Every designers’ dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like, and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.

This scourge of the design world has reached such epidemic proportions that there is said to be, “no such thing as an original idea.”

Don’t worry, I intentionally write to [...]]]>

Every designers’ dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like, and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.

This scourge of the design world has reached such epidemic proportions that there is said to be, “no such thing as an original idea.”

Don’t worry, I intentionally write to rile your ego’s. Actually I think designers are very talented people – especially the ones that read miLienzo.com – but there is an element of truth to what I say.

It is human nature to absorb what we see and experience, and consequently be influenced by it. If I see a stunning design, I cant help but be inspired by it in some way. Sometimes this happens consciously, sometimes it happens subconsciously.

Last week at work a design studio submitted a number of concepts for a flyer design I’d commissioned. We were happy with what they’d provided and picked one of the concepts. Later that week, whilst reading my copy of a popular weekly design magazine, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the front cover of the magazine and one of the concepts.

The similarity wasn’t a distant, vague similarity – it was what I would class as blatant plagiarism. The colours were different and elements positioned slightly differently, but the concept was exactly the same.

As it happened, we had chosen a different concept anyway, but I still phoned the designers up and gave them a piece of my mind. If we had unwittingly picked the copied idea, it wouldn’t have been them potentially accused of plagiarism, it would have been us. I wasn’t a happy chap.

However, this goes on all the time doesn’t it? Ideas are constantly absorbed, regurgitated and recycled. Often the result is sufficiently abstracted from the original idea to call it inspiration; sometimes the result is a carbon copy of the original idea.

Where is the line drawn?

So when does inspiration become plagiarism? Have you ever copied someone else’s idea (be honest)? How much of someone else’s idea can we use before it becomes a copy? We all look at sites like Logopond for ideas; is that inspiration or copying? And is there such a thing as an original idea?

I realise I ask a lot of questions which have murky answers. Personally I think everyone is guilty of a bit of plagiarism, even if it occurs in the subconscious. I’m fascinated to see what designers consciously say about the matter.

Thanks to Marc, Lauren Marie, Asgeir and Tara for the recent posts’ comments.

Last month I wrote an article titled, Digital rights management dissected, where I looked with a cynical eye upon Steve Jobs, Apple, the music industry and DRM.

Earlier this week Steve Jobs announced an agreement with EMI where Apple will sell DRM-free music through its iTunes store. What’s more, this DRM-free music will be higher quality [...]]]>

Last month I wrote an article titled, Digital rights management dissected, where I looked with a cynical eye upon Steve Jobs, Apple, the music industry and DRM.

Earlier this week Steve Jobs announced an agreement with EMI where Apple will sell DRM-free music through its iTunes store. What’s more, this DRM-free music will be higher quality (256 Kbps) and will only cost an extra $0.30.

Jobs’ announcement has been met with applaud by music fans who are rightly fed up with buying a product which is not interoperable and locks them into a particular brand – fans who are generally fed up with being shafted from behind by the music industry.

However, as Charlie Demerjian points out on the Inquirer, Jobs has pulled off one of the oldest PR stunts in the book and everyone has fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

DRM is not being removed, they are selling a completely different product. DRM remains on the all the tracks you have already bought and all the tracks you will buy in the future, unless you are prepared to pay more. The music industry who took away your rights in the first place, are now selling them back to you.

Apple/EMI have dangled the 256 Kbps red herring in front of you, and shafted you from behind again! How does it feel?

The project in question is a college project, so I’m not intending to profit from using the protected [...]]]> Last week I was working with some digital video and acquired a few clips which were protected by Windows Media’s Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. This meant that I was prevented from using these clips in my project.

The project in question is a college project, so I’m not intending to profit from using the protected video, and besides, I only want to use a few seconds of footage anyway. So after debating with myself whether the FBI were going to come knocking on my door if I used the clips (and deciding that they weren’t), I set to work on disabling the Windows Media DRM.

After five minutes of Googling and a bit of fiddling around I had successfully removed the DRM. It was easy.

I used a tool called FairUse4WM (I wont provide a link, you know where Google is). This tool has massive implications for music services such as Napster and Yahoo! Music which offer a paid for subscription to unlimited music protected by Windows Media DRM. FairUse4WM effectively allows users to subscribe for 1 month, download to their hearts content, unlock the music, cancel their subscription, and live happily ever after with hour upon hour of stolen music.

As it happens, Microsoft have updated Windows Media Player 11 to plug any defenses which FairUse4WM breached. This means if you diligently update Windows, then FairUse4WM probably wont work. However, do a couple more minutes of searching and you will discover that there are ways of rolling back Windows Media Player. And besides, you can bet your bottom dollar that someone is out there now sweating in a darkened room as they attempt to crack the latest updates. It’s only a matter of time.

All this goes to highlight the rather ridiculous game of cat and mouse that DRM has become. Last month Steve Jobs (CEO, Apple) referred to this game of cat and mouse when he published his Thoughts on Music. He outlined some alternative options to the current DRM system, including a DRM-free world where users can buy digital music from any online supplier and play it back on any portable music player. Commentators were quick to herald the beginning of the end for DRM, although look a little closer and Jobs’ motives for this announcement become murky.

The fact is that DRM has benefited Apple immensely. All iPod users are locked to iTunes as it is a prerequisite for transferring music to their iPod. Then, when these innocent iPod users start downloading music from iTunes, they become locked to the iPod because Apple’s DRM prevents the music being played on any other device. This is known in economics as vendor lock-in.

It is this situation that has undoubtedly helped the iPod become the top selling personal music player by a long distance. It is also this situation that has got Apple into hot water with European consumer groups for operating anti-competitively.

So does Jobs really believe in a future without DRM? Well, after the dust has settled from when he made the announcement, many (myself included) see his comments as nothing more than a clever PR move, designed to shift criticism of DRM from Apple to the major record labels. Many actually see his comments as the height of hypocrisy.

One thing is certain though, DRM isn’t going away anywhere soon. And whilst that someone in that darkened room continues to fervently hack away (which they will do), then for the reasonably tech-savvy DRM will remain a five minute job to remove. For the masses however, DRM is just a pain in the arse and another reason to continue buying CDs. And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the crux of this matter, and the true driver behind DRM.