The biggest drawing ever....

gather, 102 x 180 cm

O.K. - so I'm exaggerating - but it is the biggest drawing I've ever done and I've just finished it! As you will have realised I often post work in progress or as soon as it's completed (my work is so time consuming that if some one wanted to copy it they would have to be pretty committed (and slightly mad :)). I do however know artists who are very wary of showing work prior to exhibiting and I can completely understand that - too many people out there seem to find originality a difficult concept. I'm sure it's a common dilemma.  I tweeted recently about the Tatty Devine/ Claire's Accessories saga (details here). This was an extreme - I don't think there was any attempt to use the products as inspiration - they appear to be direct copies. However, we've all seen work which seems all too familiar and it is a really tricky area - at what point does inspiration turn into plagerism? If disputed works aren't visible how do you prove you did it first - even if they are visible how do you prove your work had been seen by the other person ? Does the view that 'there is nothing new..' explain it, excuse it or miss the point completely? There was a really interesting article here (images here) about a recent copyright ruling - but how do issues like this get resolved if the claimant doesn't have the money to pursue it through the courts? There is an ongoing olympic logo dispute (here) which is covering a few of the issues mentioned above e.g. had the artist's work been seen by the logo designers? I shall be watching this one with interest. A complex and difficult area.....
( As an aside I was really surprised ( a better word would probably be gobsmacked!) to learn that the words 'London 2012'  have olympic trade mark protection along with the more obvious and understandable logos etc.- summary here - madness!!)