Geobulletin alpha

News from the Geoblogosphere

New from Snet: Lithologs, a new tool to create lithological/sedimentological logs online..

Blog post recommendation

Raiders of Dinosaur Art: Rampant Plagiarism by Toy Companies

Look Familiar?
Greetings, goss hounds!

Last time, I mentioned that Darren Naish, Mark Witton, and John Conway recently published an article on the (shameful) state of paleoart as used in professional and commercial contexts. This was in reference to toy companies like Safari Ltd., who often produce inaccurate dinosaur figures under the banner of "museum quality" or "paleontologist approved."

Another such company is Geoworld. I'll let their own web site do the talking:

"All models in the Geoworld collection are scientifically accurate museum replicas of dinosaurs or prehistoric animals. Each model is sculpted by expert craftsmen under the supervision of Dr. Stefano Piccini, geologist and paleontologist, to ensure the correct shape, posture and proportions. Geoworld products are paleontologist and geologist approved!"That sounds very nice, except for one unsettling fact: Nearly every figure in the Geoworld dinosaur series is blatantly plagiarized from independent paleoartists. Not only that, but often the actual original art itself is reproduced with a few minor tweaks and printed on the info cards that accompany each figure. No credit, let alone payment, has been given to any of the offended artists.

Read more »

Stratigraphy.net | Impressum

Ads: