Re: Using books for patterns
Posted by Kenzi on September 28, 1999 at 01:07:22:
In Reply to: Using books for patterns posted by MyST on September 25, 1999 at 23:25:23:
: I am curious as to what my fellow mehndi artists take on this is.
If
: you were to purchase books such as Loretta Roome's, Sumita Batra's,
: Catherine's and such...and you used these designs when giving
Mehndi
: to your customers (because we all know how customers can be, they
see
: a book and they go bonkers for the gorgeous designs and they want
to
: look JUST like the models in the book) are you infringing upon any
: Copyrighting issues????? My take on the whole thing is if my
: customers at festivals or in the salon like something in a book and
: want me to replicate it, I will. Every design I do is my
perception
: of what the design is, it's not a carbon copy...I'm good, but I'm
not
: a computer for God's sake. I just recently had this conversation
with
: a fellow henna artist (supposedly) who thinks I am less talented
: because I have pictures on my website of designs "INSPIRED" by
many
: of the books I have purchased over the years. This happens ALL the
: time, when I'm cruising around looking through different henna art
: galleries, and I know my patterns, but I don't think less of the
: artists because the patterns were from a book..
: I am really interested to know what you guys think. I respect your
: opions, and I'd love for you to check out my site and see if it's
done
: in good taste. I think it is.......... :)
: Thanks,
: MyST
: http://mehndimy
I would think that the test of how creative you are is not whether or
not you copy from books (most art students have had hours of
experience copying famous works of art, to learn certain
techniques). Rather, I think it is what you do with that practice,
where it takes you, what kind of designs come out of that work. I
also copy designs for clients and often during the process one or the
other of us makes a suggestion as to how we can change/improve the
design. And often I will finish copying something and then go to my
sketchbook to play with ideas that came up while I was copying.
That all has to do with your own attitude toward the designs and
whether you feel like you are cheating. Copyright issues are another
thing and I can't say legally what is right or wrong. I think that
if you try to pass a design off as your own (like a forgery of a
famous painting) this is illegal, but if you acknowledge that you are
making a copy, it is alright. And the only way a design of Roome's,
for example, could be a forgery is if it was she who did the henna on
someone's body but you told everyone you did it.