I've been in the business long enough to know - we all "borrow" ideas from each other now and then. I get tons of inspiration by watching spots from all across the country. But what happens when your work is outright stolen? Word for word, shot for shot?
For me, I laugh. I actually see it as a compliment. Where I draw the line is when the offending station enters it for awards or takes full credit. Below is a :15 spot I did for KHOU in Houston. Don't turn up the sound... the spot is completely silent - on purpose. It won me a CBS Eye on Excellence Award. It went out to all the CBS stations on a reel. One year later, it showed up in a Magid presentation. But this time, it was a :30 and from another station! I was so convinced it was my spot - the first :15 looked like they may have just used my video!! Identical. Check out what I did for the spot:
More recently, I produced a spot for our new web initiative "The A-List"... with the incredible work of one of our producers, Matt Helf, we created a fun little spot. Matt really brought it to life... he's the man. A few weeks later, I'm on Youtube and see other stations have copied it word for word! I did get a very nice call from a CSD in Indianapolis praising our spot and letting me know they were using it for inspiration. I thought that was very classy. He's the only one I heard from! And I will say, they added some very clever ideas of their own. Here is my spot:
Now check out these copycats!!:
I continue to find copycat spots on youtube. flattering... but come on people! At least send us a small fee. :)
Have you ever had your work "borrowed"??? Do tell...
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