QUESTION 15

Do you ever worry that sharing your art/ideas on social media can lead to being copied?

We posted this question on our Instagram on 29th June 2021, here are the answers offered by our followers:

1. Yep, had it happen to me.
2. I think it depends on the circumstance. If your work inspires somebody to try a similar technique but put their own style on it and make it completely different then it wouldn’t be such a bad thing however if somebody actually approaches you to explain they are going to start doing exactly the same style and products because they love your idea and push it out in the same field then they start replicating everything you do including insta posts (this happened recently) then that is another matter entirely.
3. I worry a bit about it and I feel as if I’ve seen it happen (though not sure I could prove it?!), however I also feel like I’m not a big enough name to be choosey about where I share my stuff… 😂
4. Honestly, I don’t feel like my ideas are unique enough or my platform is big enough for that to be a problem.
5. I don’t worry about my work being nicked particularly because of the type of work I create. I do however worry about project and workshop ideas. Especially when you offer proposals for a commission, it can make you feel vulnerable and at risk of losing ownership. I try to trust in the people I work with or potentially work with and hope they wouldn’t do something so disappointing and WRONG. 🤨 I also think for digital artist and Illustrators it’s more of an issue, how do you promote your work whilst maintaining control, particularly on social media, It’s really difficult. I’m not really sure how you get around some of this really, I think I could do with some advice on this! 😖
6. A professor at uni once said to me (when I was stressing about my ideas for work) that everything has been done in one form or another and you use your own ideas to give it a new and different twist. If someone likes your work enough to copy it you should consider it a complement, but I do agree that copying exactly is very discouraging as this has happened to me and it stopped me working for quite a while.
7. Well, I have come to the conclusion that thieving scrotes and plagiarist feckwits should not rob me of my happiness in being able to share online. Also, see Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon and Picasso “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”