"Copied" work won contest and $2,500!

Not quite business but figured it would be most appreciated here :0

Toronto newspaper had a contest and the winner got $2,500 and printed on the front page of the paper. Only problem is their inspiration seemed to go a little too deep...

Winning artwork:]http://media.thestar.t​opscms.com …4b4c82bfa71860f​d5a34.jpeg

Another person's photo:
http://media.thestar.t​opscms.com …412694e2179904d​f83f3.jpeg

http://www.thestar.com …ns-about-inspiration?bn=1

a cheap marketing move to drive traffic to the newspaper site

kenwood33 wrote in post #11514819
a cheap marketing move to drive traffic to the newspaper site

huh?

Seems like a legit issue to me. Very much the same composition, but completely different mediums. Is it copyright infringement? I doubt it but don't really know.

Geez.....I think the photo and painting both kinda stink....that aside, even if it's not a copyright issue, I would be quite embarrassed if I were the winning artist. Although, $2500.00 would probably help me feel a little better about it

Paper made a pho- pa!

Will orig photographer should use another paper and drag them through the muck!

I'm skeptical about it, have you seen all the graphic designers that almost exactly recreate logos by chance? It's possible it's a coincodence, if you wanted to I'm sure you could make this arguement about many paintings and art works. As long as you look hard enough. Even if it is directly linked to that photo which is very well may be I beleive it's only a copyright issue if its decided that a major part is recognizable so that's a bit of a grey area to, who knows what would happen in court. To be honest I'm not even sure I would think this painter is in the wrong if they had copied it, I'm still undecided haha.

CallumPhoto wrote in post #11515813
I'm skeptical about it, have you seen all the graphic designers that almost exactly recreate logos by chance? It's possible it's a coincodence, if you wanted to I'm sure you could make this arguement about many paintings and art works. As long as you look hard enough. Even if it is directly linked to that photo which is very well may be I beleive it's only a copyright issue if its decided that a major part is recognizable so that's a bit of a grey area to, who knows what would happen in court. To be honest I'm not even sure I would think this painter is in the wrong if they had copied it, I'm still undecided haha.

There is no way it is a coincidence. Look at the lights of the cars in the back--they are identical.

dankopp wrote in post #11515884
There is no way it is a coincidence. Look at the lights of the cars in the back--they are identical.

Fair point, I'm still pretty undecided on weather or not I think it would be wrong though. To some extent I feel like it is but that photo is really nothing special, I don't like that painting either (more than the photo though) but obviously enough people liked it to win $2,500. I can't imagine that photo ever winning $2,500 or even $250 so I also feel like it's the painter who turned this into something. As the painter I think I would feel a bit cheap doing that but from the outside looking in my kinda 50/50 for wrong or not.

dankopp wrote in post #11515884
There is no way it is a coincidence. Look at the lights of the cars in the back--they are identical.

Plus the article has a quote from the artist saying they got inspiration from that specific photo...

Yep inspired from a photograph, the put the photograph in Photoshop and used a plugin.

jra wrote in post #11515453
Geez.....I think the photo and painting both kinda stink....

Winning a contest does not mean their entry was good. It just means it was the best of those that were submitted. They all might have been crap.

And even then, it's subjective based on the whims and biases in taste of the judge(s).

That said, I'm not really impressed with either of these, as well.

TopHatMoments wrote in post #11516034
Yep inspired from a photograph, the put the photograph in Photoshop and used a plugin.

Exactly. I doubt it was even a painting.

TopHatMoments wrote in post #11516034
Yep inspired from a photograph, the put the photograph in Photoshop and used a plugin.

dankopp wrote in post #11516544
Exactly. I doubt it was even a painting.

um it's a painting on a canvas, not photoshop.

Why because it has a background and a drop shadow.
Even on canvas, Photoshop export to printer, print to stretched canvas, receive in mail.

Looks like PS to me

still you cannot assume the original is from photoshop. Technology today doesn't make everything automatic photoshop.