CBS report on cheap counterfeit paintings from China
(Video link) CBS News reports on the booming trade of forgeries of original paintings coming from China. The biggest buyers are hotels and corporate clients.Link to CBS News article Thanks, Lucas Antoniak
This is just so criminal! I'm going to do a Google search to see if my work has been copied, and if it is, there is practically nothing I can do? More madness!
Woah. Very interesting to see this explored so well. I have always known that Chinese artists were producing vast volumes of 'western' scenes as they have been around for decades. But the internet has opened up access to high quality reproductions of contemporary work now. It's hard enough to scratch a living doing what we have to do without this threat...
"If you need a painting that is not available on our website, you can send us the image of what you want via email or you can tell us the name of the artist and the title of the painting, and we would be happy to help." Copied direcly from their website.
Hi James, I follow your blog & we have a few friends in common. What a shock to see this story posted. What the article didn't say was that I forgot to reduce the resolution to 72 dpi which is like leaving the door open for a theft. I don't believe the Chinese "loved" that painting, I have much more marketable pieces they could have stolen. I believe they have a program which searches the internet for large images on websites, but unfortunately, neither myself nor CBS News could prove it...
Wow, Clinton, thanks for commenting, and sorry your work has to be the cautionary tale for the rest of us.
I suppose this is nothing new. Dealers who trade in old master paintings say that there are tons of forgeries, knock-offs and copies made during the artists' lives and afterward. Some well-known artists even got their start doing that work. And in the 19th century it was common for artists to make exact duplicates of their own paintings. Not to justify it, but just to say the issue has been around for a long time. Perhaps what's new is the scale, sophistication, and organization of the enterprise.
From what I've read on the Ebay Art discussion boards over the years, the problem of pirated artwork has been known on Ebay for several years. The video report isn't new news for those of us who read the Ebay discussion board. I think it is common knowledge with artist members that if you list art on Ebay, then you might see a knock off copy listed as well. I don't know if the video mentions EBay because I haven't watched it yet.
What is also discouraging is there is not much we can do unless you are ready for a long legal battle. James you would seem to be a likely target. Have you ever checked?
@Brenda Boylan, I know for a fact that my paintings are at least offered up to be forged, and there is nothing I can do about it. But it's not for a lack of trying.
Just go and see in Montmartre Paris ! The problem is known there by local artists who are so few on la Place du Tertre... Ce n'est plus la Belle Epoque... Business avant tout ! It's a real pity.
Yes, it has been going on for a long time and although it is a shame, the interesting thing about it is that it would be hard for me to say it hasn't helped more than it has hurt. It certainly made my dot on the map a bit bigger.
Why am I not surprised? It's too bad that it's hard for artist's to go after them. The Chinese are having a field day exploiting everything from their own people to the environment, and now this. And it's a shame that artist's will now be putting watermarks across their work--I for one think it spoils the experience of viewing them. But that is what it will come to, alas.
It is telling that while the mass producers of cheap paintings are in China, the buyers are really in the US, and are mostly corporate.
ReplyDeleteIt is also telling that the production of these counterfeits is little better than a sweatshop, and it has been going on for years:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-02-13/news/0702130004_1_oil-paintings-chinese-village-mao-tse-tung
Exploiting artists to exploit other artists. This is outrageous!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is just so criminal! I'm going to do a Google search to see if my work has been copied, and if it is, there is practically nothing I can do? More madness!
ReplyDeleteWoah. Very interesting to see this explored so well. I have always known that Chinese artists were producing vast volumes of 'western' scenes as they have been around for decades. But the internet has opened up access to high quality reproductions of contemporary work now.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard enough to scratch a living doing what we have to do without this threat...
"If you need a painting that is not available on our website, you can send us the image of what you want via email or you can tell us the name of the artist and the title of the painting, and we would be happy to help."
ReplyDeleteCopied direcly from their website.
Hi James, I follow your blog & we have a few friends in common. What a shock to see this story posted. What the article didn't say was that I forgot to reduce the resolution to 72 dpi which is like leaving the door open for a theft. I don't believe the Chinese "loved" that painting, I have much more marketable pieces they could have stolen. I believe they have a program which searches the internet for large images on websites, but unfortunately, neither myself nor CBS News could prove it...
ReplyDeleteWow, Clinton, thanks for commenting, and sorry your work has to be the cautionary tale for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this is nothing new. Dealers who trade in old master paintings say that there are tons of forgeries, knock-offs and copies made during the artists' lives and afterward. Some well-known artists even got their start doing that work. And in the 19th century it was common for artists to make exact duplicates of their own paintings. Not to justify it, but just to say the issue has been around for a long time. Perhaps what's new is the scale, sophistication, and organization of the enterprise.
From what I've read on the Ebay Art discussion boards over the years, the problem of pirated artwork has been known on Ebay for several years. The video report isn't new news for those of us who read the Ebay discussion board. I think it is common knowledge with artist members that if you list art on Ebay, then you might see a knock off copy listed as well. I don't know if the video mentions EBay because I haven't watched it yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat is also discouraging is there is not much we can do unless you are ready for a long legal battle.
ReplyDeleteJames you would seem to be a likely target. Have you ever checked?
@Brenda Boylan, I know for a fact that my paintings are at least offered up to be forged, and there is nothing I can do about it. But it's not for a lack of trying.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust go and see in Montmartre Paris ! The problem is known there by local artists who are so few on la Place du Tertre... Ce n'est plus la Belle Epoque... Business avant tout ! It's a real pity.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMan! we are screwed!!
ReplyDeleteYes, it has been going on for a long time and although it is a shame, the interesting thing about it is that it would be hard for me to say it hasn't helped more than it has hurt. It certainly made my dot on the map a bit bigger.
ReplyDeleteI was going to write that the subject of this news report was actually a friend of mine and then here he is.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt that it's wrong and crazily frustrating that there's nothing we can do about it.
I linked back to this post by linking from my own blog post.
ReplyDeleteI will have to consider making my photos ugly online and reduce to 72dpi, too.
UGH!!!!
Why am I not surprised? It's too bad that it's hard for artist's to go after them. The Chinese are having a field day exploiting everything from their own people to the environment, and now this. And it's a shame that artist's will now be putting watermarks across their work--I for one think it spoils the experience of viewing them. But that is what it will come to, alas.
ReplyDelete