Comments on: Local artist accused of misrepresenting reproduction as original work

By: Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:24:23 +0000

Everyone should demand Roger Gustafson, a local attorney, to donate what the local artists’ donate in time and money to the “Doors of Rockford” raising money for charity, if there is another fund raising event with artists and Zion. Roger Gustafson’s family must be proud of him.

By: rvr dstrct time

rvr dstrct time — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:12:03 +0000

This whole thing just disgusts me. Especially because a Christian charity seems not to care about being scammed. Zion Development (all involved), why haven’t you announced a new winner since Pozzi returned her prize and admitted her forgery?????

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:14:48 +0000

I thought it was funny that the artist said “as long as you make 3 changes, it’s okay.” That’s despicable. Not only did the artist do something that is blatantly wrong, she now tries to justify it with something she made up, as if that was a standard.

Of course if the original is from the late 1800, copyright laws aren’t in affect, but if it was more recent, the copyright infringement “litmus test” is simply whether the derivative work has “substantial similarity”. (And there are no set rules, a court has to decide.) In my opinion, this obviously has substantial similarity to the original.

As an artist myself, I abhor people who steal other works and call them their own.

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:53:37 +0000

Well I guess it’s okay since she tried to copy it from just a 2″ picture…c’mon?!?! It should tarnish her reputation as a legitimate artist and she would not have come forward or felt remorseful if she wasn’t caught. Forgery in the art community should be a zero tolerance issue.

I’m also extremely bothered by the fact that it seems Zion Development is willing to overlook the issue because the artist has raised money for them in the past. Maybe it would be okay if the Rockford Police department overlooked a few crimes I commit as long as haven’t commited too many crimes in the past… and raise enough money for them.