It’s all fun and games on the world wide web until someone gets hurt by blatant copyright infringement.
Artist and self-taught illustrator David Chong was all too happy to receive the plaudits and praise when he put up his very impressive BIC ballpoint drawing, based on a work by photographer James Houston. No really, Chong’s work— published back in February — is gorgeous.
BIC ballpoint pen drawing with reference to photo by the talented photographer James Houston. Done entirely freehand…
Posted by My humble artworks (by David Chong) on Thursday, 5 February 2015
Alas, in the modern internet-fueled world, anyone can just lift anything online and claim it as their own. That’s exactly what Chong claims that this young American lad did, and according to him, it’s even up on display in a gallery in Brussels. Obviously, Chong is less than merry about it.
I was informed that this guy (an American) had claimed my ballpoint pen drawing (reference to photo by James Houston) to…
Posted by My humble artworks (by David Chong) on Monday, 21 December 2015
“My immediate reaction was to let the matter go (I thought the cost of pursuing the matter i.e. legal cost and effort would likely be high, and in any case if any dispute arises, I have the original drawing to prove it. Moreover, this guy is setting himself up for disgrace if asked to demonstrate his ability to draw with a pen). Hence my online post to warn others of the fraud, and at least vindicate myself,” Chong said of the incident.
“This wasn’t the first time that my art has been ‘stolen’, although this was the first time that I’m aware of someone who printed it out for a gallery,” he continued, before assuring that he will share more details once he’s able to gather more information about the accused copycat.
A plot twist comes when a fellow Facebook user by the name of Tabs Cavello pointed out that Chong himself might be guilty of copyright infringement — he did not acquire the permission of Houston to repurpose his work and publish it online. Chong defends himself by saying that he doesn’t sell any of his pieces online, but agrees to reconsider posting any other repurposed pieces in the future.
In any case, Chong seems pretty confident that the portrait that the dude’s holding up is his, according to the “proportion and positional mistakes” he made. Let’s hope he gets to the bottom of things soon.
