Defending Art from Copy-Cats: John T Unger's Fire Imp Sculptures

~UPDATE: 1:12pm~ Just came across this thoughtful article that shows the issue is more complex than at first glance (i.e. you can't copyright functional items as art if the "artsy" part of the item is essential for it to function).

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Well, I was going to publish this delightful Kickstarter project early next month, but something unfortunate has happened and I believe the word needs to be spread now.

John T Unger's "Fire Imps"

John T Unger has been creating fire-bowls and sculptures from recycled steel for many years now. Recently it came to his attention that not only has another artist stolen and copied his designs, but now the copy-cat is suing John for exclusive rights to the designs in order to mass-produce it. John has already spent $50k out of his own pocket in legal fees to defend his copy-righted art, and he is now using his Kickstarter project (see below) to help raise funds so that he can win the lawsuit. Any leftover money will be used to start up DefendArt.org, an non-profit to help out artists in similar predicaments.



You can read more about this issue directly from John on his website. Below is my original post. Pledge if you feel led, but if you can't please retweet either my post or his original post and spread the word. Thanks!

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John T Unger sculpts beautiful art out of recycled steel from a local scrap yard. I first came across his work via his Etsy store and instantly fell in love with his fire bowls. Now he's going even greener and reusing the scraps from his scraps! I love these little sculptures. Don't you?

Project site: Fire Imp Sculptures: Series 1 through 6
Pledge goal: $5000
My pledge: $5
Deadline: Nov 7

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