Poor Francis Barraud continues to get ripped off inspire. Check out this Nipper lamp by Bergman-Tatjer which pays homage to Barraud’s famous painting, His Master’s Voice. Read the sorry story of how Barraud sold his painting and the copyright to it for only £100.
Spotted on designboom’s excellent coverage of Stockholm’s Furniture Fair 08.
Design Boom has a cautionary tale for artists about getting and keeping the copyright for your art. In 1899, British artist Francis Barraud painted this famous painting of his dog Nipper curiously searching for his master’s voice in the phonograph’s horn. Not only was Barraud turned down for a copyright for the image, but he was also rejected by the Royal Academy, various magazines and the Edison Bell company who responded that “dogs don’t listen to phonographs.”
Barraud eventually sold another painting, with a Berliner brass horn, to one of the company’s managers, where it caught the eye of the Emile Berliner, the company’s founder, who commissioned another copy AND bought the rights to it!
The famous image went on to become the trakemark of the Victor Talking Machine Co. (Victor was Berliner’s partner) and ultimately survived Victor’s merger with RCA in 1929. It was printed on record labels, letterhead, novelties, and catalogues for decades, but Barraud, the original artist, only received two payments of £50 each.
Brutal.
Image was also eventually licensed to AllPosters.com and is available here.