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What is Copyright?
FROM THE ARTIST’S STUDIO
If you remember though Booker T. Washington High school would like sculptor Bridgette Mongeon to recreate the sculpture at Tuskegee we must first find out if there would be copyright infringement. Let’s learn a little about copyright.
Here is a bit from the artists book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling on the subject of copyright.
Intellectual property or IP refers to many different aspects of law that governments put into place to protect literature, artworks, music, discoveries, inventions, etc. Though many countries recognize IP rights, there are some differences between countries. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) tries “to promote innovation and creativity for the economic, social and cultural development of all countries, through a balanced and effective international intellectual property system.”
There are several different kinds of intellectual property rights; copyright is one of
them. Sparked by the invention of the printing press, copyrights were invented to
protect those making creative works. A creative person, whether they are a
musician, a writer or an artist, owns the rights to the work that they have created for
a designated amount of time.
In the United States copyright began in 1790, the total duration of protection was
only for 14 years, and individuals needed to apply for a copyright. After a copyright
expired, the creator could extend it for another 14 years before it went into the public
domain. Works entering the public domain are those having expired copyrights or
where an individual gives their works to the public domain. When works enter the
public domain, no one else can claim ownership. They are available to the public.
For example, Lewis Carroll wrote Alice In Wonderland, and Sir John Tenniel created
the illustrations for publication in 1865. Many companies, including Disney, have
recreated the story of Alice. They cannot claim copyright to the story because they
recreated it.
According to the copyright law of 1976 (USA), the copyright law protects everything
that you create from the moment you create it, even if you have not registered it.
This is the way copyright is handled throughout the world. It was defined by the
Berne convention, an international agreement concerning copyrights. The duration of
copyright, changed in 1988 from the creator’s life plus 50 years, to the creator’s life
plus 70 years as it is today (USA). Having a piece of artwork protected by the very
act of creating it is good for an artist. They don’t have to register every piece of work
they make. Once something is in a tangible form, it is copyrighted. Many artists put
their name on art along with the copyright symbol © and the year. It is surprising how
many people do not realize that even if artwork does not have a copyright notice, the
copyright law still protects it. Traditional sculptors have been fighting copyright
infringement for years. Individuals think that they can copy a sculpture if a sculptor
has not marked it with ©, the year and name of the artist. Sculpture is often
recreated and sold as a reproduction without the permission of the artist.
Under the current copyright law, you do need to register your work with the copyright
office if you want to collect for statutory damages for infringement. If you discover
someone has stolen your work and you file suit, statutory damages are punitive and
can be quite severe for those infringing on someone’s rights. Financial penalties for
infringement keep many people honest about “taking” other people’s creations.
Many creative people make a living from their creativity. Authors make a living from
the books they write, artists from the artwork they create, musicians from the songs
they write and record. If there were no regulations to how others use these works of
inspiration, it would be devastating for those who make a living creating.
Read on to find how copyright plays into copying the sculpture of Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University.
Author Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon
https://www.instagram.com/bridgettemongeon/
https://www.facebook.com/BridgetteMongeonSculptor/
https://twitter.com/sculptorwriter
About the Sculpture “Lifting the Veil of Ignorance”
FROM THE ARTIST’S STUDIO
The original intent of the sculpture project for Booker T. Washington High School was for the artist to recreate the sculpture “Lifting the Veil of Ignorance.” This sculpture is very large and resides on campus at Tuskegee University in Alabama. There is a smaller version of the sculpture, often referred to as a maquette. An artist creates a maquette to work out the design. The original maquette was damaged and needed repair.
There were several concerns when copying art. The first concern is copyright. We will go into this in another post. The second concern is that it takes a very long time to create a bronze sculpture. An artist wants their work to be original, and spending a year copying someone else’s work is not enticing. However, it can be done digitally, as we will see.
Let’s take a closer look at the art. The sculpture was created by Charles Keck (1875-1951) and dedicated in 1922.
The artist was very prolific, creating pieces of Washington, Lincoln, and many other famous people. This link provides some beautiful photographs of the sculpture from all sides.
Questions for teachers and students
What do you think the sculpture means? What does it represent? Why do you think the artist portrayed the subject this way? What is he holding? What is he sitting on and why? Do you like the work? What feeling do you get from the two subjects? Do you think the size of the sculpture makes a difference?
Why was this sculpture installed here?
What is the relationship between Booker T. Washington to Tuskegee?
Author Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon
https://www.instagram.com/bridgettemongeon/
https://www.facebook.com/BridgetteMongeonSculptor/
https://twitter.com/sculptorwriter
Who Was Booker T. Washington?
FROM THE ARTIST’S STUDIO
I spend a lot of time getting to know my subject. Some say, “You develop a relationship with the deceased.” This statement is true, but most historians probably do the same. Dr. Phillips gave me Booker T. Washington’s book Up From Slavery, and I spent a lot of time on the internet getting to know this man. I soon learned there were two trains of thought in education during this period, one from Booker T, and another from W.E. B Dubois. I was intrigued at how radically different these two men were in their approach to education. I found this great article from a teacher today and how he has been influenced in his present-day teaching by these men.
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
- What are the differences between the philosophy of these men?
- What is the difference between their upbringings?
- What do you like about each?
- What do you dislike?
Author Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon
https://www.instagram.com/bridgettemongeon/
https://www.facebook.com/BridgetteMongeonSculptor/
Tweets by sculptorwriter
About the Artist
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor/author and public speaker. She has worked on various monumental sculptures over her 30+ years of creating. You may see her work in the Grambling Tiger in Grambling State University or the Prairie View Panther for Prairie View A & M. She has also been commissioned by Kindness Without Limits to create a sculpture of Neil Armstrong for Space Center Houston and Russia. She is most known for her monumental sculpture of Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter Tea Party in Houston, Texas.
Added to her credits are the author of 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling and co-author of Digital Sculpting with Mudbox: Essential Tools and Techniques for Artists.
She was nominated as 30 most influential women in 3D Printing and enjoys lecturing to students and adults on the subject of STEAM- the interdisciplinary educational initiative encouraging Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. If you are an art teacher in Texas, you may recognize her as the keynote speaker at the Texas Art Educators Conference 2017.
As part of her sculpting the Booker T. Washington sculpture for Booker T. Washington High School, she has offered to create blog posts documenting her work with educational materials for teachers and students. Please follow along and share your thoughts.
Below Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science Key note Speaker Bridgette Mongeon.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qhaP_GUmHM]
Author Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon
https://www.instagram.com/bridgettemongeon/
https://www.facebook.com/BridgetteMongeonSculptor/
https://twitter.com/sculptorwriter
Dallas Lighthouse For The Blind Honors John Turner
Delighted to see this wonderful tribute to John Turner from the Dallas Light House For The Blind.
Of course the unveiling of the sculpture can be seen at the end of the video at about the 3:30 mark.
It was so much fun creating this piece for the city of Frisco, Texas.
This is a sculpture created of John Turner for the city of Frisco. The entire project is documented on a project blog at https://johnturnersculpture.blogspot.com/
The Unveiling Of a Sculpture, Accolades Of a Great Man And The Appreciate Of A President
Here is the entire dedication and unveiling of the sculpture that I created of John Turner and his dog. Watching this you will learn much about the man and all he has done. I was delighted that presenters read a a letter from George Bush. The letter talks about all that John has done in his life . Laura and George W. Bush thanked many for honoring this man including… “Bridgette Mongeon” (5:29) Thanks President Bush.