[A2k] Tom Tomorrow on "exposure" as non-payment for works

[James Love]

Tom Tomorrow is a well regarded cartoonist and writer.   This is from
his blog, This Modern World.


http://www.thismodernworld.com/
The infinitely receding future
Tom Tomorrow:
June 15, 2009

On Mondays, the Times=E2=80=99 business section often focuses on the declin=
ing
fortunes of the various journalistic and creative enterprises which we
collectively describe as =E2=80=9Cmedia.=E2=80=9D It=E2=80=99s invariably a=
 depressing start to
the week:

    When Google representatives recently invited dozens of prominent
artists to contribute work to be featured on its new Web browser, the
company enthusiastically sold the idea as an opportunity to have artwork
shown to millions.

    But some, like Gary Taxali, were not impressed. Mr. Taxali, an
illustrator based in Toronto whose work has appeared in publications
like Time, Newsweek and Fortune, received a call in April from a member
of Google=E2=80=99s marketing department. According to Mr. Taxali, the Goog=
le
representative explained that the project will let users customize
Google Chrome pages with artist-designed =E2=80=9Cskins=E2=80=9D in their b=
orders.

    =E2=80=9CThe first question I asked,=E2=80=9D Mr. Taxali said in a rece=
nt interview,
=E2=80=9Cis =E2=80=98What=E2=80=99s the fee?=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D

    Mr. Taxali said that when he was told Google would pay nothing, he
declined.

    * * *

    =E2=80=9CSo for you, I give you a special salute that I hope will keep =
you
away because I don=E2=80=99t need your work,=E2=80=9D Mr. Taxali wrote, fol=
lowed by his
own drawing of a hand gesture popular with impatient motorists.

Paying in =E2=80=9Cexposure=E2=80=9D is how underfunded and/or miserly publ=
ications have
wheedled free art out of illustrators for a very long time. The logic
goes like this: we can=E2=80=99t afford to pay you, but your work will be
exposed to someone who can. Exposure is the bottom rung on the ladder,
one step toward a career in which people value the work you do enough to
pay you for it. The problem is when you reach the very top of the ladder
and the same argument is being used. Where exactly are you supposed to
go from there?

And as artists are fond of pointing out, the local grocery store is
unlikely to accept =E2=80=9Cexposure=E2=80=9D in payment for a gallon of mi=
lk.

As another artist in the article notes: =E2=80=9CI have done gift cards for
Target that are in stores nationwide and animations for Nickelodeon that
run 24 hours a day worldwide on cable TV =E2=80=A6 both of these jobs were
high-profile and gave my work great exposure but both clients still paid
me.=E2=80=9D

--
James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
http://www.keionline.org | mailto:james.love at keionline.org
Wk: +1.202.332.2671 | US Mobile +1.202.361.3040 | Geneva Mobile +41.76.413.=
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