With advances in technology, how we’re able to share things with one another has opened the flood gates of information and thus, influence. For every ‘thing’ that we create, whether it be a paper, a birthday card, a painting, a computer program, an ad, a building, anything, whether admitted or not, we draw from countless sources. If “creation isn’t born of void; it’s born of chaos,” then it is impossible to create without influence. What does it mean to take inspiration from other sources? And can we call it inspiration or is it flat out plagiarism? In some cases, that distinction is defined outright by copyright law. The three articles I summarize below look at copyright laws in music and art and question ownership.

On the Rights of the Molotov Man is written in two parts. The first part is by Joy Garnett who found a photograph online, a photo of a man later named the Molotov Man, and decided to paint it as a part of a series she was creating. She chose photos based on “aesthetic criteria more than on the emotional attachment to their individual narratives.” In essence, she was creating a new story for these characters she chose to paint, putting them in a collection she called Riots. When Garnett was contacted by lawyers representing the Molotov Man’s photographer, she posted her story online and in chat rooms, gaining support from parts of the art community and the public. In turn, art pieces starting popping up online, variations of the Molotov Man and people creating their own art based on Garnett’s piece.
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