How to deal with a copycat?

Block her?
imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Copying has been said to be the highest form of flattery. Let it go. This girl is obviously not very creative or imaginative on her own and probably has a shakey sense of self and therefore needs to “borrow” others ideas, interests and opinions to create her own sense of self.
Your only task is to not let it bother you, otherwise you are just as neurotic as she is

. Why is it so important to you that she “admit” she is copying you? That is just your ego wanting to be right to make her wrong, to embarrass her, to prove your point. Just stop it!
Try having some compassion for the girl and see it for what it is, a person who is struggling to find her own sense of expression.
Take the high road and if you find you can’t let it go then it is up to you to close your account, block her, whatever, anything but stay stuck in a childish mindset over something beyond your control.

Don’t post your pictures so that this particular girl can see them (use that little gear button to choose only specific people, never make anything public, I can’t stress this enough). If she does somehow see your pictures on someone else’s page and does it again, send her a PM, and copy that to another person, preferably a responsible adult, asking her to stop doing it (and cite specific examples of where she’s done it) and let her know that if she doesn’t stop, you will post a note publicly stating to everyone what she has done, and that you will block her, then block her.

She should be giving you credit and praise AT LEAST for your inspiration and work. But if that really bugs you, like everyone said, don’t post them so she can see them. Otherwise, tell her how you feel and that if she ‘shares’ your pictures, you expect credit.

Virtually all artists start by copying. They draw characters from their favorite cartoon shows or comic books, copy famous paintings or painting styles, use the chord progression from a catchy song, or imitate some impressive dance move they saw. J.S. Bach himself learned to write music by copying out the works of other composers over and over again—and in all likelihood, you did too. The only difference in this case is that you are aware of the person who has been inspired by your work. If she’s any good, she’ll overcome her reliance on your ideas and branch out. If not, she’ll either give up or go nowhere. In either case, what’s the problem?

@SavoirFaire in this particular instance, the young lady is kind of stalking the OP. It’s not like the girl said that she wanted to be an artist and she’s looking at art books. It’s only because the OP started posting work, that suddenly this other girl is also an artist, doing the exact same type of work and in some instances, stealing her work and claiming it as her own. It’s creepy.

Again, everybody, do not make your Facebook postings public. The gear button is your friend.

@Kardamom Plenty of people get interested in art because someone they know or admire does it. Very few people say, “I’m going to become an artist” and then buy art books as their first act. Most start exactly the way I described. Unless you have direct access to the girl’s mind, then, I see no reason not to think that’s what is going on here.

Also, @cutiepi92 has not said that this other girl is stealing her work and claiming as her own. All that has been said is that the other girl copied @cutiepi92‘s work (that is, redrew something extremely similar to it) and posted it on Facebook as her own. Those are different acts, even if both would count as plagiarism.

I know this is Fluther, but maybe we could put off persecuting the poor girl just this once?

She’s taking your ideas and making her own creations. Yes, she’s unoriginal, but she isn’t plagiarizing your words or claiming your artworks as her own.

There are plenty of people who blatantly steal from the internet—plagiarizing text word-for-word, or copying beautiful photographs and drawings and claiming to be the artist. It sounds as if this gal isn’t one of them.

I’d just let it go.

@SavoirFaire I guess technically, the other girl is not plagiarizing, but it is still very creepy. I think the OP must think it’s creepy, or else she wouldn’t have asked the question. I’d be very irritated if someone did that to me.

I guess the OP could tell the other girl, privately, that she’d prefer that she not use her as an influence, and suggest that she should go to the library and check out some real art books. It’s just that I remember these types of girls from my own junior high school days. They’re usually lonely people who have no social skills so they borrow looks or ways of acting, or talking, or hobbies from other kids, and it’s super-creepy.

I just decided to block her from my art album on facebook that way there will be no confusion in the future because she wouldn’t have seen my stuff in the first place. In this particular instance I cannot chalk it up to coincidence, but she is saying it is. Her basing some ideas off of something I have already done isn’t what bothers me; what bothers me is the fact that she is parading around like it is a purely original idea that she came up with on her own when she obviously didn’t. I have done artwork based off of something someone else has done too; the difference is that at least I CREDITED the original artist/work. She is doing something blatantly based off of something I did and isn’t giving credit. I am going to PM her a warning (because she is insisting that she did not get the idea from me but from elsewhere, even though she is doing the exact same project within a couple of hours of seeing mine). If I catch wind of her doing this again without giving credit, I will publicly out her on my own page where she cannot control any comments or anything like that.

Unfriend her then she won’t know what you’re doing. Don’t let her see your art.

@Kardamom “Creepy.” The high school word for “different in a way I don’t like.” She’s not some guy in a trenchcoat staring at a playground through binoculars. She’s a teenaged girl who, like most teenagers, doesn’t know who she is and is trying to find out. And you’ve decided to step into the role of the queen bees who goad and taunt the “creepy” girls into harming themselves.

@cutiepi92 I’m not going to tell you not to call her out or give her a warning. Just know, however, that she doesn’t actually have any obligation to credit you. What she is doing doesn’t count as copying in any legal way, and the sort of copying she has been doing has been going on for a very long time. It is in fact an extremely recent convention to credit every single inspiration, major or minor, that led to some finished product.

I’m sympathetic to that convention. In the internet age, copyright is increasingly being whittled down to nothing more than attribution rights. Moreover, it seems that most are concerned primarily with the moral aspects of attribution rather than the legal ones. Still, it might be best to limit the extent to which you express outrage over someone’s failure to do something that she has no obligation to do. Instead, try expressing it in terms of disappointment and expectation. Induct her into the convention rather than using it to shun her. That sort of action tends to have better results in the long run.

Wouldn’t it be betetr to talk to her privately about how she is making you feel?
Doesn’t she have any originality?Can’t she do her own designs?
Is she looking to you for inspiration?
If not, then she is harrassing you.
I would explain how you feel in person and letting her know the consequences.( break up).
Also let her family know what she is doing too.
It could become a regular pattern in later years where she thinks that it is Ok .

@SavoirFaire I understand that sentiment, but the problem is that I think people are thinking of this on a wide “internet” scale. Sure, it’s no legal issue, but what makes this messed up is the fact that she is a PERSONAL friend. Of all people to rip off and copy, why would you copy someone close to you? Oh and also, we aren’t teens, I’m 21 and she is 22 (though I’m ahead of her school wise).

Regardless, I spoke with her through private messages and she finally admitted to copying my idea (which she would not admit before). She apologized to me and later posted a status correcting her previous statement. She said she didn’t want to lose my friendship over copying and she was just inspired and she was sorry. I just wish she had told the truth in the first place but it’s all over now. Thanks guys!

@cutiepi92 I’m surprised to learn that the two of you aren’t teenagers. Frankly, both your friend’s actions and your response suggest otherwise. But plenty of people take longer than normal to find themselves, so everything I’ve said can be applied to people in their early twenties. But I don’t see why this person being a personal friend makes things worse in your mind. People copy those they like and admire. People like their friends (usually), and often admire their talented friends. In any case, I’m glad you’ve managed to resolve the issue. Thanks for letting us know.

She apparently likes your art and creations better than her own. If she continues to rip off your creation and then no even give you homage, when I posed my new stuff I would put it out there and post that people may see it elsewhere but that it is not yours but that of an impostor copying your work. I would also go right away to this girl’s page and post it with a comment or question of how does she like it: beat her to the punch. It will be hard for her to come back with a clone and say it is her own if it is posted to her page before she has a chance to clone it.