The Surfer's Life Artist and Battles of the (Personal) Brand

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The Surfer's Life Artist and Battles of the (Personal) Brand

Jimmy Buffett received a welcome gift on New Year's Eve: a hand-painted surfboard from SoCal's "Surf Life Artist" Nelson Ruger. Nelson had been a Broadway designer, and had worked for Apple, and even designed theme parks, but he had a vision of how his life as an artist was meant to be: bringing a little Aloha into the lives of those who appreciated his work. And here he got the opportunity to bring Aloha to Margaritaville.

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Please! Stop Monkeying Around with Photography Law!

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Please! Stop Monkeying Around with Photography Law!

Most of my friends are amateur photographers now, thanks to smartphones and Instagram. And many of them love the hashtag #NoFilter, which always amuses me. Why? Because of the assumption that a photo shot with an iPhone has not already been heavily curated before the button was pushed by the photographer. As this past spring's blue/black vs. white/gold dress debate that raged on the Internet demonstrates, we don't each see color the same way, and a phone's camera does not faithfully replicate the colors we do see, filter or not. 

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The Great Jewelry Design Ripoff

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The Great Jewelry Design Ripoff

Jewelry design has become a popular entrepreneurial endeavor for artisans who have found a customer base hungry to display a love of creativity. Ironically, American law often seems to find many forms of jewelry design not particularly creative enough, as evidenced by a restrictive approach by the U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as federal courts. 

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Etsy Liars, Instagram Thieves, and the Art of Law

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Etsy Liars, Instagram Thieves, and the Art of Law

When I was a kid, I was proud of my illustration skills. In the days before Photoshop, I believed art was verisimilitude. Then I went to art school, met painters and sculptors with far more talent than I, and discovered the importance of ideas in art. It would be many years before I would realize that voice and "personal brand"--as obnoxious a term as we've coined in this 21st century--matter as much in the world of artists as ideas and talent. 

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New York's Creepiest Photography Breaks No Law... But Artists Shouldn't Celebrate Yet

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New York's Creepiest Photography Breaks No Law... But Artists Shouldn't Celebrate Yet

Photographer Arne Svenson had a Nikon super-telephoto lens. He liked to use that lens to take pictures of his New York City neighbors (including unclothed minors) in their apartments and turn the prints into an art exhibit almost as controversial as Mapplethorpe's in his heyday. And the First Department of New York's Appellate Division stated last week that Svenson's photography show broke no New York law and violated no regulation when he did just that. 

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Dr. Startup, or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love the Micropayment

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Dr. Startup, or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love the Micropayment

Did the Internet and technology level the playing field for small-time artists, illustrators, musicians, or filmmakers? On the one hand, it is easier than ever before to become a web celebrity than ever before, and for the creator of creative content to monetize that content.

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Why Do Entertainment Stars Like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift Go After Small Businesses for IP Infringement?

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Why Do Entertainment Stars Like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift Go After Small Businesses for IP Infringement?

The short answer? Because they can. You may have heard that Etsy sellers have been sent "Cease and Desist" letters for incorporating Taylor Swift's lyrics, or that an entrepreneur sculpting a 3-D likeness of the "Left Shark" from Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance has been accused of copyright infringement. But, really, why go after the "little guy?"

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