canada, design, university, vancouver School, Work, October 27, 2007 10:01 PM 18 comments
Theft is the sincerest form of...
Update November 2, 2007: After filing a registered complaint with the AMS, a series of cordial emails with the AMS Ombudsperson, a flood of comments from all sorts of concerned students and instructors and family (including an apology from AMS Communications below) a resolution has been reached.
The official response that the AMS provided for reposting here:
From what I understand, an employee of the Pit Pub who used your image to create a poster found it through Google and didn't realise that they couldn't use it; they have since been spoken to about the matter. This is not an excuse for what happened, but rather to let you know that the person responsible for taking the image without authorisation has been made aware of the implications of their actions. I will make sure that other AMS businesses and services are similarly aware, so that this kind of situation does not happen in the future. Please be assured that people are aware of the seriousness of what happened, and my impression is that the apologies coming from the Communications department are genuine. The AMS has expressed that it is open to exploring a monetary donation to a charity as suggested by Jeff.
Thanks,
Krista
Krista Riley
AMS Ombudsperson
AMS Student Society of UBC Vancouver
P: 604 822 4846 F: 604 822 4992
AMS: Enhancing Student Life
www.ams.ubc.ca/ombuds
An open letter to the Alma Mater Society (Student Society) at the University of British Columbia. To assist@ams.ubc.ca, marketing@ams.ubc.ca:
Hi there, I'm a student at the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver. It was recently brought to my attention that the AMS has a poster advertising "Halloween at the Pit," and that this poster is an exact copy of a poster myself and a number of classmates created for our own school's non-profit Halloween event last year.
Is there someone I can speak directly to about this matter? Myself and the Emily Carr Institute are concerned with not only issues of copyright, but with respect for student work (we spent many hours preparing our poster, including our model who had to cover his hands in dirt and flex blood into his veins and pose for dozens of shots, or the communication designer who mocked the work up in photoshop, or the dozens of volunteers who helped us) and for using our work to advertise a fee-based ($5) event at the commercial UBC Pit Pub.
The University of British Columbia AMS Poster design, October 2007.
The Emily Carr Institute Halloween poster design, October 2006.
Attached: photos of the AMS poster in question and our original poster. Below, a link to a blog post I wrote about the work on our poster on October 16, 2006:
http://jeffwerner.ca/2006/10/halloween_desig.html
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter,
Jeff Werner
p.s. Also note I am reproducing this letter on my blog at:
http://jeffwerner.ca/2007/10/theft_is_the_sincerest_fo.html
--
Department of Design
Emily Carr Institute, Vancouver, Canada
18 comments on Theft is the sincerest form of...
1. Michelle | October 27, 2007 10:46 PM
Please keep us updated on this!
2. Jacky | October 27, 2007 11:15 PM
I feel the same jeff... it's a carbon copy of ours...
3. justine | October 28, 2007 12:12 AM
Wow, just wow...indeed, let us know what response you get from them. That's crazy!
4. nate | October 28, 2007 1:44 AM
My hand ought not be whored like a common jack-o-lantern!
5. Amanda | October 28, 2007 6:26 AM
What makes this sillier is that (assuming this was produced by a graphic designer of UBC's AMS) the designer was paid!
I applied for that job while at UBC.. they didn't hire me and are now ripping off a poster I worked on.
6. Lawrence | October 28, 2007 8:59 AM
Mein gawd... they couldn't have been bothered to at least photograph and edit a new hand?
7. maxine | October 28, 2007 11:54 AM
Agree with all of the above.
9. Meg | October 28, 2007 3:01 PM
ridiculous... i would write to the company and just lay into them. good luck getting things figured out. keep us posted on the outcome
10. Roxanne | October 28, 2007 7:54 PM
Jeff,
I suggest that you if do not get a response from these people, that you speak with Lawrence Lowe at ECIAD. He went through a similar situation awhile back with someone publishing his very well known design without permission and would be able to advise you on next steps to take.
11. Anne | October 28, 2007 9:56 PM
This... just really irks me.
12. Hamza | October 29, 2007 1:18 AM
So shameful.
13. Communications Manager | October 30, 2007 2:09 PM
We apologize for the oversight. All of the posters have been taken down, and we look forward to arriving at an equitable solution through the AMS Ombudsperson.
15. Andreas | November 1, 2007 8:51 PM
This is pretty abominable, but it's at least good to see that some people in the organization have taken this seriously.
Didn't a UBC organization rip off one of the concepts we developed for the Foundation show last year as well? I'm thinking of the one with you climbing up a wall.
16. Amanda | November 3, 2007 12:31 AM
Just for you, Andreas:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandapants/132602814/
(After I pasted our postcard on top.)
17. david | November 27, 2007 1:59 AM
This happens all the time. Look at award annuals. An award winning student idea will be used three years down the line by an agency. Sometimes though honourable agencies will hire the award winning student. Other times, they just use his or her idea.
It's one of the worst kept secrets in the design and advertising industries.
18. Joy | December 30, 2007 1:21 AM
hilarious, I'm glad this got resolved
I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.—D. Eisenhower
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