Alec Soth, Peter's Houseboat, Winona, Minnesota, 2002
After chronicling Nike copping Christian Marclay's concept and AT&T borrowing Jeanne-Claude and Christo's style, here's another one from the ripoff files. It's every big as egregious, although closer to home. St. Paul-based photographer Alec Soth blogs that in 2006, the publisher Little Brown and Co. (owned by Hachette Book Group) contacted him about the possibility of licensing his 2002 photo Peter's Houseboat (above) for a book cover. They wanted to buy rights to the image and to photoshop in a child, and they provided a mockup of what the cover would look like (below left).
Soth declined. Now, three or so years later, while browsing at a chain bookstore, he discovered they'd knocked off the image anyway (below right).
"Now I hear that Winter’s Bone became a movie and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance," Soth writes. "I can’t wait to see the poster."
Coming in September: From Here to There: Alec Soth's America, at the Walker Art Center.
So what happens now? Can Alec do anything about it?
ReplyDeleteDo what?? This is an amusing bit of history but there is NOTHING the least bit egregious. No one but an ignorant idiot would think the final book cover is identical in any way to the original Soth photograph (therefore no copyright issues). So the art director riffed off the general idea of laundry hanging out in the WINTER to create a desolate sense of place for a book entitled "WINTER's Bone". So, let's look through Alex Soth's portfolio and pick out images that were likely inspired by other photographers. Heck, let's go ahead and ban ALL derivative work - after all, good artists are entirely original in everything they do and nobody should ever copy them.
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong, it's douchey. Contact the guy to ask to use a uniquely evocative image, and when he refuses copy it anyway? I'm guessing you're a plant from the publisher.
ReplyDeleteCameron J.
This is a unique idea? You kidding me? The publisher gave him a chance to license and he refused it. So they riffed on the idea and did their own. Alex didn't own the idea (it's pretty generic). No one would mistake the two. Artists have to get over this idea that they "own" generic ideas. Anonymous No. 1 is right. Every piece of art is derivative in some way. Geez.
ReplyDeleteOne-click checkout at Amazon is a pretty generic idea, but if you were to go and "riff off the idea," you'd be in court pronto.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 2:15p is right. This is plagerism, plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's plagiarism, and I'd love to see Soth take them to court for monetary damages. He even has the historical connection with the pre-mocked-up image and the phone call. The sublime arrogance of the publishing industry strikes again!
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