WIBU to print an artist's work at home?

[zatarontoast]

Asking as I really don't know if this is appropriate or not. I follow an artist on Instagram who does oil paintings and I really wanted one so enquired about the price. At £500 for a small size it is way beyond my budget or what I could justify in spending. But... I still want one. She doesn't do prints, so I was thinking I could print one off at home for my own use. I don't know much about these things so don't know if this is considering stealing or is just a no-no in general? My rationale is that she isn't losing by me doing this as I wasn't going to buy it anyway.

@Piglet89

copyright law doesn’t cover it. The policy reason for the civil wrong of infringement, enshrined in legislation, is to try to guard against this “badness”. The artist herself owns the RIGHT to COPY her own work - nobody else. Hence COPYRIGHT.

You're missing the key element of "for commercial purposes".

OP is no more breaching copyright law than my mum did when she made me a Jungle Book cake for my 5th birthday or when your child draws a picture of Elsa. Those are all copyrighted images and characters, but you can reproduce them for your own personal use.

What you can't do is start selling Frozen cakes or Iron Man t-shirts, for example.

poor people aren't allowed art it seems

Major art galleries are free in this country.

It was precisely for 'poor people' that this reform was made in the 19th-century. To give those who couldn't afford a Rembrandt or two to hang on their walls, the chance to see art for free.

Yes, it's stealing.

I'm an artist. You've been told the situation legally, but I just wanted to say, for people like Genderwitched above, stealing from artists seems harmless to you, no doubt. Yes, lots of people do it. They also pirate films, books and music. CF bootlegs at markets.

TBH, someone ripping an image of mine and printing it doesn't bother me all that much. There's not much I can do to stop them, realistically. But it would be great if you also supported artists, even in a small way if you can't afford their work. Most artists, writers, musicians survive on very little, work enormously hard for what little they earn.

We get the culture we are willing to support, in the end.

I used to work in an art gallery and ran the website. When I uploaded photos of the pieces, they would specifically be the lowest possible file size in order to look good on the website. If they were saved and enlarged, they would look all pixelated and weird

@Lockheart you are wrong.

First, the two examples you have given would be considered original works in their own right. Your mum owns the IP rights in the jungle book cake (sounds intricate, so probably a piece of art!) and the child owns the copyright in the card (also an artwork).

You don’t have to use the copy for commercial purposes. The way the legislation is drafted, there are certain exceptions to copyright (defined in the legislation as “permitted acts”) but your broad “non-commercial use” is not one of them. Check the legislation. Non-commercial RESEARCH and PRIVATE STUDY is, but that’s not what the OP is doing here.

YABVU. This is stealing the artist’s creativity. Many artists produce limited edition prints of their work as well as offering payment in instalments so if you were really interested in a particular options why not contact them and enquire regarding lower cost options.

*particular artist

I didn't know you could save pictures from Instagram, so I've learnt something new today.

If the artist is unknown, then asking for a print is a good idea. It helps them promote their work and you to hopefully get a piece of art you like at a cost you can afford.
I can't imagine the quality would be that great if you were to copy the work and print it. I remember being in Boots one Christmas and someone was collecting a canvas which they had a picture printed taken on their mobile phone, and they were so disappointed it was so pixalated you couldn't really see the photo.

My ed is an artist, posts on insta, sells on Etsy, and would be upset if someone did this to her (print off her work without her permission).

If you download an image and store it on your computer and print a copy of it then as far as I was aware that is copy right infringement?

Printing a copy of an artwork to put up in your house is definitely not part of copyright exemption last time I checked.

I'm an artist and I thought that was the case?

I'm shuddering now at how many times that might have happened to me. I slave over my work and to think people do this is gutting.

Well I voted YANBU.

Legally it's copyright infringment. The UK has no "fair use" and the exceptions known as "fair dealing" are very limited.

But taking a work legitimately obtained in one format (in this case, a file on a computer) and converting it to another format (a printout on paper) is extremely widespread practice. Morally, I can't see anything wrong in doing that, provided the original format was obtained legitimately and the conversion is not used for financial gain.

OP print the art and enjoy it
In the grand scheme of things it makes no difference whatsoever, and legality doesn't matter when there's no one to enforce the rules anyway

and post a photo of some of the artist work. The publicity on a big forum will more than make up for the non loss your little print could do.

Publicity doesn't pay the bills

Is taking an image off an Instagram account without the artists permission legitimate?

You dont see it as morally wrong?

I would define legitimate as either having permission or taking an image that has been declared accessible or available to download. If this consent has not been given how would you perceive that to be legitimate.

@SantaClaritasDiet seriously? So steal it and then show it off?

That somebody's livelihood. I cant believe this thread.

This is not acceptable.
That said... an artist should watermark their work to avoid this type of theft.

anditgoeson
I am not sure if I was sarcastic or not now. I am more surprised that anyone even asked on MN if it's ok, as most people just...do it.
it might be wrong, but it's impossible to regulate.

It can't come as a surprise, but I also fail to see how it could ever be a loss of income. If you want a real painting, you will buy one. If you can't afford an original, you buy a cheap one from Primark or your local market.
If you are happy with a print, that the artist doesn't even offer for sale anyway, there's no loss at all. Again, not saying it's right, but morally it's not such a big deal.

The 2 things are not connected at all.

It will look shite blown up from Instagram tbh , morals aside

It may be wrong, but it's impossible to regulate.

I think you mean “it’s difficult to enforce”.

By that argument, I’ll just go around internet phishing as a method of stealing people’s cash because it’s quite difficult to bring those types to justice as well.

I’m just flabbergasted by the general low levels of morality on this site sometimes honestly.

@SantaClaritasDiet if you use that analogy and someone saw my work, did something similar but arguably not as good, and then sold it online cheaply then that would be different because it would be their work and not mine. Even though it would be annoying it wouldnt be my work so wouldnt be stolen from me. The person who bought the work wouldnt be doing anything wrong.

It's not really comparable due to the nature of the work. You cant download a picture of a Gucci handbag and then use it. You can download a picture of an artists work and hang it on the wall as if you had bought it when you hadn't. That's wrong to me.

Who’s the artist @PopcornPeacock ?

Will message her on Insta to warn her to put watermarks on her pics on the site.

I think you mean “it’s difficult to enforce”.

a) no one cares enough
b)unless you have some kind of intelligent software to identify original prints from photos in printing shops, HOW can you do anything about it?

Yeah, I understand why it’s “difficult to enforce”.

I guess I just don’t think it means it gives me carte Blanche to break the law, you know?

Prevention here is the answer, hence watermarks on the images so the resulting copy printed out will not be display-quality.

@Piglet89 exactly, just because you might not get caught doesnt mean you should do it.

A better solution is to promote your work by taking photos with other things in the shot. For example in the studio or alongside other works in situ. That way the image isnt suitable for download.