Artists Infringing Copyright To Protest Damien Hirst Bullying A Teen Over Copyright

from the solidarity dept

Mon, Feb 16th 2009 11:18am — Mike Masnick

Damien Hirst, a rather well-known British artist, recently threatened to sue a 16-year-old designer (who goes by the name Cartrain) for creating a collage he was selling, which used (in part) an image of a diamond encrusted skull that Hirst made (which apparently sold for £50 million). Rather than fight Hirst, the kid gave up, and even forked over £200 to Hirst. This seemed pretty ridiculous to a number of well-known artists including Jamie Reed, who designed the Sex Pistols' sleeve for the single God Save the Queen, and former KLF band member Jimmy Cauty, among others. So they're striking back purposely creating a bunch of artwork using images of the skull which you can see on a site they specifically set up for this, called Red Rag To A Bull. The artists are selling the artwork, and they claim that if they can make (ha ha) £20 million, they'll make an identical diamond encrusted skull, and sell it for another £50 million... out of which they'll pay back Cartrain the £200 he had to pay to Hirst. They're also asking for others to create collages using the skull and to send them in to the collection. As for copyright? Cauty, for one, points out that copyright should be "abolished," and it doesn't sound like the folks behind the site plan on backing down if Hirst decides to bully them.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: artwork, copyright, damien hirst, jamie reed, jimmy cauty, skull

11 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2009 @ 11:26am

Seems like its already over and done with. This is posted at www.redragtoabull.com

On Wednesday 18th Feb at 11am Cartrain will collect his compensation cheque from the L-13 Light Industrial Workshop in Clerkenwell. After that we will draw this project to a close to make way for new and better ideas.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
R. Miles, 16 Feb 2009 @ 11:48am

And to all a good night!
Wow, this was certainly entertaining. I wish more people took action against copyright stupidity as this group did.

Maybe then, people would start to get the message.

So, why didn't Techdirt post one or two of the images to help fuel the fight against copyright stupidity?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2009 @ 12:09pm

I rather doubt anyone had any idea the kid was a teenager, so now focusing on his age seems a bit silly. Would the self-professed protectors of artistic rights who want to flood the internet with infringing works have done the same had the person been in his 20s? 30s? 40s?

Look on the bright side. For a modest "fee" the kid got a ton of free publicity and noteriety for his other art work.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Ryan, 16 Feb 2009 @ 12:49pm
  
  Re:
  Who's focusing on his age? The techdirt post mentions that he is 16 once, and I didn't even see the age posted on redragtoabull.com. From the site:
  We would like to point out however, that although this appeal was focused on the Hirst vs Cartrain episode, it was intended to be a creative excerise that mocked and exposed the idiocy an overbearing and thoughtless approach to copyright control that creates fear and censorship in the arts. It was and is not a critical crusade against Damien Hirst as an artist or the nature and degree of his success.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2009 @ 1:03pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I didn't even see the age posted on redragtoabull.com
    
    Not directly, they just say "for the full horrific story click here" and then provide a link to it.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Killer_Tofu (profile), 16 Feb 2009 @ 1:10pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      So you assume that since they call it a horrific story that they are focused on his age?
      I would think from Ryan's post it is quite clear what they mean by horrific, and it has nothing at all to do with his age.
      
      I am glad they took a stand though. It is good to see those who are in the field stand up for logic.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2009 @ 2:13pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        So you assume that since they call it a horrific story that they are focused on his age?
        
        So you don't think they linked to information about his age? I suggest you actually check the link before commenting on it.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lucretious, 16 Feb 2009 @ 12:12pm

I know Techdirt isn't exactly a place for high humor but I'd like to think theres a few decent smartasses around here.

Here is a picture of Damien Hirst:

http://www.artnet.com/newhomeimages/main61407.jpg

Lets do a few photoshops a-la Fark.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2009 @ 12:45pm

Rich(er)
Seems to me Mr. Hirst and his attorneys are about to get rich(er).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
d4m4s74, 17 Feb 2009 @ 1:02am

what ever happened to fair use?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Feb 2009 @ 8:49am

Well, actually, since the lawyer for Hirst did meet with the kid, it would seem they were fully aware of his age. Be that as it may, I think their actions qualify as horrific, regardless of the age of the individual involved.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]