“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject-matter, an art which could be for every menial worker, for the businessman as well as the man of letters, for example, a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.” - Henri Matisse - painter

 SKULLS for PEACE ART
        Skulls for Peace is a new contemporary art conceptual about using art to inspire positive change and elevate ourselves as humans to a higher consciousness of life. This can be both on a personal level as well as related to the world's problems with conflict, genocide, bombing of civilian populated areas & other war crimes in our current times.
          The human skull, has captivated artists for millennia, serving as a haunting reminder of the fleeting nature of life and something we can all relate to as we humans all inhabit the same structural anatomy. The skull protects the brain and supports the face.
It's made up of 22 bones, including the cranium and facial bones.
            Skulls are something we can all appreciate as they house our brain, the so called “seat of intellect”, as well as of course the place of our hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting.
         When we practice meditation we are advised to close our eyes and focus on the inner "third eye", which sits in the middle of the skull between them. 
The human pineal gland  "third eye" is an extremely active neuro endocrine transducer and when "opened", you might experience a heightened sense of intuition, a deeper connection to your inner self, increased clarity of thought, vivid dreams, a feeling of inter-connectedness with everything around you, and sometimes even subtle sensations like tingling or pressure between your eyebrows; essentially, a more profound understanding of reality beyond the physical world, often described as a "knowing".

           To "Use your skull" essentially means "use your head" - which means to think carefully, use common sense, or apply your brain to a situation; it's a way to tell someone to think logically and make a good decision.
So, Skulls for Peace is an Art movement which encourages higher intelligence.

 Skulls depicted in art can be both thought provoking & humorous­.
Although the most common symbolic use of the skull in ART is as a representation of death, they can also be used as a symbol of:
-- respect
-- strength & protection
-- wealth
-- toughness
-- humor
-- transformation
-- bravery
-- a life-and-death struggle
-- display of power
     Skulls also symbolize life and in other cultures the skull is used to celebrate the deceased or to reconnect with the spirit world.
Throughout all history, humans have been fascinated by anatomy and the skull. Skulls can appear in ancient carvings such as Petroglyphs and yes, skulls appear in  “Fine” art too.

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette is an early work by famed French artist Vincent Van
 Gogh (b.1853 - d.1890) The small and undated canvas painting featuring a skeleton smoking a cigarette was most likely painted in the winter of 1885–86 as a satirical comment on conservative academic practices.
Van Gogh was a young student at the time as the study of anatomy is a prerequisite for any aficionado of art in general.

          Mexican artist, lithographer & engraver, Jose Guadalupe Posada (b.1852 - d.1913) who is perhaps best known for his animated skeletons (calaveras) created works like La Calavera Catrina at a time when photo-mechanical technology was in its infancy. Most of his works were engraved or etched in relief on type metal for publication in daily publications and pamplets meant for the masses printed on cheap newsprint.
             Often expressionistic in content and style, the art of Posada also has a satirical acuteness and fosters
 social engagement with humor.
          Art involving skulls is ­­­often t­­ermed as belonging to the trope of 'memento mori' – named after a Latin phrase meaning "remember (that you have) to die or remember death, remember the dead".  It can be used to ­describe a practice, object, or artwork that serves this purpose.
            The phrase comes from the Bible, in the opening lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes.Artwork reminiscent of memento mori endeavors to symbolically remind its viewer of the present moment of life & the inevitability of death. The most common motif is a skull, often accompanied by bones.
 
        In modern art, artist of all stripes and disciplines have used the skull motif and even in the Pop Art movement.

In 1976, American artist Andy Warhol (b. 1928- d.1987) created a 10 part large canvas silkscreen series called simply, Skulls.
Famous for 1960’s Pop Art commercialism of the banal & celebration of fame, Warhol's Skulls offer the notion of death as the blank afterimage of life, rather than as a melancholy fate.
 
  Further on and into the New York art circus of the early 1980's, the super talents of artist Jean Michel Basquiat  (b.1960-d.1987) emerged into the cultural mix, if only for a short time.

Basquiat quickly became one of the most famous artists of that era and arguably still is.
His prolific oeuvre is filled with symbols scratched, words scribbled, words crossed out, phrase, screaming faces, anatomical drawings and also contain Skulls in his unique style.
 
In our new times, Skulls for Peace conceptual art seeks to engage the viewer via Skulls, as an inspirational peace initiative for all to embrace, utilizing the expressionistic message of art as a tool to heal, transform and transcend an ill society.

 Los Angeles based artist James Sasso (b. 1960) created the Skulls for Peace conceptual & art as a continuation of the artistic cultural traditions of mankind. Sasso's definitive and distinctive style involves semantics & semiotics as a prevalent theme in his mixed media artworks filled with color and meaning.

Skulls For Peace art acts as a bridge to elevate the viewer into a higher consciousness of positive energy for themselves as well as the  betterment of society.
www.SKULLSforPEACE.com  Hardback Art book coming soon.

“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) 
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      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.

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. 

The Basics:

1. To start, artists need to know that copyright is an “automatic right.” Copyright automatically protects your work from the moment it is fixed in a tangible form. In other words, once you create a piece of art, write a story, or write down or record a musical composition, it is protected by copyright.
2. Copyrights protect the author’s ideas and controls their material up to 70 years after their death, or less if the author is a corporation. The protection covers writing, music, artistic works, and digitally stored material including books, songs, poetry, art, films, graphic designs, computer software, website content, and architecture.
3. What is criminal copyright infringement? -- Criminal copyright infringement is a violation of federal law when a person intentionally and willfully uses or distributes another’s copyrighted material for financial gain.

The FBI has made ‘intellectual property’ theft a priority of its criminal investigative program.

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.

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? 

• When the infringement is intentional and for commercial gain.
  
• When the infringement involves the reproduction or distribution of multiple copies of a copyrighted work.
  
• When the infringement involves the reproduction or distribution of works with a high retail value.

What are the penalties for criminal copyright infringement? 

• Fines of up to $250,000
• Imprisonment of up to five years
  
• Seizure, forfeiture, or destruction of the material involved.

What are other types of copyright infringement?

• Civil infringement: When one party sues another for copyright infringement 
• Willful infringement: When the infringement is intentional. 
•  Fraudulent use of a copyright notice: When someone intentionally misuses a copyright notice 
•  Fraudulent removal of notice: When someone intentionally removes a copyright notice 
•   False representation: When someone intentionally misrepresents information about a copyright

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 copyright owner has the exclusive right to create derivative works from their copyrighted work.

· The copyright owner can sue someone who creates a derivative work without permission. 
 · The derivative work must be substantially different from the original work to receive copyright protection.
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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.

      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.
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         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.

]      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..

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.
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The End.
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Blog part 2 coming soon: Copyright Law: The Road to Perdition & Bags
(Excerpt Below) ---- 

       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, "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 & his nephew, U.S.C.  grad Steven Batzofin (age 47) , co-founder/Vice President.
Joffe used to be in the clothing business until he turned into an environmental do gooder, which he uses to market & sell the millions of bags he makes.
    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 spit out the same rehearsed  garbage about “closed loop environmental sustainability” recycle marketing spiel under the ­­mantra of “benefiting the community” to sell their “eye catching designer" bags to 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).

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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." -------