Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
- Pueblo Blessing
Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005 - 2:21 a.m.
WARNING!!!! if you know me personally, you may read my diary, but if you do, you take the chance of hearing things you don't want to know, misunderstanding what I've written and being hurt by it. If you are unsure if it is ok to read, save yourself and me the grief and heartache, and ask first!!! Please note that this is a DIARY, ie my subjective feelings, hearsay, suppositions, and outpourings of ranting of the moment. It does not represent objective news, the whole of what I think of a topic or someone, or even a thought-out representation of any of the above. Keep that in mind. Thanks. * Here is a Diary Etiquette Read Me.
Can you Say Copyright Theft??
Hullo! I am trying to get through my buddies' updates, but reading Loonasea,I got stuck looking at stuff about The Family, a sort of Christian cult started in 1969 by David Brandt Berg. At that point it was called Children of God. Now the children of the Children of God have a website called "Moviing On. If you're interested, here is the "dossier" of The Family... ie their statements of policy on all issues.
And here is one of the most fascinating cases of copyright violation and art theft I have seen in a very long time. One might find one or two examples of an artist who has lifted a composition or anatomy study from another piece of art. But example after example after example?? It seems that God (or Jesus) must directly inspire in exactly the same way, down to how fingers are held, and cloth swirls around bodies, several fantasy illustrators and artists as well as this Family artist, Tamar. Fascinating.
Please take the time to sit through it. Fascinating. If nothing else, you'll get to see what all the demons and spirits look like! Click here to see the animated slideshow.
Dang, here I am googling again, and it turns out that the son and heir apparent of the founder (David Berg), Ricky Rodriguez, 29, wasfound dead of an apparently self-afflicted gunshot wound just this past Sunday. Apparently he also stabbed to death a woman from the cult who helped raise him, before committing suicide. Well, that sort of upstages copyright issues.
I still say go see the animated slideshow.
I suppose I should write about the fun day I had at the DM (dungeon monitor) workshop this afternoon and the edgeplay workshop this evening... but I am freezing (that is the problem with not having thermostats... when it gets warm I turn the heat down, and then when it gets cold I freeze.brrrr). So I must make a hot drinky. And then I want to try to get some work done out of my day.
I may be back. Or i may decide to play with fire. Literally.
In either case, you'll know by tomorrow. Go watch that slideshow. tah!
me,
wenchola
3:25 am: um, as someone erroneously guessed, the actual website I link to is NOT in infringement of copyright, it is a presentation UNCOVERING copyright infringement by someone who claims to have their art come to them in prophesy from Jesus, who directs her in all the minute details. Please actually look through the slideshow more than 30 seconds before jumping to incorrect conclusions or writing to geocities that the website I send you to is infringing copyright. Thanks.
On a related note, if you have the time and inclination, here is a forum discussion between Family members and "nonbelievers" who have seen this slideshow, and how they apparently think that Jesus DOES indeed give the exact same artistic inspiration to the last detail to two artists, one a heathen fantasy artist and the other a Child of God who gets direct inspiration from Jesus. Some others seem to think that artwork is not copyrighted like writing, so it is ok to copy. Yes it is okay to copy to learn from it. It is NOT ok to "change some details and then sign your own name". That is called theft. Some others think that it is ok to copy artwork if Jesus has given you permission. That would go down well in a court of law. Others think it is ok since she doesn't have time to draw without tracing, or that "all artists use references".
Well, a "reference" is a reference. A copy is a copy. I use references, but I look at them, the same way I would look at your hand or face or a landscape. I don't draw exactly the same thing down to buckles on clothes. I don't trace it. Even tracing a photograph is copyright infringement of the photographer, who has used his time, energy and expertise to frame the photo, to capture the scene from that angle etc. Anyways, the obfuscating, the rationalisations, and the sheer ignorance of copyright are amazing. Like someone said in this discussion, they'd like to see using any of these arguments to a college professor grading your work. A one way ticket to expulsion to be sure.
4:00am. OK i'm using "it's saturday night" as my excuse today to be still ditzing around here in Diaryland. So, I did this quiz from Chaosdaily's place:
I AM 36% ASSHOLE/BITCH!  I may think I am an asshole or a bitch, but the truth is I am a good person at heart. Yeah sure, I can have a mean streak in me, but most of the people I meet like me. |
7 People have left cute, callous or caring comments on the wench's wordiness!!
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previous meanderings - future past
Goodbye Michael. May your next life be kinder to you. - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Taking Care of Your Cows - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Saint Joseph robs the cradle and eats spaghetti - Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009
sticky notes and broken irises - Friday, Jun. 12, 2009
The FOODCOMMANDER - Monday, Jun. 08, 2009
