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How often do you hear
the story of the little guy
being crushed like a
bug by some corporate
giant?
Isn’t it just to the point
we, we are all but
inured to do nothing
about it?
Well, just when you
think that is so,
something happens to
alter your thoughts.
According to a story
reported on
www.stuff.co.nz, a New
Zealand news website,
Bryce and Shona Moller
prevailed in a legal
battle with Disney over
the name of their
gallery, Art Attack.
Disney Agrees to Pay New Zealand Gallery for Its Name
Page 2
Here is a quote from
the story: “The deal was
negotiated via lawyers
for London's HIT
Entertainment, which
owns TV brands such
as Bob the Builder and
Thomas the Tank
Engine. Its subsidiary
Media Merchants
makes Art Attack and
Disney holds the
Australasian airing
rights. The show started
screening on Sky's
Disney Channel last
year while Disney was
still chasing sole New
Zealand rights.
Wellington intellectual-
property lawyer Kate
Duckworth, of Baldwins,
who represented
Disney Entertainment,
would not confirm
whether legal costs
were part of the
settlement terms but
said they could have
been used "as a
yardstick".
It was an interesting
case, she said. "On
each side you've got
interesting parties. One
is one of the largest
entertainment
producers . . . and
behind Art Attack New
Zealand is a local
artist."
This triumph of
copyright protection is a
moral to take proper
measures to protect
your own copyrights
and to not be afraid to
vigorously defend them.
Jack Vettriano’s Secret Traced – We All Get Inspiration Somewhere
On Plagiarism
The London Daily
Record recently
reported Scotland’s
most famous painter,
Jack Vettriano, might
have traced his most
famous image, “The
Singing Butler” from
The Illustrator's Figure
Reference Manual. The
out-of-print book is a
guide intended to aid
commercial artists.
Here’s a quote from the
UK’s Independent
Online: “The Singing
Butler” set a Scottish
record for an original
when it sold for
£750,000 last year. The
print version is the best-
selling print in the U.S.
and Europe - more
popular than Monet's
Water Lilies or Van
Gogh's Sunflowers.
"A lot of Vettriano's
early works seems to
be from this reference
book so it seems
bizarre that he should
accuse anybody of
copying something
when he has clearly
done it himself."
It goes on to quote,
Tom Hewlett,
Vettriano's agent,
defending the artist.
"It is widely known
that Jack is a self-
taught artist and it
seems unsurprising
that as, in his early
painting years he had
neither time nor
money at his disposal
to work with real life
models, that he
should use a teaching
manual such as this,"
he said.
"Vettriano's skill lies
in his ability to create
narrative paintings
with which the viewer
becomes involved.
He is a master of
generating
atmosphere in his
paintings and
bringing to life the
characters within
them. In this way he
transforms mundane
characters into
extraordinary ones and
everyday scenes into
special occasions."
A spokesman for the
National Galleries of
Scotland said: "I don't
think this will change
anyone's view of
Vettriano. He has never
claimed to do anything
different and the book
itself is designed to be
used in the way that he
used it. Vettriano is
very good at what he
does."
Vettriano’s work in the
U.S. frequently tops the
best selling print lists
published by
Lieberman’s Gallery.
Perish those who
said our good things
before we did.
– Aelius Donatus
The seed ye sow,
another reaps; The
wealth ye find,
another keeps; The
robes ye weave,
another wears; The
arms ye forge,
another bears.
– Percy Bysshe
Shelley
Steal! – to be sure
they may; and egad,
serve your best
thoughts as gypsies
do stolen children,
disfigure them to
make 'em pass for
their own.
– Richard Brinsley
Sheridan
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