A-grades on other side of the world.

I was contacted the other day by an educational board in Australia who were clearing permissions for an Australian schoolgirl to use some of my images in her research project. I've never heard of this being done before, but apparently they do it for every student.  In the light of the new ERR Bill and changes to Orphan Works legislation here, I thought this was an excellent practice to introduce and make pupils aware of in the very early stages of their creative careers. So I asked if I could see the project in question, and whether it was OK for me to write about. They said it was, and sent it to me.

It's awesome, frankly. Awesome not only to see the impact my own scrawlings are having on a little girl I don't know on the other side of the world, and that she likes them enough to write about them, but awesome because it's so very thorough, well-written and observed.

I once wrote a blog containing the sentence 'there IS no School of Inkymole', but if there was one, this girl looks as if she's attended and been on time every single day of term. She makes connections between my work and historical illustration that I never have myself (but was pleased to see), observes influences from classical art and design movements, and notices inspirations which to me are largely unconscious, but clearly obvious enough for her to identify.

Having worked all of this out, she proceeds to reverse-engineer the work to find out how she can do it herself, with a series of well-executed pastiches and practice pieces, to satisfyingly high standards (I particularly like 'In The Style of Inkymole'.) She colour-codes the work so you know what's hers and what's mine, and what's an external reference. She then tops it off with a forensic bibliography showing references extending way beyond the internet. (Fabulous. Degree students - take note!)

Some illo-grumps I've come across might say this is a thing to be wary of, a schoolkid 'aping' my work with an apparently laser-like view to upstaging my career one day, but I don't see it like that at all. A), she's obviously already skilled and hard-working enough to have her own style one day. B), by the time she does, I'll have moved on, several times. And then C), the work's so carefully done, and she writes with so much warmth, that I can't find a single reason to be grumpy about anything!

I'm not allowed to know who the student is (and I've had to edit some bits of the info), but whoever she is I applaud her little project and feel the absolute wonderfulness of being a positive creative influence on somebody I've never met. Thanks, mystery stude! You made my day.

The ERR Bill, in more detail.

Following my article on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill (ERR) on Tuesday, the AOI spent a day pulling together as much information as possible about it, and its legal implications for illustrations.

Where my article served as a call-to-arms (the equivalent of an emergency briefing by megaphone) and dealt with a series of slowly-emerging indicators that something like this was imminent, along with personal experiences and with the potential consequences of infringement 'at the coalface', the AOI's will give you a technical point-by-point breakdown of the Act in full along with some chapters on their previous involvements in instances where copyright legislation is threatened with change or compromise.

I'm glad to have brought this to so many people's attention and am relieved to see the AOI examining this in detail. Three members of staff spent well over a day putting the feature together so I strongly recommend you read it. The AOI exist, after all, to inform us of and expand upon such legislation, and to advance and protect illustrators' rights. Take some time out with your cup of tea and biscuit later to absorb their their efforts.

Meanwhile I'll be gathering together some of the tips and ideas shared in the hours following my original post which deal with things like metadata, embedded ownership information and watermarking. Thanks to everyone who contributed! Tuesday was a great day for input, shared concerns, swapped ideas, open opinions and the pooling of resources.

Incidentally published above is the image mentioned in my article; tested with Google Image Search, found to be in unauthorised use, and removed from the offending website by a user foggy about her rights, and relying on ignorance and Tumblr for her defence. Try an image of your own - you might be surprised what you find! Simply drag your image to the camera symbol as shown in the screengrab. Large brands have Brand Police (yes that's a real thing) to carry out such vigilant searches on a daily basis, in order to protect their brand, its marks and reputation against inappropriate, damaging or unauthorised mention or use, and this is the closest thing we have in terms of a tool that does anything similar. Try it out!

The best to you all, fellow crayon-wielders! United we stand, and all that.

Mole.