Open 4 Discussion: A Disclaimer

Hello everyone. 

A recent experience with Blogger has let me know that I need to make something about this blog clear. 

I began this blog initially as a way to educate myself about contemporary ceramics. I decided to share my experience widely with readers because I thought there might be other ceramic artists and ceramic art students with the same thirst for knowledge as my own. You see, from my experience, students who wish to study ceramics usually have very little, if any, access to information about or exposure to the contemporary ceramic art scene. I've actually been quite shocked by how little we know about each other at times, and I see this blog as a small piece of the solution to that sort of isolation. I think we can become better ceramic artists by knowing more about our fellow potters and sculptors. And we can become stronger artists in general by having a stronger understanding of our place within the larger art scene. 

But recently this blog was reported to Google for infringement of an artist's copyright. Now, I greatly respect every artist's work as their own, but I suppose I find myself in the school of thought that if you make art that you want the public to view and ultimately purchase, well then, images of your work that are within the public realm are then for public viewing, most especially within an educational context. Now, I know that my school of thought is not shared by everyone, and probably not even the majority, but I'd like to think that all of you readers appreciate the exposure to other artists that has been facilitated here on (Mud)Bucket. This is why I have had a disclaimer posted on this site to let folks know that if they wish their work not to be shared on this platform, that I would be glad to remove it. 

With that said, an artist recently chose to report me instead of emailing me directly. I'm not sure why I wasn't contacted first, especially with the disclaimer considered, and truth be told, my ego was a little bruised at first. I have no ill-feelings towards the artist who reported me, they were acting to protect their work and I understand that, though from what I'm unsure. If you have ideas on that, please speak up in the comments section. 

When I began this blog I was sharing artists at such a rate that I didn't feel I had time to contact each artist before sharing their work. The blog has slowed since then but my life outside the blogosphere has intensified greatly and I still feel that my time for this blog is rather limited. I have always, however, had a desire to go back through the archives to try and contact all the artists whose work I've shared on this blog, as I do feel it is important for them to know and have a choice of where their work is viewed. I thought the disclaimer would be enough until I was able to begin that task. I see now that it was not. 

Since receiving the notice from Google, I have edited and moved the disclaimer to the top of the page to make sure it is seen by everyone who visits (Mud)Bucket. And I have decided to begin the task of contacting the artists (or their estates) shared here within this blog. Now, this could mean that some content will be permanently removed from the site, but I have faith that most artists won't be so inclined. This task will be lengthy as there are over 300 individual artists that need to be contacted. If you are interested in helping, the biggest thing you can do is let me know if there are images of yours on this blog and whether or not you would like me to remove them (use the search bar if you aren't sure). If you have time, or perhaps students with time, and would like to help me with this process, send me an email. I would greatly appreciate the help. 

In the mean time, things should continue as normal here on the blog, by which I mean slowly but steadily. Please chime in with any ideas or opinions that you have on the issues of copyright and education and on exposure to contemporary artists. This is an open forum.

Thanks for your understanding.