Copyrighting our images?

Copyright is invoked immediately a work is written/painted. There is a difference between a work that is inspired by and a work that is copied but even that can become woolly.  Even the copy of a concept can be called into question as in the often quoted example of the diamond skull by Hurst when he threatened to sue a teenager who used the subject in a series of collages. On advice the teenager handed them over and it never went to court but it does demonstrate the cloudy territory that is copyright law.  Generally if a later piece  substantially 'borrows' from an earlier work then the copying artist is in dangerous territory.  In your case Sylvia, it seems, on the surface, that the example you quote falls into the plagiarism category but, ultimately, it would be for the courts to decide.    However, I would always advise that where the evidence is fairly strong the originating artist should challenge the copyist - it is usually sufficient to at least put them on notice and hopefully encourage them to remove the work from general view and hopefully change their ways in the future.  Just one further point: it is okay to copy the work of others purely for your own practice and advancement providing always that such works are never put on public display and certainly never ever offered for gain whether pecuniary or otherwise.

Thanks Michael , it irked me at the time and I did make comment . 

Good for you Sylvia!  We all need to make an issue of it if we think that our work has been plagiarised. I don’t think that copyright laws are widely understood and therefore adhered too, so it is up to us to advise others when they are stepping over the line.

Thank you Linda.  One day I shall get your poem and my pic together.  I still smile when I see it.