6. Operate ethically demonstrating critical understanding of the issues governing good practice.

As professional artists, it is necessary to deal with a series of job-specific ethical issues while working in industry. One of the most common tricky issues, is plagiarism. In all different forms of art plagiarism can be such a vague idea that often the line between inspiration and plagiarism can seem blurry.

For example, the author of this article on the topic claims that the two images below are plagiarized. But seeing that the artistic techniques used are quitey different and that the compositions are not an exact copies, it might not be so easy to back up such claims:

In the case of concept art, plagiarism can concern ideas, stock photography, textures, custom made brushes and even entire artworks. This is why when professionally using anything in that one does not own, it is crucial to always make sure there is permission to do so. This can be done either by contacting the author directly or using free resources  like CG textures for example. It is important to use other's work only as inspiration, not as a template.

In response to this issue I demonstrate how I have used references and stock images to communicate my ideas:

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But it is not simply necessary to be cautious of using other people's work. It is important to use your rights as an author, and to be aware of  the possibility of your own work being used without permission. Personally I have had work stolen and sold as prints without my knowledge.  In order to avoid that, an artist must be mindful of posting art in quality good enough for your copyright artwork to be used for free. Another option is to use watermarks on the higher resolution versions or to set up specific settings that protect against plagiarism in websites like DeviantART.