With this hot button issue being in the forefront I thought I'd search out some websites with real information.

• Art Support Copyright Page– has a lot of links to other good sites.
• Copyright Myths– 11 copyright myths
• Art Law– Need a lawyer? Need a form? Get more info here. They even have an 800 #
• Art & Copyright-  Great info
• Art & Your Rights– More good info
• Art Copyright Infringement– again more info and action 800#
• Art and Business makes some good points about reproduction

Here's my take on the whole thing. If I see someone using my work online I will email them or call them and ask them to stop, if I feel it's an infringement or disparaging of my work. If I think it's okay I'll ask them to give me credit. (Say someone does a super cool work but printed off one of my images and used it as a background- awesome.) Most of the time good deal. Until you get into the realm of hurting my bottom line. Fact of the matter is I make books. I sell books. It's part of my livelihood. I've been doing it for a long time and there will always be imitators. I used to do a particular style using eyelets. A fellow binder bought one of my books and started to reproduce it. She didn't give me any credit. I asked her to give me credit and she refused. She wrote to me "Great minds think alike." I thought it was lame. Then I found out she was taking the style of binding that I designed and developed and not only selling the work but teaching the technique. Double LAME. I asked her to stop. She didn't. I could have had legal recourse to take her to court, after all she was hurting my bottom line. I was pissed I was angry and I was fuming. Then I began to think of what to do.

I turned it in my favor. I began to promote my work as the original. I gave links to my original pieces in my photobucket account and DX account (both now defunct) and basically said my work was often reproduced but always the first. You know what? MY sales rocketed. That year I had my best sales year ever. It worked for me. The moral of this story is that though sometimes the actions of others will put the taste of BILE in your throat you occasionally need to swallow it down and think outside the box and work it to your advantage. Acting like a fool and being a bully never really helps.

Over the years I've developed a more reasoned approach to the copying of my work. Sure I sell books that I make. But over all I think that ART is about empowerment and creativity. IF you don't want to or can't buy my books I'll even help you find the right tutorials to make your own. Hell on the left side of this page you'll find a link for just that. Because here's the deal: I want everyone to art journal. I think that art journaling is awesome. I want everyone to feel the way I do about it and I want everyone to try it out. If you don't want to art journal then I want you to journal. I don't care what your style is. I don't care if you want to scrapbook with paint. I don't care if you want to watercolor and write in tiny little scrawling handwriting. I don't care if you want to slather acrylic on so thick your pages stick together and your journal becomes one big block of paint. I don't care if you glue in so much ephemera that your book won't close. Seriously I want you to be empowered to create. That is the message of Comfortable Shoes Studio.

So I've uploaded a few new art journal videos over the last few days. It's been a deluge of them, it's fitting as it's been raining like crazy here and I've been stuck inside. I also found out that my digital camcorder that I bought almost 2 years ago is VERY compatible with my newer computer. It was hell to use with my old computer but it seems the Vaio and the JVC play well together. Windows movie maker is faster and works better on the Vaio as well. SO it makes making and uploading videos that much faster.

This is a journal progress page:

An old art journal from 2001, never shared online before:

A journal made for me by a friend. Love this journal. It's a perfect size.

Expect more videos more often from me.I'm hoping to do some more instructional videos now that I can work this camera and have it interact easily with my computer.

THis is meant to be funny and since I have an odd sense of humor others may not find it so but here goes. To commemorate the 2009 Online Art Journaling Controversy I've put a 20% off coupon code good for the next 10 days in my artfire shop Put eh code word: drama in at check to get your discount.

 Below you'll find a list of art journaling technique videos available for FREE on youtube, Vimeo and Blip.

This is a list of peeps I' think make videos without too much bull shit. You won't need to fast forward through half the video to get to the techniques being shown, listen to minutes of inane babbling before you get to the real thing your there for. IN no particular order and with commentary:

• MIllande. Her videos kick serious butt. She focuses straight away on technique. It's all how to and what to do with a serious focus on real techniques and not expecting you to create in her exact style. Information without BS. She does do classes but she does a ton on youtube.
• Willowing. Some BS but a lot of video of her making art. A lot of videos of her making art in journals. She shows her techniques. She also does online classes.
• SamanthaKira. She's occasionally a little long winded and occasionally she gets into scrapbook mode but her videos are filled with technique and little to no BS.
• TheOneMinuteMUse The one minute muse has videos that are all about 1 minute in length to give you some ideas to start creating.
• GaryReef gary reef is not technically an art journaler but he has hundreds of videos up on youtube all about art and making art, and he makes some of them in his underwear. 
• ArtCentrix Not cute art. Love that. No BS either. The techniques are pretty clearly detailed and shot.
• TheArtJournal. No BS here either, just video of the artist working

If you have any links to a youtuber without the bull shit leave a comment and I can add it to the list. I"m going to make this a "page" that will be links on the left of my blog all the time.

Scarlet ibis
Originally uploaded by b(e);

Love this, writing, images, color. It puts a smile on my face.

I loaded my 3 most recent videos up to youtube today. you can see them all here.

the decency guidelines:

1. If I use images from another artist I will give credit.
2. If I publish, via the internet, that derivative work I will credit the artist.
3. If the artist asks for credit I will give it. If the artist wishes the image removed I will remove it ASAP
4. If I notice my work online, I will ask for credit or ask for my art
   to removed. I will give reasonable time (24+HR) for compliance.
5. I can rant and rave on my blog but I'll be respectful. I won't marshal my troops and sic my followers onto the offender.
6. I will respect the work of all art journalers no matter what I
   personally think of the work itself. I won't make fun of the work out
   there for other to see for that artist has taken the time and effort to
   put a piece of themselves out there for others to see and I know that
   it would suck to have that done to me.

today I am a small blue thing
Originally uploaded by andrea joseph's illustrations

This is a great set of pages by andreajoseph24.

I want to make a couple of points about another artist's recent rant on her blog and facebook. I agree with her on some points and really disagree on others.

1. I agree that it's totally uncool to clip art from other's websites, call it copyright free and then pass it off as your own work.
2. I agree that if you do use the work of others that you should give full credit as you are able. If you can't remember who made the work then don't post it or ask readers to help you figure out who made it.

My major disagreement with the other artist was how she went about dealing with the matter. Yes getting your shit stolen and passed off as copyright free sucks, but there are ways to deal with it that can make it a win-win for both parties. You can send a cease & desist email or ask for credit. Give that time to work. If it doesn't then start with firmer measures. Imagine if the person had not removed the video and had put up the assertion that the work was a derivative piece? What would you do then? See a lawyer most likely. I really think that publicly humiliating another artist is not the way to go.

I think that the linking to youtube, blog rant and trashing the art was a way to marshal the forces to create a flame war. Flame wars are not cool and are very distressing to the person at the end of the flame war. I think that those of us with followers (I'm in no means putting my meager follow group into the same level as the other's) have to be more careful of what we write and do online. Some of our followers will defend us in ways we cannot imagine and saying "If you are posting something in a public forum then you must be accountable to answer to the public.(the artist wrote that in a comment response)" is not an excuse for inciting your followers into a flame war. WE have to be held to a higher standard than the average blogger or youtuber. WE are inspiration and yes, even, role models to the people who follow us. Rallying the troops like this isn't cool. Naming and shaming this person is libelous and defamatory.

To turn this into a more positive thing I'm proposing some additional rules of art journaling, we'll call these the decency guidelines:

1. If I use images from another artist I will give credit.
2. If I publish, via the internet, that derivative work I will credit the artist.
3. If the artist asks for credit I will give it. If the artist wishes the image removed I will remove it ASAP
4. If I notice my work online, I will ask for credit or ask for my art to removed. I will give reasonable time (24+HR) for compliance.
5. I can rant and rave on my blog but I'll be respectful. I won't marshal my troops and sic my followers onto the offender.
6. I will respect the work of all art journalers no matter what I personally think of the work itself. I won't make fun of the work out there for other to see for that artist has taken the time and effort to put a piece of themselves out there for others to see and I know that it would suck to have that done to me.

The artist then put a video up where she talks about mixed media art. let me put a few things straight, at least in my own mind.

• Media- stuff you make art with. Paint, pencil, ink, collage etc…
• Mixed- combining stuff, 2 or more things mingled

So collage is a media and paint is a media. Combining the 2 in an art journal= Mixed Media.

Mixed media is LITERALLY the combining of 2 or more media. Collage is a broad spectrum art form that includes cutting shapes out of paper (Matisse) and cutting images apart and gluing them together in new ways (Hoch). Collage is a completely LEGIT art form. It takes 2 pieces and combines them into a new derivative work. If you haven't seen the work of Hannah Hoch you should look her work up and be prepared to be blown away. (She worked in Bauhaus Germany.Early 1900's) to say that collage is not a legit artform or is shit is really out there.

Whether we like it or not people are always going to boost our art online. It sucks. But until you can no longer right click and download stuff, it will always get stolen. It sucks, bad. I've had a lot of my stuff stolen and in one case yes, taught. that is what happens when you put your shit out there for people to see it. I considered pulling my stuff off the 'net but that would have taken a substantial amount of my income (at the time I made more on books than I do now). That's not the answer. hte answer is to take the high road, to empower, encourage and get people to make their own work. Say f*ck this shit and use it to your advantage.

Feel free to flame away on me I've got a thick skin.