Link-O-Rama

Robocalls flooding your cellphone? Here’s how to stop them.

The lower sugar version of Quaker Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal has 35% less sugar because they’ve cut the portion size by 35% while the price remains at 100%.

Girl shames friend for achieving everything because of white privilege but doesn’t expect to get a response like this.

The Greek gods and goddesses come to line in this magnificent cartoon family tree.

Donald Trump and the Elements of Dictator Style.

Yes, this $375 “antifa” jacket from Barneys is actually real.

This is what a news cycle that holds sexual predators accountable looks like.

A look at some daguerreotypes of anonymous African Americans.

Nina Turner explains why “the Democratic Party can’t just whisper sweet nothings anymore.”

70 years before Harvey Weinstein, Maureen O’Hara dropped this bombshell on Hollywood predators.

Bella Cornell, a 14-year-old Native American activist, is no stranger to racism.

Tiny 3D-printed Raspberry Pi cases look like classic computers.

The Democrats’ reckoning with the Clintons is long overdue.

A written portrait of Baltimore in black and white.

Bill Clinton was accused of sexual assault 15 times. Why is he still treated like a hero?

A tiny hedgehog named Azuki goes camping and his pictures are the best thing you’ll see today.

The rigged system of the second Gilded Age isn’t being challenged.

Reaganomics killed America’s middle class.

The Retaliatory State: How Donald Trump is turning government into a weapon of revenge.

How a Douchebag “Artist” Named Richard Prince is Ripping Off Instagram Photographers

Normally I would save links like this for my weekly Link-O-Rama page but I’m writing a separate rant just this once because I feel this asshole deserves special attention. Here are the details, as taken from the DIY Photography site.

If you were to take a screen shot of someone’s Instagram account and try selling it, two things would happen. The first is that you’d be told you’re violating the copyright of the photographer whose photo you’re selling, and secondly you’d be laughed at. Extensively.

It turns out, though, that if you’re famous enough you can take such a screen shot and not only bypass copyright but also make a fortune doing so.

The secret: slap some text on it.

Richard Prince has been using this method and some of his “artwork” is said to have been sold for $100,000.

This form of lazy “art” becomes even more infuriating when you realize that in addition to selling (if you’d say stealing, I’m not sure I’d disagree) photos that do not belong to him and without the knowledge or consent of the owners, Prince also removed the accompanying captions.

You can find the rest of the story here, along with one of the victims of this guy’s antics. Of course she’s not seeing a single dime in profit from her Instagram post being used like this without her prior knowledge or consent, even though that canvas based on her Instagram post has already been sold to an art collector for thousands of dollars.

I also found Richard Prince’s official website, which has no contact information posted anywhere on it. (He probably doesn’t want to get any hostile e-mails from the people whose Instagram photos he ripped off.) According to articles like the one in the Gothamist, this exhibition of so-called “original art” is currently on display at the Frieze Art Fair in New York City. And here is the Frieze Art Fair’s Contact page in case you want to let them know how you feel about them exhibiting Richard Prince’s work.

UPDATE (May 23, 2015): Richard Prince is trending on Facebook as of this writing. One artist named Lynn Cartia has announced that she has appropriated one of Prince’s own paintings, did some digital alterations of it, and she plans to put it on sale both online and in her gallery as well. There has been no response from Richard Prince yet on the appropriation of his art for someone else’s financial gain (which is what he’s doing to a few Instagram users).

UPDATE (May 30, 2015): Among Richard Prince’s victims is Missy Suicide, whose Instagram photo was appropriated with new captions added then printed out and put on sale for $90,000. Missy Suicide has announced that she’s selling the same print as Prince (which was based on her photo), in the same size (67 x 55 inches), with the same materials (inkjet on canvas). The difference is that she’s charging only $90 instead of Prince’s $90,000 asking price. She is also donating the proceeds to the Electronic Freedom Foundation. You can purchase the $90 print right here.