Week 6: Response to On the Rights of Molotov Man – Cara Chang

After reading Joy Garnett’s article on her piece of the Molotov Man, I felt saddened that she was targeted by Susan for copyright. I personally do not think that there should be a limit on art, because every artist perceives artwork in a different form. Joy was expressing her views on the image of the Molotov Man, and to read about how she had to take her creation off the Web was sad because I feel like removing your own art from a platform can be heartbreaking, as if your art is not accepted or not okay. At the same time, I understand that Susan would want credit for the original picture, but I do not agree about the $2000 licensing fee, because that is Joy’s work that she recreated. Joy did not simply copy and paste Susan’s work onto a platform, she recreated it into a painting with texture and a different color scheme, a whole other art piece different from Susan’s. I do not think that Joy copied Susan’s work, but instead, drew inspiration from it. I think that art cannot be mediated or controlled, and people should have access to all different forms of art and interpret it in their own way, just as the rest of the world interpreted Joy’s version of Molotov Man in different countries, all over billboards and magazines and online. 

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