If You Copy You Will Never Excel
Have you ever had someone copy your work and try to pass it off as their own idea and creation? If so, I'm sorry, and if not, then I hope it never happens to you. Having your work copied leaves you feeling violated and angry. Something that may take years to create and grow can be stolen and sold as someone else's creation overnight.
People who copy other people's work will never be truly successful in what they are trying to sell. Art has to come from you, it must reflect who you are as an artist. It's fine to use someone else's work as inspiration for what you want to accomplish, and to learn from their work, but you must break away and create your own original work at some point.
Most people who see your work can tell when it's something that came from inside of you rather than something you just copied. Not to mention, if you copy you will always be one step behind the original artist.
The Confusion that Copying Causes
When an artist has loyal customers and someone copies them, it may be confusing to their customers who may think they're actually looking at the original artist's work. This confusion can benefit the copycat but if they get discovered, the similarities can get the copycat into legal copyright trouble. An original artist that is well established and has a large body of work is much more credible when filing a complaint of copyright infringement than a copycat that has only been around for a few months.
When It Comes To Art, Be Inspired But Be Original
I have a DIY page that teaches you how to create a mobile with wires and origami, and I do want everyone to know how to create mobiles, as they are so fun and beautiful to look at. If you are an artist that wants to make origami mobiles to sell, then keep in mind that there's a big difference between being inspired by someone's work, and literally taking it and repackaging it as your own.
Feel free to be inspired by my work, but I beg that you please create original art and original descriptions for your own products.
