It's with alarming frequency we hear of independent artists' work being ripped off by big businesses. Companies that seem complacent in the knowledge that individual artists won't have the financial resources to take them to court.

The above is the latest example. Dutch artist Angelique Houtkamp has had her copyright blatantly breached by Swiss company Manor, with their illegal use of her artwork on t-shirts they are selling in certain stores. The above image is from her facebook page. Original discussion here.

Thanks to the power of the blogosphere these companies should not be resting easy. There's a way of dealing with this: publicly naming and shaming. A recent case concerning Paperchase and UK illustrator 'The Hidden World of Eloise' proves this perfectly (read the whole sorry saga here on her blog, scroll down a few posts to get the full picture). Basically, in a nutshell, the illustrator's work was used without her permission, she contacted Paperchase herself but was fobbed off in a typical fashion. She blogged and tweeted about it and Twitter came to her aid: journalists retweeted and the story was picked up by UK national news papers and stations. Paperchase were named and shamed and eventually made a complete U-turn and actually apologised.

Independent artists may not have tonnes of money at their disposal but that doesn't mean their voices can't be heard and Goliaths toppled by Davids. Blog, tweet, and retweet. Let these companies know that they are being watched and we can and will do something about it.

Last Tuesday was the set up of a new art show at Spine Skateshop, my other half Chris's shop. It's work by local Worcester Fine Art student, skateboarder and friend of the shop Thomas Hinton.

Tom's paintings are a study in repetition of form, the form being that of a windmill or wind turbine, taken from observational drawings made in Wales, Holland and Germany.

The show will run until 10th April, Tuesday to Saturdays 10.30am to 5pm.

They'll be another chance to see Tom's work locally at his final degree show starting 19th May at The Garage the University of Worcester's new Fine Arts Studio.

Click 'Continue Reading' below to see photos of the artwork.

continue reading

Here's a nice little video showing the installation of the Clare Rojas show at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham that we attended last month. There's also footage of her performance as her alter ego Peggy Honeywell. The show runs until the 21st March. To see the video CLICK HERE. Niceness.

This is quite interesting/preposterous: posters advertising Massive Attack's new album featuring the album artwork (by the band's Robert del Naja) have been banned by Transport for London so will not be allowed on Tube trains (London's Underground) as they look too much like graffiti. More from the BBC HERE