Doppelgänger oder Betrüger?

Patentochter und Enkelin von Modedesigner und Modellbaue , ich lernte wie wichtig Handwerkskunst und Qualität sind. Als kleines Mädchen, das mit meinen Buntstiften in meinen Malbüchern auf dem Wohnzimmerboden meiner Großmutter malte und skizzierte, sah ich zu, wie sie mit ihren Handwerkszeugen – Bleistift, Papier, Maßband und Schere – künstlerische Muster entwarf.

Wunderschöne Designs, kombiniert mit Nadel, Faden, Knöpfen, bunten Stoffen und Nähmaschinen, entwickelten sich zu Kunstwerken. Meine Kunstzeichnungen wurden an eine Wand geklebt und ihre Kreationen wurden auf die Gönnerin zugeschnitten. Ihre Entwürfe und das,  was ich als Blaupausen betrachtete, weckten mein Interesse und veranlassten mich, einen Sommer in ihrem Geschäft zu arbeiten – der Modebranche.

Ich arbeitete unter ihrer Partnerschaft und war stolz auf meine Arbeit. Ihre Ratschläge haben sich bis heute als unschätzbar erwiesen, wenn es darum geht, wie ich mit Leben und Arbeiten umgehe – wichtig für Handwerkskunst und Qualität.

A recent comment was made by one of my Readers:

“With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my authorization. Do you know any ways to help protect against content from being ripped off? I’d genuinely appreciate it.”

Dear Reader, although the act of plagiarism is not new, your point is well taken as it applies to online content. From across the globe, most of my Readers, as yourself, may be described as intellectually inquisitive looking to be informed finding my writing interesting.

Brilliant young minds, scholars, professors, reputable investigative reporters, journalists, authors, analysts, artists, creative media and marketing designers among others find the articles illuminating or inspiring. In sharing my work they properly credit the author.

Alas, in this world there also dwell mindless leaches crawling out of cesspools ready to take credit for others’ work. I see a correlation between plagiarism and acts of forgery and imitation.

Forgery  and Imitation

It is said that “imitation is the best form of flattery.” Yet, some find failures in those who incessantly resort to imitation without giving proper credit. Others argue ways to deal with these miscreants legally and criminally. I imagine it pays to know people in high and very low places.  I know when to be patient and where to be swift.

Forgery is well known in art paintings, rare books and authors’ letters. Imitation is quite different. Houses of Fashion have long endured fads and economic shifts. As I noted in my bio page, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I witnessed a market shift in Europe. The market race was swiftly redefining “Made in Italy,” a precursor for the rest of Europe and the beginning of the end of “Made in the U.S.A.”

Visiting Firenze, Roma, Milano and other cities of Italia I saw how once revered fashion houses exchanged craftsmanship quality for quantities of lire, manifesting in the clothing industry. Reading articles in business magazines about the implications that cheap copies of Haute couture and immigrants were having in the fashion industry did not surprise me – cheap material and labor was good for business but came at the expense of quality. I was, however, surprised when I realized this type of imitation went back further.

On a recent snowfall night, I stayed in to watch a couple of films. One was the American film, “Fashions of 1934.” The film depicts how “fast fashions” come to be in the industry. Imitations are made from stolen or copied works of art, at the hand of a confidence man and his accomplice, a woman designer, and sold at discounted stores, much to the disgrace of the original designer and the financial loss incurred by the high-end fashion houses. Imitation also lends itself to impersonation.

Hollywood is known for its dashing actors and action movies. Little is revealed of the stuntman or stuntwoman. In films or politics, to protect the artistic integrity of an actor or the security of a political figure, the stunt-double or the “impersonator” is paid for their risky services.

Risk endured by music artists or composers posting content online may be seen as an “occupational hazard” by some IP lawyers. Similarly, authors and writers run the risk of their work being copied, misappropriated or posted freely to share and not be credited. One has only to look at the consequences endured by talented artists in the music industry in the past two decades. Sure, no known imposters appeared to take credit for the artists’ music composition and voice.

Profiting from the music artists came by way of fans and others freely downloading the music at the expense of the artists’ hard work and compensation. Clearly the “freeloaders” and generations that follow may come to be known as the “free generation,” but who in the end may pay a high price for their “freedom.”

Understanding Computer Language and Code 101

Examined in the aggregate, plagiarizing shines a spotlight on the culprits where the public clearly sees the divergence as a pathetic bastard brandishing a fine watch or the absurdity of a repulsive wench wearing a rare diamond.  Or, you could put on your analytical lens and see it through the eyes of a computer scientist/programmer. Depending on how much time you wish to invest, it will take you only so far.

Network systems have applications one can plug/install or advanced handlers prior to taking a site public as countermeasures monitoring clicks that detect copy infringement tracing IP addresses to their ISPs. In the development of the site, algorithmic designs can be written into the program set to produce set feedback in the output. Metrics on this site indicate the majority of visitors aptly abide by copyright laws. A minor group does not and stem mostly from the U.S.

Data results trace the addresses to government and private sector brainless and “handheld” interns or plagiarizing students and teachers from both Ivy League schools and public college institutions, most likely low-scale teachers who have yet to obtain tenure fearing they perish lest they publish or are simply past their prime in need of a book deal.

“Open Source” and “Gig Economy”

Others include those in media and marketing unable to tell/sell a story whose only ability is to click and connect with KOLs. Of course, they’re topped by social media/tech company employees who thrive on others’ work through “open source” on their own platforms or their “search engines.” Ironically, some happen to be “customer reps” from the same opportunistic hosting platforms one pays to post their content.

In time, the interns will replace the “dinosaurs” and the plagiarizing students their teachers. Their real pain may be lessened from the anesthesia of being fully connected to their hand-held and head-held VR devices. All live-work-sleep in unison, where the vendor they pay is the employer who pays them for serving the hand that feeds them. And where the only time users are awakened is by the reminder of their student loans and the realization that there are no “safe spaces.”

As a slave to the “gig economy,” their reverence will be to the same men who made their “entrepreneurship” possible bringing a big smile to those who are the actual Entrepreneurs, so much so that they reveal it in their packaging.

In the physical space, ridesharing drivers, nothing more than complete strangers gladly picking up paying hitch hikers who voluntarily place themselves at risk with strangers who are not professionally paid, trained, or fully vetted. In time, amnesia will replace their anesthesia as they reach their “golden years.”

Irony or poetic justice for the professionals? – taxi-drivers, brilliant minds, talented and creative artists, designers and writers. 😉

Observers, Impostors, and “Playing God”

To the Reader who asks “ways to help protect against content from being ripped off,” I say this:  Of all three spaces one navigates, physical, virtual, and cyber, the idea of protecting digitized material on cyberspace is virtually non-existent. It is how YOU leverage the spaces and what you do with the identities of those who take the risk in “plucking the flowers from your garden” or as you note being “ripped off.” That is where YOU hold the power. This brings me to the other film I watched, “Трудно быть богом.”

The 2013 film, “Трудно быть богом,” known to the English as “Hard to Be a God” by Aleksei Yuryevich German, a Soviet and Russian director and screenwriter recognized for his many brilliant Russian films. The film was based on a novel by brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

The main character, Anton/Don Rumata, is an “observer” of planets and as an impersonator is intent on rescuing an elite group of people that includes brilliant scientists, physicians, artists and writers. In the film, Anton/Don Rumata’s role as an impostor may be seen as serving a noble albeit naïve cause. Yet, what I saw as the underlying message was that “playing God” comes at a price, hence the title, “Hard to Be a God.” Are YOU ready to play God?

Progress, like a double-edged sword, too comes at a price. It can be bold, beautiful, and deadly. And as the film’s message appears to say, it is best not to intervene with its instinctive advancement. In the course of progress, “smart” technology like raw industrialization and what later came to be known as “state of the art” has many small losers and few BIG winners.

Heritage, Strength, Honor, and Defense

I delight in seeing those that think themselves in power proudly speaking my words, seeing my face as they struggle to concede defeat. As to the powerless, it is in their solitude where my very words will crush them to pieces, failures falling to their knees. Weaklings, who like criminals in hiding, are constantly turning over their shoulders.  Yes, I know when to be patient and where to be swift.

Alas, the beauty and cultivation of a garden rises above the fertilizer and vermin. Ahh, but snakes, like imposters, too have a purpose. Since God’s creation of Man and Woman, it has served him well to manage them wisely.

Recall the saying of how one obtains wealth, “one is born into it, works hard to attain it, or takes it.” We have found it best to respect heritage, honor strength through hard work, and manage strategically and tactically those who take what is ours. Competition is fruitless when dealing with inferiority. One owns the “imitators” selling sloth, like themselves, what they want for “free” in a “free market.”

My family legacy is build upon excellence. I am indeed “cut from the same cloth” as my Godmother, Grandmother, and the generations that came before them. Alas, I am also my father’s daughter defending what is mine as our generations have done so for thousands of years.

Ich an die Kunst- und Unternehmenstradition meiner Familie an, um meine Träume zu verwirklichen. Inspiriert von erfolgreichen Frauen, verbessere ich mein Handwerk weiterhin durch Exzellenz!  An excellence empowered by the men in their lives and mine. Men and Women who defend their Houses from false prophets and feeble imposters.

Doppelgängers are indeed useful assets. Clearly, the key is in observing the original Designer’s masterpiece and spotting its imposter in a “House of Mirrors” on all three spaces.  И только Дизайнер может уничтожить оригинал.