OK Arch, got me interested on this one. Here's my take, FWIW:

This debate has raged off and on at WoodCentral now for months. I am
of the personal opininon that nothing is new in any kind of art. If
DaVinci paints Mona Lisa on a dark and dreary day, to whom does he give
the credit for the dark and subtle lighting reflected in his work?

I am a Native American (yup... an honest to Pete card carrying
registered with the Bureau of Indian Affairs type Indian) but yet, who
amongst the "Southwest style" gives a nod to my people when the turn a
seed pot or the ever popular water jug? Now some even put rawhide
lanyards on stoppers to make it more authentic. Never once have I seen
a mention of the tribal piece they copied. And how about the designs
on these pieces... any of them look like the stuff in the museum?

Maybe you have seen that the absolute must contemporary woodturnign
design of hollow for vases is the small lower third, the larger third
and the top that is even a bit larger, with a small hole for access.
Ever seen a Ming dynasty vase? Look familiar?
Ever see credit given as "inspired by Ming Dynasty (XXXX to XXX) artist
to the Emperor?

I am thinking about my old school pottery class. Since they
essentially have the same type of procedure, they essentially have a
lot of the same designs. They put the lump of clay (us=piece of wood)
and work it into a round design on their potter's wheel (us= grind it
to our round design on the lathe) and then make something pleasing to
the eye based on what inspires them at the moment (us=same). Then they
decorate the finished turning with color, texture, piercings,
additional pieces glued on it, and different types of gloss finish...
really shiny to dull. Since pottery has been around a few thousand
years berfore woodturning, shouldn't we all put some kind of standard
acknowledgement to the potters that came before us? I guarantee they
were piercing, texturing and coloring their medium long before today's
artist's great, great, great, great, great grandparents were even
born.

Coloring techniques with shadings, bold contrasts, and polishing
techniques that are so popular now can be related directly, and I do
mean directly, to Italian and Japanese artisans from hundreds of years
ago. How about "French polishing"? Should we give those guys a nod
everytime we do some pore filling before sanding to 50,000 and then
buffing out several coats of lacquer or shellac based finish?

Ahhh... say you. That's all different. It's been around for years.
We worshipers of today's contemporary artists are talking about truly
different designs, like when the artist incorporates nature's designs
and colors into the piece. A popular turner now makes roses.... any
mention of the higher power he copied? How about the guy that is
making twisted thorn stems and mounting a rose on that? (BTW, these
are indeed treat if you haven't.) How about the famous wooden apple or
the pile of grapes?

Yet another is using bold gold, yellow, red (you know... the autumn
colors) for finishing before lacquering the thing into plastic. Ever
seen a pile of leaves on a crisp winter morning that just fell off a
maple or syacmore tree? Color combinations look vaguely familiar? And
ow many pieces with great fitting tops with finials are at least
inspired by the classic ginger jar or the English loose leaf tea jars?

I think you get the drift. A lot of this hooey has been generated by a
few folks that have just discovered how to make a shape, and have spent
their lives with their heads in the sand. And strangely, when you see
Ellsworth, Hosuluk (sp?), Nish, Key, Childs, Batty, etc., they never
whine about being copied. Never once have I heard about them in tears
over someone producing a piece similar to theirs. In fact, they will
teach you how to copy their work!

Probably one of the greatest living legends in flatwork today is Sam
Maloof. He is 82 or so, has pieces on display in the Smithsonian, has
a 5 year back log on his rockers, and sells them for the general area
of $20,000 to $35,000 a piece. Yet when you take his class, he show
you how to make them, and *encourages* you to do so. He even gives you
templates so you can get it right! I know this as I have a Maloof
student within driving distance of my house that is doing just that.
Sam saw no need to copyright, patent, or claim the design of his
rocker; after all, in his mind it is just a rocker.

The people that have invented this plagiarism baloney need to spend
some time in the museums, some time at the library, take a pottery
class, and walk around the woods sometime.

Robert