Art theft nowadays is a far cry from the heists and ransoms of back in the day. Artnapping used to consist of breaking into an art gallery, weaving your way through a maze of security lasers, cutting a painting from its frame, and hopping into a waiting helicopter on the roof to make your escape. Its a classic. However, with the rise of artist presence on social media platforms, gone are the time-consuming ways of art-stealing professionals and here to stay are the screen-capturing and easy reposting of art you didn’t make. Anyone has the tools to commit art theft and the truth is, it speaks to an underlying sense of entitlement people have when it comes to artwork.
Online art theft is the redistribution of work without artist recognition or permission. Every individual artist can decide for themselves to what extent they consider something “Art theft.” For example, one artist may be okay with fans using their art as profile pictures as long as they give credit, while another may report any and all uses of their work even with proper credit given. As a general rule, however, if there is any profit made in the reposting of another’s artwork, be it in the form of actual cash-money or likes and followers, its typically considered art theft and can be dealt with by reporting it and having it taken down or even through legal action.
(Left) 6ix9ine’s album cover, (right) crptidsp00n’s original artwork
This is a fairly new phenomenon. The internet made it not only easy and accessible for artists to share their work and gain a following, it made it easy for art to be captured by audiences to be modified and claimed as original work, printed and sold on T-shirts, or even used on album covers without a cent of profit going towards the original artist. The picture above, is a case that took place earlier this year. The Brooklyn-based rapper, 6ix9ine, released an album with cover art by Matteo Rainini who was accused of tracing and stealing artwork from young Tumblr artist, cryptidsp00n. It was unclear at the time if the rapper even knew that the artwork was stolen, but since then, both him and Rainini have taken down the images. Nowhere is it made clear that compensation, or even an apology was issued to the original artist. Unfortunately, this kind of outcome is not uncommon. Most online art theft cases end in the artist and sometimes their followers pestering an individual or company until they eventually take down the stolen art. Usually by then the damage has been done and the artist receives no compensation or recognition for their art at all. The penalty for art theft is typically nothing more than uncomfortable for the perpetrators.
Common excuses made by art thieves include, “If you didn’t want it stolen, you shouldn’t have put it online where everyone can see” or “I’m just helping you gain exposure, you should be thanking me.” Art thieves just don’t see it as a big deal. It all boils down to a social dynamic that existed before social media: feelings of entitlement to artwork. For some reason or another, many people feel that the work of artists should be available at a low cost, or that it isn’t worth that much effort. For example, shoplifting, or at least shoplifting from small businesses, is frowned upon by most people. However, pirating music, TV shows, and other forms of artistic media, even from smaller companies or individual artists is seen as normal and no big deal. So in the case of online art theft, reposting artwork is done casually and with little resistance from the platforms artist’s post on. Websites such as Pinterest and WeHeartIt have loose guidelines when it comes to the sourcing of images and further perpetuate art theft online. Social media has taken this ideology and magnified it to the point where people can commit art theft without realizing it. Even sharing a friend’s post with stolen art can affect the original artist’s reputation and body of work.
Online art theft may not be as exciting as an art heist, but it can be just as devastating to an artist’s career. When people think nothing of it, art theft continues to be seen as normal and it becomes harder for artists to protest against. The ease at which social media platforms allow us to share images only complicates things further. When the Mona Lisa was famously stolen from the Louvre in 1911, it made an lesser known work of art into the most famous painting of all time. If you were the artist, you’d want to be credited for it.