When a government agency steals your design style or a concert promoter ghosts you on a $50 Megadeth poster payment, what's your next move? Raymond Biesinger, veteran illustrator for The New York Times and The New Yorker, transforms two decades of these professional headaches into practical guidance in his new book, 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off.
Published by Drawn & Quarterly, Biesinger's illustrated handbook offers creatives strategies for navigating the industry's least glamorous realities. Biesinger's approach draws from his own experiences chasing payments and confronting plagiarists. The book acknowledges the gray areas of creative influence—Biesinger even admits to his own tendencies to borrow.
"I've been amused by how flawed and inconsistent I have been towards the rights of older illustrators and designers," Biesinger confesses in the book. His honesty about being both victim and occasional perpetrator adds unusual credibility to his perspective. Rather than presenting legal theory, he shares real-world tactics that worked when formal channels failed.
"Through trial and error, I've found what works when someone steals your creative output," Biesinger says. "My hope is that sharing these stories saves others from learning the hard way what took me twenty years to figure out."
Previously:
• Did a Kickstarter puzzle rip off this YouTuber's design? Watch this video and decide for yourself
• Take a look at the greatest Flintstones rip-off no one talks about anymore
• What it's like to have Apple rip off your successful Mac app
