Create. Share. Pollinate. Plagiarize?

Inspiration can come from anywhere, but I wonder if an artist ever really feels honoured when their work is copied by another? Last year Belief created a stunning motion graphics promo for the launch of Times India Group’s new ZOOM TV network. In one of the most incredible examples of plagiarism ever, a live action firm in China ripped off the spot, virtually recreating the promo frame for frame. According to Mike Geodecke, founder of Belief, there are no copyright laws in China protecting intellectual property as in North America as there exists little concept of ownership within communism. Check out this incredible frame-by-frame comparison with Belief’s original on the left and the Chinese rip off on the right: comparison

Belief’s award-winning team are big supporters of the concept of inspiration and borrowing from diverse sources of historical and current art and culture. In fact, their philosophy and creative approach is so well known that they were asked to be keynote speakers at last December’s 2004 Promax/BDA conference in New York. The resulting presentation was the wonderfully inspirational Pollinate: Chain Reaction which contends that young creatives need to look to history and a diverse selection of sources for inspiration. It did not, however, encourage anyone to literally copy their own work. They recently released the next in the series called Pollinate: The Common Desk. The Santa Monica based broadcast design and live action studio were also recently profiled on www.apple.com for their use of technology in design.