Ethics

Ethics means:
     moral principles that govern a person’s 
     or the conducting of an activity’
(Oxford English Dictionary) 

We have covered the Ethical areas of:
-  Copyright
-  Ethical Issues: reality of mass production, cheap labour, poor conditions and pay. 
-  Consumerism

The Subject of copyright interested me and i found this story interesting as i was intrigued as to how easy this can be done: 

'I wanted to take a break today from usual book posting to share something that happened to my friend, artist Lauren Nassef (the first artist I will be publishing as part of the BBIC press series). Yesterday she was alerted by someone who follows her blog that a graduate student from Falmouth University in the UK named Samantha Beeston had stolen her drawings and used them in her own work.

Once we starting doing more research, we found out Samantha won a huge award from Texprint for pattern designs filled with Lauren’s drawings which she claimed as her own. Even her website (which she has taken down since Lauren contacted her) had Lauren’s drawings on the home page and integrated thoughout her portfolio. She was even selling prints of one of Lauren’s drawings she had traced.

With the award she won from Texprint (sponsored by Pantone Europe), she received prize money and a chance to exhibit at two trade shows in Hong Kong and Paris where she can take orders for the (stolen) designs.

She even made a fake sketchbook with many of Lauren’s drawings traced or pasted in.

The list of drawings that were plagiarized as far as Lauren can tell so far:
Feather Clip
Oscar Wilde
Shaker Pattern
Getting Ready (Business Casual)
Speed of Light
Overcoat
Skinny Dipper
Tower (Day and Night)
Tuba?
Stakes
Regent Street
Untitled (two small birds)
Champion
Walking and Thinking
Dance Off
Architect
China Sleeping with Flowers
Guest Bedroom
Thinking About Vacation I
Thinking About Vacation II
Tarjetta Postale
About 31 tiny objects that are part of larger objects
Serious Dancing
Fantastic Trendy Set

Here are a couple examples of Lauren’s drawings being used. Everything in the left column is Lauren’s. The right column was taken from Samantha’s website:'

http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/other/a-sad-story-must-read

This made me think because this could happen so easily to anyone. We all share images of out work weather its by blogging or social networking and this situation could happen without yourself even knowing about it.