03/05/2026
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…so they say!!
I’m sure we are all aware how AI is slowly taking over the world and there is a growing need for protection against intellectual property.
Recently AI altered versions of wigs I have designed and produced have appeared as offerings on a wig makers / wig hire company’s website, with the original photos being taken from one of my clients websites who ordered the wigs to be created by me.
In the past this has happened with the same person passing off photographs of my work posing as their own to new clients to obtain work, which was bad enough, but now this is becoming unacceptable.
Also some of these creations have been designed from original ideas by my clients, and with respect to the client I would never make an identical copy, so it is not only myself that is affected by this, but an issue that goes further down the chain.
I totally understand that in the years I have been making wigs there are no new ideas….but I have never copied a photograph of someone else’s work and altered it, either through photoshop or AI, and then passed it off as my own.
I just wanted to speak up for everyone out there who designs and creates for theatre…a profession which I have been a part of for 34 years and therefore know the etiquette and respect it deserves.
