Marci, I believe as hard as we might try to copy someone’s
design,we each are inherently different and just do not seem to
realize an exact copy. Have you ever been in a class where
everyone is given the same object to draw, paint, copy, etc. and
everyone’s effort is different?
I use to worry about producing a piece of work that mimicked
someone elses work. I would come up with a design and before I
could produce the piece, I would see something almost identical
in a magazine, a gallery or from one of my metalsmithing peers.
Then I worried that one of these people might think I copied
them, when that wasn’t really the case.
I think we are all exposed to so much (magazines, galleries,
schools, etc) and we obsorb and store these images. It is so
hard to do something original anymore unless we are exposed to
new raw materials.
If you believe there is an audience on the web for your work,
then I would not worry about copyrights. Just do it.
Dottie Wood, Newsletter Publisher
Houston Metal Arts Guild, Inc.