Arkansas Artist: Painting Pirated Online by Chinese Company
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: November 28, 2012
"We can probably put a little color here somewhere," she said, cocking her head to take in the canvas.
Standing inside Roberta "RB" McGrath's small studio, you might not imagine her works selling all across the world.
"I was totally shocked," she said. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I walk into a big box store and I'm going to see my image there."
But in a stroke of bad luck, she won't see a dime from those sales of her "Still Life of a Violin" painting.
"They're claiming they can produce as many as 50,000 a month, and they sell only in lots of 50," she said. "I don't know how much they're making, but more than me. I've been trying to sell prints of this painting, always wondering why they weren't selling."
McGrath conducted a Google search to see how prominently her paintings were being displayed through her website and other local avenues. But then, she came upon her picture with another watermark emblazoned across it.
"Every time I complete a painting I take high-quality photos for my website," she said. "Those include my name signed at the bottom of the painting. And I saw my signature on that photo. They're so brazen, they're using my original photograph to advertise their company."
A company in China has apparently pirated her copyrighted painting, taking the picture from her website and reproducing the image in canvas copies.
"They either paint it by hand from the photo or they do a printing technique," she said. "Then they sell these to American distributors for pennies on the dollar."
All the while, McGrath is struggling to make ends meet as an artist in Arkansas.
"I'm still trying to pay the bills. I spend 10 hours a day on my feet cutting hair," she said. "I would work until midnight in the salon if I had to just to pay bills."
McGrath isn't an unknown artist. Her portrait of President Bill Clinton is displayed outside his office at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Governor Beebe's canvas hangs in the State Capitol.
"Sooner or later I will do that one work that will take me over the top," she said. "Both financially and as an artist that can commission private works."
Until then, she's left without many options to fight for what's rightfully hers.
"Unless I was wealthy enough to retain the type of lawyers to take care of this type of thing, I'm kind of stuck" she said. "I've spoken with a lawyer in New York who specializes in this type of copyright infringement. He thinks I definitely have a case, but coming up with the cash is the problem. It involves Customs, the International Trade Commission, and all of that costs money."
She's caught in a gray area where imitation isn't really the sincerest form of flattery.
"I had to take the risk of putting my works online, because I don't leave in a big market for fine art," she said. "But I had no idea I'd become a victim of this. Now, I don't really have anywhere to go. I'll have to keep working and hoping that someday it will all work out."
Standing inside Roberta "RB" McGrath's small studio, you might not imagine her works selling all across the world.
"I was totally shocked," she said. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I walk into a big box store and I'm going to see my image there."
But in a stroke of bad luck, she won't see a dime from those sales of her "Still Life of a Violin" painting.
"They're claiming they can produce as many as 50,000 a month, and they sell only in lots of 50," she said. "I don't know how much they're making, but more than me. I've been trying to sell prints of this painting, always wondering why they weren't selling."
McGrath conducted a Google search to see how prominently her paintings were being displayed through her website and other local avenues. But then, she came upon her picture with another watermark emblazoned across it.
"Every time I complete a painting I take high-quality photos for my website," she said. "Those include my name signed at the bottom of the painting. And I saw my signature on that photo. They're so brazen, they're using my original photograph to advertise their company."
A company in China has apparently pirated her copyrighted painting, taking the picture from her website and reproducing the image in canvas copies.
"They either paint it by hand from the photo or they do a printing technique," she said. "Then they sell these to American distributors for pennies on the dollar."
All the while, McGrath is struggling to make ends meet as an artist in Arkansas.
"I'm still trying to pay the bills. I spend 10 hours a day on my feet cutting hair," she said. "I would work until midnight in the salon if I had to just to pay bills."
McGrath isn't an unknown artist. Her portrait of President Bill Clinton is displayed outside his office at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Governor Beebe's canvas hangs in the State Capitol.
"Sooner or later I will do that one work that will take me over the top," she said. "Both financially and as an artist that can commission private works."
Until then, she's left without many options to fight for what's rightfully hers.
"Unless I was wealthy enough to retain the type of lawyers to take care of this type of thing, I'm kind of stuck" she said. "I've spoken with a lawyer in New York who specializes in this type of copyright infringement. He thinks I definitely have a case, but coming up with the cash is the problem. It involves Customs, the International Trade Commission, and all of that costs money."
She's caught in a gray area where imitation isn't really the sincerest form of flattery.
"I had to take the risk of putting my works online, because I don't leave in a big market for fine art," she said. "But I had no idea I'd become a victim of this. Now, I don't really have anywhere to go. I'll have to keep working and hoping that someday it will all work out."
