If something is on the Internet, is it free? Ask many people and they would assume that it is.
Until technology makes it just as easy to track artists’ rights, royalties and attributions (RRA), as it is for a mashup artist to Google and save, a lot more DMCA fights are going to be appearing on the news.
Image courtesy of Tc7
Recently, photographer Lane Hartwell noticed that one of her images was used in a video by the Richter Scales that went viral on YouTube. Lane was upset that it was being distributed without her permission, so she had her lawyer file a DMCA request to have the video taken down.
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Almost all of us have our own weaknesses when it comes to illustrating particular subjects. I, personally, can not draw a horse to save my life. I can’t imagine a situation where the difference between my life and death depends on my ability to draw a horse, but still, it’s haunted me for years.
I’ve talked about my lack of ability to draw horses to many of my artist friends and peers. To my surprise, many of them recounted me their own secret, shameful inabilities to draw all sorts of subjects including hands, proportions, machinery etc…
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The following are some random tips that I’ve learned through my experience founding and working at several startups. Take the opportunity to learn from other people’s mistakes — the best advice is that which is learned on someone else’s time!
I. Relax
Image courtesy of audi_insperation
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There is nothing quite like the feeling of watching someone realize for the first time that they really can do something new. You know - that moment when someone finally figures it out after weeks of trying, when their eyes light up, they smile big and practically run to try it again; to prove to themselves that they didn’t dream the whole thing. That moment.
Image courtesy of headcase
I love that moment, and I guess I’ve made a lifelong habit of seeking it out wherever I can. When I taught piano to small children, this was a near-daily event, either in my students’ lessons themselves, or in the stories they told me in our downtime. For children, a constant stream of new learning is a regular event and something they don’t seem to question ever, as natural as breathing and a normal part of every day life. But at some point, most of us lose that momentum. We forget our ability to devour new information and the emotional rewards that come along with it. We get complacent and stale, and subsequently, stuck in a rut that can be very hard to escape from.
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