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How relevant is copyright to online artists? A qualitative study of understandings, coping strategies, and possible solutions

Dowthwaite, Liz; Houghton, Robert J.; Mortier, Richard

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Authors

Richard Mortier



Abstract

Online copyright law is a major issue for many in the creative industries. Independent artists often rely on sharing their work across social media and content-sharing sites, leaving them open to having their work stolen or misused. This paper discusses a series of 11 semi-structured interviews that examined attitudes towards copyright and attribution amongst webcomic artists, in relation to current copyright laws across the EU and internationally. Whilst artists are generally aware of the cover provided by copyright, they feel that it is not necessarily relevant or effective within the creative space they work in. There is very little support and there are few resources available to help them to fight for control of their work, and whilst artists do get angry about actual theft and removal of attribution, they accept that they have to put up with certain violations if they wish to continue to publish comics for free on the Internet. The paper ends by discussing potential solutions to the problems raised.

Citation

Dowthwaite, L., Houghton, R. J., & Mortier, R. (2016). How relevant is copyright to online artists? A qualitative study of understandings, coping strategies, and possible solutions. First Monday, 21(5), https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i5.6107

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 30, 2016
Online Publication Date May 2, 2016
Publication Date May 2, 2016
Deposit Date May 5, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal First Monday
Electronic ISSN 1396-0466
Publisher University of Illinois at Chicago Library
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 21
Issue 5
DOI https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i5.6107
Keywords copyright; webcomics; attribution; online art
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/791691
Publisher URL http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/6107

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