph layer is either deleted or the art image is flattened to render source photo invisible. This supposedly creates a "New" graphic image without the actual photo visible but in reality is just a form of copyright infringement or image theft by producing derivative works from it. With digital technology advancements in the last 20 years, Modern Contemporary Art has changed along with it & artists have adapted with the revolutionary medium of the computer as a drawing tool. It’s almost like anyone with a computer can be an artist and in fact, in our opinions, everyone IS an Artist or has the capabilities but most don’t exercise this part of the intellect or brain. Either way, we still like Fairy’s work a lot & think his art style is interesting statement on the times of how artists adapt to new media..  Visionary and unique. the Texas Modern artwork depicts hand drawn sketches and lettering in ink or pencil by artist Sasso. To any people reading this we hope this is a learning moment and they can understand right and wrong when it pertains to using imagery without compensation or credit due the artist. Ethics: It’s hopeful that a business type person will read this and be educated about ethical behaviors as it relates to the respect of artists, their artwork, Intellectual Property Rights, copyrights & why can be such a heinous crime against the culture of America. A good practice is to pay for art and in the event of numerous reproductions on anything such as consumer goods then it is standard that an artist royalty be attached to each item produced, similar to songs. This royalty can be any amount from pennies per item to any $$ amount. It is more beneficial to both parties & the best way to conduct things as copyright infringement is a crime which not only hurts artists and keeps them from making new art for everyone but it hurts a culture. Who is John Galt? Two questions to ask about Copyrights are: 1.) Would the second, third or fourth or other works (derivative works) exist or be done without the first original work (mother work) ? -- If the answer is no then it's probably Copyright Infringement. 2.) Would the average person ( public, jury member) find the second, third or other works to be from the the first original work & derivative of it? -- If the answer is Yes, the average person sees the similarities & likeness to the first work, then it's probably copyright infringement. --------------------- The End. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blog part 2 coming soon: Copyright Law: The Road to Perdition & Bags (Excerpt Below) ----  Texas Road Trip “Unique & Hand drawn Art” detail lower right with copyright symbol. In year 2011, Calabasas, California banned single-use plastic bags, becoming one of the first cities in Southern California to do so. The ban encouraged residents to use reusable bags or recyclable paper bags instead and July 1 2011 was when the law went into effect at local grocers such as Albertsons. A few years later a stricter state wide law went into effect about reusable bags because they are bad for the "environment". In 2014, while talking about the state of California’s strict new bag law, a Phil Rozenski, the director of sustainability and marketing at plastic bag manufacturer Hilex Poly (now employed at Novolex as Vice President of Government, Public Affairs & Sustainability) , he claims the new law is not about plastic bags or the environment. Instead, he says, it is about: “False Environmentalism” and “billions of dollars in profits going to retailers.” (quote from a September 15, 2014 article in Chemical & Engineering News) -- Meanwhile, self proclaimed "Community minded & environmentally friendly" Earthwise Bag Co. formerly based in city of Burbank but now in Glendale, California, is the leading manufacturer and distributor of “reusable” plastic bags found in large American grocery store chains, most notably Albertsons ( 375 U.S. stores) , as well as Kroger, Trader Joes and many others including small chains. Albertsons was the first retailer in the United States to sell reusable bags for $0.99. Earthwise Bags, was founded in California (2005) by South African native Stanley R. Joffe ( current age 77) , who is the CEO. Joffe used to be in the clothing business until he turned into an environmental do gooder, which is his way to market & sell the millions of bags he makes & spreads around. Seems to be a family affair as his nephew, U.S.C. grad Steven Batzofin (age 47) , is the co-founder/Vice President and spits out the same rehearsed environmental marketing garbage as his mentor. In 2013, Albertsons presented environmental warrior Batzofin with a “Vendor of the Year” award for providing their stores with “eye catching designer reusable bags”. According to online press stories, both of these recyclable bag makers shout about a “closed loop environmental sustainability” recycle spiel under the mantra of “benefiting the community” to sell their millions of “eye catching designer" bags to all those grocery stores. Most if not all the bags are produced/manufactured in the South East Asian country of Vietnam. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam. Earthwise Bags, since early February2016, is now owned by a huge worldwide corporation based in London called Bunzl (also Bunzl Distribution North America).  2 Albertsons bags circa 2013-2016 by Earthwise. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a previous blog, DEATH TO PLASTIC by John Cat, there is more factual information about "recycled" plastics & how "the success and dominance of plastics starting in the early 20th century has caused a widespread environmental problem, due to it's slow decomposition rate in natural ecosystems." ------- |
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