Recently on the Big Bad Blog, we wrote about the guilt we feel when a project hits a snag. We are all about the projects, here at the Big Bad Blog, given that the Blog itself is a project. We do not like to fail at them.

The other side of the project coin is the inspiration side.

When it comes to photography, there is no end of inspiration available on the Internet — fantastic photographers sharing their work, professional photographers and their portfolios, legions of Tumblrs sharing the best of what they find, and horrible photographers who seem to nevertheless make a living as professionals in the field.

They provide new ideas and concepts to explore. A level to which to aspire, and the impression that I am doing something right.

But it is rare to find something which translates directly to my own photography project — The Maggie-A-Day. Hobbies are taking a back seat to the baby these days, and the best way around that is to combine the hobby and the baby. Additionally, I love taking photos of my daughter, and the feedback from friends and family who seem to enjoy the new direction my hobby has taken.

So Maggie, each and every day.

But, like any daily project is probably bound to do, Maggie-A-Day has stalled of late. There are too many days when the camera doesn’t come out. Procrastination or exhaustion eliminate the small window of time I have each day. A more specific inspiration — inspiration for the project — is more important, and harder to find.

Which is why it was nice to see this article (and its follow-up) on Photography Served, by Jack Radcliffe.

It is hard to tell whether he approached photographing his daughter as a project, or simply took many photos of her over the years — he himself indicates that the significance of the photos were discovered retrospectively. But watching his daughter grow up and transform, through the photographs he presents of her, is remarkable.

So we would like to thank Mr. Radcliffe for reminding us why it is important to fight the exhaustion and make use of those few moments each day which are available for the project.

So we have been bookmarking a lot of articles about piracy lately, presumably with an eye towards writing something on the subject. However, we do not currently have an original narrative running through our heads in regards to the subject.

When this sort of thing happens, the results ain’t pretty. The links get buried behind newer links, only to be discovered when no longer topical. They are then decommissioned, and forgotten.

This being Friday, we decided to try something new — we will just dump the whole thing out in the coffee and see what falls out.

So … we have A photographer suing Rhianna, claiming that his photo shoot with the singer provided the inspiration for her latest music video.

India fighting against the copyrighting of Yoga poses by releasing traditional poses as public domain material.

Movie studios managed record box offices in 2010. Again. Still the studios are claiming that movie piracy is destroying their business, meaning that we will continue to be exposed to those ridiculous advertisements before movies and on legitimately purchased DVDs.

Also, 3D Printing has had its first copyright fight.

Perhaps you can sense why we have a lack of narrative forming.

The first two seem (to us) to be fallout of the third. The movie industry — and its friend, the music industry — has such clout that it has managed to warp copyright law into a giant hammer. This hammer is so big that its mere existence creates abuse (the second example), and the continual attempt to end “fair use” provisions creates an environment where artists feel like they are owed for having inspired others.

Let’s be honest — being inspired by somebody’s artistic vision, making a music video on that basis, and not hiring that person in some sort of role for the video is a pretty dick move. But it’s not a copyright violation – or, at least, it should not be. There is a difference between being inspired by and copying something; a video is simply not a copy of a photograph.

And the 3D printing? Well, that’s the future of copyright battles. Before the movies, we are told “you wouldn’t download a car”.

But why not?

Image from seemingly everywhere on the Internet. Original creator unknown.
Webcomic is Red Meat by Max Cannon.