Connection: Plagiarism and "The Televisionary"

In today’s high-tech world, access to art has become immensely easier than it was even 5 years ago. Technology is ever-changing and everyday more and more art is becoming accessible to the general public. At a time where one can read entire books, download music, and watch full-length movies online(and sometimes even for free), plagiarism otherwise known as “re-mixing” art is on the rise. Of course some artists claim that they just use pieces as their “inspiration”, some artists copy complete works of art and just tweak them a little bit.

The article we read titled The Televisionary reminded me of all that I’ve read and heard about how easy it is to take someone else’s art and claim it as your own. In the article it is clear that Philio T. Farnsworth was really the mastermind behind the invention of the television, but because he didn’t want to be involved with the business side of creativity, he wound up not getting credit, and dying an unhappy man.

I connected this idea of “re-mixing” and plagiarism because it reminded me of an episode of The Colbert Report that I saw last year. The author of the book titled Remixed came onto the show to talk about he considered it a collaboration of ideas rather than plagiarism. While that may be true, I think that if one were to use an artist’s work, they must give the artist the credit that they deserve.

Of course it is natural to be inspired by wonderful works of art, but with the availability of art on the Internet, people should be careful that they don’t cross the line of simply being inspired, to taking credit for work that is not theirs.