Is Copying a Bad Thing?

Is this true?

In the words of Jim Jarmusch: "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.... Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent..."

How about this from Yohji Yamamoto: "Start copying what you love. Copy, copy, copy, copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself."

There are really only ombre shades of originality left in the world. If you need convincing, consider this from R.G. Collingwood: "If an artist may say nothing except what he has invented by his own sole efforts, it stands to reason he will be poor in ideas."

Let me go off on a bit of a tangent here and say that the first of the most recent set of Star Wars features, The Force Awakens, was a perfect example of the art of stealing. Personally, I think it copied and borrowed so much from the very first film that I was distracted by it, but it found its audience by doing so, which was much more than any of the previous three ("more original") films — or even the  newer ones that followed — could boast.

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Or let me go back to a tried and true sewing comparison: the zippered pouch. What is it, really? At its simplest, it consists of two pieces of fabric and a zipper. Most will go up a notch in terms of finishing and employ four (or more) pieces of fabric and a zipper. Beyond that — whether you choose to box the corners, or place the zipper in a location other than at the top, or add pockets or zippers into other compartments — there's really nothing new or original you can do to a zippered pouch.

And yet — yes, you know where I'm going with this — this hasn't stopped anyone from producing endless patterns or designs (some free, some not) for making zippered pouches.

My version of the zippered pouch...

I've done it myself.

Mine looks a little less like the normal animal, but it's not original either. And to go back to the title of this post, my honest opinion is that copying is not a bad thing. (Plagiarism, on the other hand, is always a bad thing and not to be confused with copying in this discussion.)

Let's also clear up another no-no: out and out copying without attribution is bad form. I made sure to give a nod to the person who inspired my Retro Reticule. (It was a design found in one of the books that I borrowed from the library.) The pattern that I eventually created has a zippered center divider pocket that clearly differentiates it, but in my mind, it's still pretty much a copy.

A MyTie made by Natalya...

There are times, however, when it's not clear who might be the originator of an idea or design. In my first post about my intention to make a purse from a single neck tie, I highlighted the work of two individuals who had inspired me with their versions. However, neither of them had shared their methods, nor could I find any good tutorials for one.

As fate would have it, my own way of sewing up these little purses has been my best selling pattern to date. The photo that you see here was sent to me earlier this year by a customer.

The point I want to make here is that even though making a purse out of one neck tie was not my invention, realizing my copy of the idea has been the most fulfilling achievement of my sewing life. I uncovered my creative potential with that project.

That says something about the power of copying. As Mr. Yamamoto said, I believe I did find myself at the end of that project.

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From day one, I've been creating versions of things inspired by things I've seen elsewhere. This blog is literally filled with stuff that I've happily "copied". (In fact, I'd be hard pressed to itemize many projects that have been truly original creations; I'll attempt to do so in a future post.)

Large pocket on my MIY Bag...

The first bag that I ever wrote up a pattern for was a copy. I never did offer up the Make It Yours Bag for actual sale (choosing instead to give it away), but its look was based on a bag that I purchased from Sears.

The main feature that I "stole" was the hidden access full front panel pocket. In re-inventing it, I added some angled pockets to the other side and ultimately came up with a bunch of add-ons that sewers could incorporate to customize their versions.

Copying can be surprisingly instructive when we steal an idea to make it better, or to make it different. By sticking with that simple approach, we pass along the creative energy that comes from our work, and perhaps push one other to achieve superior versions of whatever.

The copy and the original...

My (pandemic) crossbody sling bag is an example of something that I copied and modified to great satisfaction. Quite honestly, the most significant change that I made to the design — the card slots underneath the flap — has been the feature that I've most appreciated over the past couple of years of using the bag.

Being able to take something that you like, improve on it and then share it with others must surely give rise to that authenticity that Mr. Jarmusch alluded to as being invaluable.

More recently, I came across a bunch of YouTube tutorials featuring various ways of DIYing a Shupatto bag. (The original idea came from a 150+ year old company in Japan called Marna.) If you've seen the bag, you can totally understand how — and why — some crafty person would deconstruct it to share with the masses. Which is why, over the past several years, countless people have contributed their own take on how to make a shupatto.

What I think is terrific about all this copying is that some crafters have added their own features and shortcuts and have arguably improved upon the original idea. That is, they've created some of their own "invaluable authenticity".

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I know some among you might feel differently, that copying is bad and that we must always support the original creator. But the problem is — and will always be — who is that person? Particularly in today's social media obsessed world, the loudest person online may make all sorts of claims as to what is fact. For ourselves, how far back can we even go in search for the originator of an idea and how can we trust what we find? Simple answer is that we can't.

Two examples in the sewing world that I've been privy to since I started blogging involve this project and this project, both shown below.

Two somewhat controversial pouch projects... who copied from whom?

In order to disengage completely from the online ugliness that surrounded the first project, it's never even been identified here by name. (To be blunt, I don't want to be "found" by any searches for that organizer or its creator; I paid for the pattern and don't need to stump for it.) While two pattern "writers" and their supporters duked it out on the internet about who copied from whom, the obvious truth was that neither was the originator of the basic design.

For the second project, there were similar discussion in the comments of the YouTube video about who created what first. In my own "research", I found yet another source that predated both parties. In my opinion, as bystanders, we have no way of knowing who created the first one and should avoid taking any sort of righteous stance one way or the other.

Sweeping aside the controversies, it's hard to dispute that by copying whatever came before, both projects have created value for the sewing community. More importantly, the extremely badly written instructions for the first organizer have spawned many, many other better videos and tutorials that have made the essential projects themselves less daunting and more widely accessible. In my opinion, that's a bonafide win.

In closing, I shouldn't forget the main reason why I'm generally not bothered by all the copying out there... imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

What's your take on it?

'Til next...