Samiul Bashar Samin
The internet was a boon for independent artists, or so they thought until people started ripping them work. For most independent artists, the internet has proved to be an instrumental tool for exposure. Their work gets retweeted on Twitter, shared on Facebook and Tumblr. Publicity like this was impossible to even think about a decade ago.
However, as most artists learn the hard way, the internet can also be used in order to strip them of any credit for their work. Imagine the rude awakening that shook Pranita Kocharekar when she realized that her artwork was being used for t-shirts sold by an online vendor. When she confronted the vendor, they just shrugged and presented her with the weakest apology that they could muster up. They even dared to offer her a t-shirt with HER illustration drawn on it at half the marked price as compensation.
Kocharekar is one of the few artists that decided to take a stand against the theft of her art and proceeded to take legal actions against the online vendor who was making money off her talent. The problem is, people often understate the importance of intellectual theft. An artist spends hours of his/her time forging a new piece that would represent his/her talent. The crushing feeling that one experiences after seeing his/her artwork with no credit given to the ability of the artist is no less than how da Vinci would would feel if someone stole The Mona Lisa from under his nose.
It doesn’t matter if you watermark it or put your signature on it. There just is no stopping these deviants. The theft of art over the internet has become somewhat of an everyday problem for artists all over the world. If there are no immediate repercussions for the offenders now, this entire issue is bound to get out of hand and independent artists like Kocharekar might as well pack up their bags and start looking at unemployment benefits.