You copycat!!!

Now here' s an interesting subject and something which has probably affected
 all of us, at some time, in our lives!!
And it's one for huge debate!!

***

The Subject : Copying someone else's work or idea!

Last year, it happened to me on more than one occasion and I was mildly irritated. However, at the time I was not feeling that well. Had I been well, I might've merely been flattered and thought no more of it.

Nevertheless, around about the same time, I knew of many instances whereby someone had copied another's work . I even knew of instances where friendships became very strained because of it.

BUT HEY!...Put yourself on the world wide web... and your work is there for all to see ( and copy!)

It's not just craft work..it is also ideas ...original ideas which are then snitched by others and passed off as their own brill ideas.

Anyway, back to last year!

My good friend, who is a writer, said:
' Sal, why don't you write an article about this?'
So I did...and then I became rather unwell.
And the article remained in draft form...until now!

I've decided to roll it out, in order to, hopefully, promote some useful discussion.
And so, may I present to you, my article, written last summer . It's interspersed with a few funnies (copied from the internet!!! LOL!!) to break up the lengthy text!

Grab yourself a cuppa!
When you've read it, I'd love your views about the subject.

*******************************

Artist or copycat? Creator or cheat?

********************************
I have always believed that, in life, there are two types of people :

 those who are imaginative and those who are not.

There are those who create in so many different ways, (writers, musicians, artists ,crafters) and there are those who would not know creativity if it jumped up and bit them on the nose!
It might not be their fault; they might be made that way i.e. it's in their genes, i.e. they might have had the creativity drummed out of them at school (it does happen, frequently) or they might just be plain lazy and find it easier to simply copy others.

Of course, when we are born, we learn by imitating. It's a natural learning process. It's something that we encourage our babies to do all the time and we heap on the praise when they succeed. So it's hardly surprising that they grow up thinking it perfectly fine to copy others.

But when does the imitating stop? Well,with some people, never!
And is it a bad thing anyway? Sadly, in the eyes of many, it is.
I will explain.

In recent years, a new kind of community has rapidly grown. It's an online community, a wonderful community known as the blogging community.
Bloggers are a fascinating crowd who live all over the world and obviously have varying interests. This has resulted in this massive community sorting themselves into unique 'sets', depending on their interests. And it is the 'set' of 'crafting/vintage bloggers' to which I loosely belong.


Ah! The Crafty Bloggers! It almost sounds like a new rock group, don't you think? I rather like the name and I've enjoyed being part of this community for almost two years. I've met new people, joined in with two vintage and handmade fairs, and so the whole experience of blogging has restored my faith in the human race. Or so I thought, until recently.

In history, many groups of artists have emerged, be it the Romantics, the Impressionists, the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, etc. But now, ladies and gents’, allow me to introduce you to the new kids on the block. Drum roll, please, for ...

The Copycats!

You know the sort.
You have a brilliant idea. You spend your time thinking of the idea, you gather together your materials - having spent your well earned money - and you create to your heart’s content, carefully, until you are happy with your finished product. Then you step back, observe your original design, pat yourself on the back for truly believing that here is something both original and unique. You photograph it for other bloggers to enjoy and then go to bed, quite satisfied.

But horror of horrors!

In a flash, the demons strike and you find that 'cheap imitation copies' are being passed off as 'all my own work' on A.N.Other's blog.

You think I jest?

Without any exaggeration this is what is happening within the community to which I belong.
I am not talking about an isolated incident either. It's a regular occurrence.
The Copycats are out in their droves, it seems, either copying, exactly, the unique art of others or , failing that, slightly altering it in some way.

'Oh, but the original creators should be so flattered. They should take it as a compliment!' I hear some of you shout.

Yes, we all know that famous phrase, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.'
But this is no consolation for those marvellous, creative people, who have worked hard and designed and devised something new, only to find their work reproduced and, to rub salt into the wound, put up for sale!

Indeed, this is a massive subject for debate.
In the red corner, there are now those who are spitting mad about being copied.
And in the blue corner, there are those who are quite happy to 'snitch' to their hearts content!
Anyone in the red corner will understand where I'm coming from. As for the blues...!
Ultimately, this is leading to the breakdown of friendships within the bloggers world.

Furthermore, blogging for me (and I hope for most people), is actually a sharing and celebration of ideas.
The question is:

Do I want my own crafting ideas copied and given back to me wrapped in a different ribbon?
Of course not!

And so I ask this question: What do you think?

'Think' ...now there's another interesting word as generally I don't believe that those in the blue corner have been taught to think!
After all, if you copy continually, you don't need those thought processes.

Meanwhile, whilst you are preparing your 'original' (no copying others) answers, I'll leave you with this :

'It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation'. (Herman Melville)

;-)

As for me...I have some marking to be getting on with...

;-)