vjklik
24th July 2002, 05:34 AM
I recently saw a video where somebody, perhaps through a friend of a friend used an animation I'd created and projected it behind a band. Now At one point in my career I did go through an attorney who filled out the copyright forms and charged me 150 bucks to make sure my animations were officially protected by law. Now, I don't know who was doing the video projections, or how he or she got a copy of my animation and it was likely back in the days when I was handing out my animation tapes for friends as gifts. More than feeling like I'd been robbed, I felt kind of sorry for someone who used something he or she had no real connection to. The countless hours I spent setting up waiting for my 40 MHz 68030 Amiga render 120 frame full-screen animations was a labor of love. Eventually, over time I was paid pretty well for my labor, but when I saw someone else using my work, it wasn't about money, like I said, VJ's aren't exactly raking it in. But I think developing your own style whether it's with original material you've created with a camera, animations or image manipulations, or it's material you've appropriated and manipulated in some way to make it your own, is one of the things that separate the VJ's from the DJ's and make our craft unique.
So, morally, whether or not anybody has seen what you're projecting, I think it's important to keep your content as close to yourself as possible. I only saw a video that had an animation I'd made back in '93. I don't know what I would do if I walked into a club or warehose and saw my animations, unaltered, flying on big screens. I'm guessing I'd seek out the VJ and ask him or her how he or she "does the visuals" (don't you love hearing that question?) If the VJ was cool I might mention something about the tape being my creation and if they had something original. Perhaps we could collaborate, that sort of thing, but if they fronted me off and/or gave me attitude, I'd probably find the promoters and tell one of them that their VJ is using copyrighted material without permission, and that I'm not looking to stir up trouble, but in the futire they might consider hiring a VJ with more original material. Refer them to VJCentral.com
And yes, I have just gotten back from an evening of drinking beers and watching sports, so I've probably said too much and pissed someone off...
Sorry
-klik-
(GO A'S)
So, morally, whether or not anybody has seen what you're projecting, I think it's important to keep your content as close to yourself as possible. I only saw a video that had an animation I'd made back in '93. I don't know what I would do if I walked into a club or warehose and saw my animations, unaltered, flying on big screens. I'm guessing I'd seek out the VJ and ask him or her how he or she "does the visuals" (don't you love hearing that question?) If the VJ was cool I might mention something about the tape being my creation and if they had something original. Perhaps we could collaborate, that sort of thing, but if they fronted me off and/or gave me attitude, I'd probably find the promoters and tell one of them that their VJ is using copyrighted material without permission, and that I'm not looking to stir up trouble, but in the futire they might consider hiring a VJ with more original material. Refer them to VJCentral.com
And yes, I have just gotten back from an evening of drinking beers and watching sports, so I've probably said too much and pissed someone off...
Sorry
-klik-
(GO A'S)