Has Someone Stolen Your Idea?

You’re a visual artist and as such you spend considerable amount of time, energy, and money researching an art project. You conceptualize and sketch out an idea for that art project, and sometimes actually make models, maquettes, sculptures, paintings, videos, films, and yes, even installations in your own studio. You invite people over: friends, curators, artists, writers, and critics, and naturally feel inspired by their feedback and critiques (hopefully positive). Some artists are students, so the requisite studio-visit from full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, and visiting artists are mandatory. You regroup and feel ready to exhibit your art work.

Then, the unexpected happens. You see your artwork in someone else’s exhibition, and sometimes in some art journal or web media source. The nauseating feeling that arises is followed by disappointment and anger. To call this a traumatizing experience would be an understatement. Unfortunately, we’ve all been there and had this experience. To be sure, there are ethical, moral, and yes, legal issues that arise. So what do you do?

Do you pursue this through legal means? Do you sue the “infringer,” or do you send a cease and desist letter? Are there other avenues where ethical and moral factors can give you better protection? Do you contact the “infringer” and try to settle the dispute? Do you contact the exhibition venue or print or web journal?

But if you take the legal route, under what laws? Does it matter if they took only the idea and not an exact replica? What if you just told people about your idea but otherwise did not materialize anything? What if they gave you credit? What if it’s your friend, your collaborator, your teacher, or the visiting artist? Does this change the situation, and if so, how? What if you’re a student or, a fellow in an artist resident program?

I ask more questions than posit solutions because in effect, the basic question is: what are you rights, and what do you (actually) own. It would be a waste to ask why anyone would “steal” the idea of another artist, not to mention an art student. This is good fodder for a class in ethics and morality, but otherwise insufficient to resolve our frustrating dilemma, what do you do?

Tags: art ideas, Copyright, idea theft, stolen art ideas, studio art, trade secrets