The St. Petersburg Times does a pretty nice job summarizing the recent Todd Goldman scandal that’s plagued the Internet for the past month or so. They even have some new information to impart, namely:
Goldman sold the two paintings copied from David Kelly’s work in Solomon’s galleries. Soloman wouldn’t disclose their exact price, but said that most of Goldman’s oil paintings sell for $4, 000-$5, 000.
[snip]Reached last week, Solomon said his client had made an honest mistake. Many of Goldman’s designs legally incorporate existing art, Solomon said. Sometimes he licences designs from artists or uses art that isn’t owned by anyone. In this case, he said, Goldman just didn’t check to make sure the image was in the common domain.
“The guy knocked it off, but he didn’t do it on purpose, ” Solomon said.
More importantly, it seems the two parties have settled the matter:
On May 3, Goldman’s publicity agent announced that Goldman and Kelly had reached a settlement. Goldman would pay Kelly the money he earned from the paintings. Kelly agreed to drop his protest.
But some damage had already been done.
Solomon said that several galleries stopped showing Goldman’s work. And the wholesalers who buy Goldman’s posters canceled their orders and asked for refunds for unsold stock.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:24 am
This is the familiar, “Incredibly niave or unbelievibly stupid,” defense.
If you use art without checking if it’s in the common domain, you’ve knocked it off on purpose.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:28 am
He just takes money from the sale of the paintings? What about the other uses of his ripped off work?
May 9th, 2007 at 11:53 am
It’s funny how Goldman classifies his theft of Kelly’s work as a “mistake” versus a conscious decision.
If he gets busted again, maybe Goldman will run to rehab, and blame all his slimeball business practices on booze.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Not only was it a mistake using Kelly’s work, it was also a mistake using the artwork of maybe dozens of other creator’s works.
Goldman needs jail time to make him realize he is not better than the rest of us.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Artists that rip off other artists work are stupid - throw rocks at them.