borrowing an idea: where is the line?
You may not know this about me, but I’m an insane Tim Walker fan. If you don’t know who Tim Walker is, I’m afraid we can’t be friends anymore. It is imperative that you seek out his work and drool while uttering three syllable adjectives to describe how wonderful it is.
Now that we’re better acquainted, I’d like to draw your eyes to exhibit A:
Tim Walker’s ‘Lisa Cant with 80 White Rabbits’ originally commissioned by Vogue, and published in his book from last year entitled Pictures.
And now I’d like to present for you, exhibit B:
The Dotti commercial from this month’s Cosmopolitan
Now, I know what you’re thinking – they are nothing alike. Look, in the second one the girl is wearing a hat. Totally different.
However, I do not agree with you. In fact, I’d go so far as to say this is a direct copy off of an awesome idea. And unless they have hired Tim Walker to shoot the Dotti commercial and he decided to rehash his own idea (Sorry Tim, but I wouldn’t love you as much anymore), then someone else has forgotten their imagination at the door.
I can appreciate a homage to a great talent, I can appreciate that inspiration comes from all around, and I believe that no idea is truly original (that we merely rehash a concoction of our lives experiences). But where is the line? Where do we stop saying “this was inspired by” and start saying “this is a copy of”?
