Mexican Murals – High Above the City
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Since the Steem blockchain became a centralized, top-down dominated place, where control and censorship thrive, I have decided to move my content. Don't worry, though, all my posts and up and doing well on the decentralized Hive blockchain. Come and check it out!
What an amazing series you have going here. I love street art!
BTW, you should meet @cendrinemedia if you haven't already run into her. She's covered a huge number of murals in Winnipeg.
I'm happy you like my series. I like to include links to previous posts, otherwise I feel they get lost in the ocean of recent entries. It would be great if there was an elegant way to group previous posts, but for now this list should do.
I looked at @cendrinemedia's profile. She's got some nice photography, but I didn't scroll down far enough to see the murals.
She took them off the blockchain after some locals were upset that she was profiting on the photos - so those ones are only on her website now. Hopefully, she'll chime in here.
Taking them off the blockchain??? I thought precisely that was impossible. Anyhow, I think if you add a review of your own, and mention the artist whenever possible, including linking their site, you're actually helping them, so they should have nothing to complain about. Besides, murals are painted on public walls, making them public domain. This way any architect or landscape designer could come with the same argument. Well, at least this is how I see it. I understand how others could have a different opinion.
She deleted content on the posts that were still editable. She's been on the local radio and even national television in Canada now through them, so she felt it was important to play the helpful/friendly card.
I agree on your view on the public walls thing - I believe this is still a gray area legally. Such as making money off some of my photos of publicly-viewable locomotives. Or 10-year-old pictures that include recognizable people - in a public situation... Very gray.
Hello there!
Actually, no, you cannot profit from public art. You are allowed to take photos, but these photos should not make you money. You have to have permission from the artist for that, because it is still their piece and they own copyright. I live in Canada and rules are very clear about it. I learnt my lesson.
I have had to put disclaimers all over my website to ensure no one would come after me for trying to take advantage of the art. But, as I said: If I really wanted to make money, I would certainly not endeavour to take photos of the 600 murals in my city. I have already spent about 100 hours of my personal time (and money) for my Murals of Winnipeg project. Feel free to check out the photos I am sharing on my website.
For example, if you use the photos in a public exhibit, the artist can demand royalties, and even if you didn't make money.
I received complaints from locals (but never the artists) about my project. That's probably because local and national media was showing my photos.
Wait a second: if it was never the artists who complained, just locals, what were they complaining about? How were they affected by you? Just because they saw you on TV?
The other thing I don't get is the part about the royalties for public exhibits: Does that mean the artist can insist that you mention their name, etc. (which I think they should) or that you pay them money, even if you didn't make any money? The latter option is actually so outrageously unreasonable that I'm sure I misunderstood something.
I'm just looking at your site right now. Those murals are absolutely stunning!!! Thank you for bringing them to me (who would never get to see them otherwise) and for that I totally think you should deserve a fat upvote for each one. I remember seeing some amazing street art in Vancouver. In spite of all the muralist tradition in Mexico, they are every bit as awesome (or in some ways even better) as Mexican murals.
I know it doesn't make sense, right? I received complaints from sponsors of the murals actually. And it came from the fact that the media did not follow my instructions. They were just too busy trying to build a buzz around this. There is only one person in the city that photographs murals. Plus, Winnipeg is an unknown city outside of Canada. So, as you can imagine, it's an unheard of thing!
Mentioning the name is mandatory (if it is available). But an artist can come to you and say: "You exhibited my work, now I want you to pay me." It's part of the Canadian copyright laws. There is no logic behind it, of course. But people have abused artists for so long that now, the government is trying to offer them protection. As an artist myself, I kind of appreciate that.
I started taking an interest in murals a few years ago, and had the opportunity to photograph some on Big Island, Hawaii, recently. They all take my breath away! So much talent and yet, almost nobody talks about them.
Thank you for looking! I will follow you and check out your posts.
Oh, so I did not misunderstand. It is actually a law that doesn't make any sense at all. Too bad, especially since it was probably passed with the best intentions. Which is also why I don't think laws are effective mechanisms, but that's a different story.
Thanks for checking out my blog. If you scroll down far enough you may actually see some Vancouver / Victoria murals (which I now realize have broken the law already... oopsie!)