Page 22 - LIN_December 2022

KRISTINE MEEK AND JULIANA MEEK

ASK THE

www.harmonmeek.com
Fine Art Copyright Infringement 599 NINTH STREET NORTH, SUITE 309
NAPLES, FL 34102 239.261.2637

Dear Artsperts, under a different seller’s name. This forces the artist to submit another
I am an artist and my social media posts have become very popular, removal request for the new seller. There is no process for an independent
but I also discovered that someone has taken images of my work from artist to submit an image of their work and tell Amazon not to allow
the internet and is now selling it as reproductions. any sales of items using this image.
Signed, Unfortunately, until Amazon changes their procedure, the best we
can advise is to include a statement on your website and in your social
Gone Viral media bio that you have not given anyone permission to sell items with
Dear Gone, images of your work. This would at least help raise awareness among
your followers.
It is exciting for an artist when their work is so well embraced that
images of their works are shared and liked by millions on social media. Sincerely,
We have a few artists who have gone viral on social media. Artists The Artsperts
like Will Barnet (1911-2012) and Hunt Slonem were well-known and
reputable before social media and now with social media, their work
continues to grow in popularity with tagging, shares, posts, and views.
We also represent a young artist, Reynier Llanes, whose professional
reputation is growing concurrently with his popularity on social media.
While museums, art critics, and art patrons are embracing Reynier’s
work, social media is also excited about his work. We asked him if he
knew just how many times images of his more popular works have
been shared, but he replied that he couldn’t even keep up with it.
One painting in particular, The Poet, was sold into private collection a
few years ago but its social media presence continues to grow. It is so
well loved that other artists have copied the image or used it as inspira-
tion in their own work. In these instances, the artists tag and give full
credit to Reynier’s original work. One individual posted that she made
a cake with a design inspired by The Poet. This is all positive, and
Reynier is flattered. These artists are not financially benefiting from
using his work.
The flipside of social media popularity and countless shares of
Reynier’s The Poet is that it unfortunately is being used in unauthorized
ways for financial benefit. For example, a musician is using the work
without permission as the cover for their album and sellers on Amazon
are selling reproductions of The Poet without permission.
Amazon hosts millions of sellers and is aware of copyright infringe-
ment issues. Amazon makes it relatively easy for large corporations to
combat counterfeit items on Amazon. It is not such an easy process for
independent artists though. The process requires submitting a removal
request form. According to a 2019 article by Nicole Nguyen in BuzzFeed,
this process is slow, and artists complain that requests get denied even
though there is a clear infraction. Artists also complain that it becomes The Poet by Reynier Llanes, oil on canvas, 47" x 36", 2021. The image of this work
a whack-a-mole scenario. When Amazon does remove the seller and has gone viral on social media. The positive is how people continue to enjoy and
discuss this work. The negative is when people try to benefit financially using the
the infringing item, the item will often reappear almost immediately image of this work without permission.

22 Life in Naples December 2022