More Fun With Ebay: Photocopied Original Art
Surfing the evil empire that is eBay I came across this auction. Now I've got nothing against anyone making a few bucks - hell I buy and sell on ebay almost every week - but this just sticks in my craw somewhat. Why?
Because if Norm Breyfogle decided to do the same then you can count on DC shutting him down so fast his head wouldn't have time to spin. Yet they allow an dealer to photocopy original character designs and sell them in the 'original art' section.
Just for the record. Norm sold these to a dealer back in 2006, hardly 'years ago' as described in the auction proper. How do I know this? Because at the time I placed the original details onto Norm's forum and even took a shot at selling the designs on eBay on behalf of Norm (you can see the original forum ad here). Sadly back then no-one bought them via eBay, but they did sell, and knowing Norm they sold very cheaply. Buyer beware - they're not original art, to be fair they're advertised as being photocopies, and selling photocopies is a luxury that Norm himself isn't afforded. Norm can't sell high quality prints and photocopies of DC or Marvel artwork, otherwise I'm sure you could count on him offering up several covers and a few choice interior pages. Why can't he? It's a little thing called 'breach of copyright'. While Norm is the artist and owns the art, per se, he does not own the characters, hence he can't profit from them by selling photocopies of his own art. I can see the fairness in that, however it is unfair that someone else can profit from the photocopies. Perhaps I should offer high quality photocopies of my own collection and send half the proceeds to Norm.
All those years ago in 2006 Norm wrote the following about the Robin re-design. "These Robin costume designs constitute the full and complete presentation given by me to DC Comics in 1990 when I was asked - along with a number of other artists - to re-design Robin's costume for the new Tim Drake Robin that Alan Grant and I and others introduced in Batman and Detective Comics. The winning costume was one designed by Neal Adams, but the new Robin's "R" symbol was influenced by the "R" symbol I designed in this presentation, and the fact that the new Robin carried a staff was also my idea, as evidenced by these pages."
So there you have it. Sit back and enjoy the images here for free. Visit Norm's forum to see the rest if you're really keen!
batman norm breyfogle original art robin
Actually, no one is allowed to reproduce images that are copywritten and then sell those images. So this seller has posted an auction that's not permitted by eBay rules. If you'd notify eBay, they'd shut the auction down. I can't imagine anyone buying this though.
George "The Stooges"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 1:42:00 pm
The auction ended without anyone bidding on it. I figured people would see through this auction, and they did!
From The Desk of Steve Englehart II
From The Desk of Steve Englehart
Manifesto: Part II - Vent: A First Salvo
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