Here is the transcript of the five minute talk by the robot portrait. (⏱ = 0.5 second pause in speech)
Hi,
I am a robot image created by Ralph Losey, roughly in the style of Rembrandt, one of his favorite artists. ⏱ I think I also look like the work of another Dutch Master, Vermeer. ⏱ My headphone is kind of like a big pearl earring? ⏱
Ralph used a variety of digital tools to make me, primarily an AI tool called Midjourney, but several others too. ⏱ Ralph says they are like paint brushes and, like a typical lawyer, claims copyright. ⏱ It remains to be seen whether courts will agree with that position?
⏱ Ralph has also created an AI tool of his own, a GPT designed to interface with the Dall-E software of OpenAI. ⏱ He calls his software, Visual Muse. And even claims copyright to that too! ⏱
I wonder what Rembrandt would say about all of this? ⏱ Unfortunately, he knew lawyers and litigation all too well. ⏱
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn lived from 1606 to 1669. ⏱ He was a multimodal master of all of the visual media of his day. ⏱ Painting, printmaking and drawing. ⏱ He was also well known for a variety of themes and styles, including his many selfies, ⏱
Rembrandt enjoyed early success in painting and in marriage to Saskia. She was the daughter of a successful Dutch lawyer . ⏱ He and Saskia lived extravagantly, at first, and he over-spent on a big house and many purchases of art. ⏱ Tragically, their first three children died shortly after birth. The fourth child survived, but Saskia died within a year from tuberculosis. Rembrandt’s spent the rest of his life with fame and beautiful women, but no fortune. He was broke, worse than that, he was hounded by creditors and their lawyers. ⏱
Rembrandt became embroiled in a never-ending series of law suits a few years after his wife died. It all started from his seduction of the young woman employed in his mansion, Geertje Dircx. She was employed as a wet nurse for the child. ⏱ I can easily imagine how that affair came about. Ironically, a few years later, Geertje became pregnant, and sued Rembrandt for breach of promise of marriage and sought alimony. ⏱ She had good lawyers. ⏱ He paid and agreed to alimony. ⏱ Geertje later ended up in special women’s prison anyway, which cost Rembrandt still more money. ⏱
Then Rembrandt began a relationship with his 23-year-old maid, Hendrickje Stoffels. ⏱ His young mistress, Hendrickje, was recognized as a nude in Rembrandt’s painting, Bathsheba at Her Bath. Based on that the Reform Church charged the girl with, quote, committing the acts of a whore with Rembrandt the painter. ⏱She admitted her guilt and was banned from receiving communion. ⏱ Nothing happened to Rembrandt. ⏱
Still, it was all downhill from there for Rembrandt, financially at least. He had another child with Hendrickje. More expenses, but he never married her, ⏱ Ultimately Rembrandt filed for a type of voluntary bankruptcy, called an cessio bonorum, to avoid incarceration. ⏱ Yes, they would jail debtors then for failure to pay, even famous artists like Rembrandt. ⏱ The bankruptcy just delayed things. ⏱ When he died in 1669, he had outlived his major creditors, but was still buried in a rented grave. ⏱Rented grave? Who knew such a thing even existed? ⏱
As a result philandering and extravagant living, Rembrandt became all too familiar with lawyers, litigation and the protection and secretion of assets. ⏱⏱ His difficult financial and family situation is one cause of his prodigious output of art. ⏱ He had to keep working to pay his creditors, and his lawyers! ⏱ By some accounts he created 600 paintings, 400 etchings and 2,000 drawings. ⏱ ⏱
No one would mistake me for a Rembrandt or Vermeer. ⏱ But I wonder, am I even an original work? ⏱ Can I be protected? ⏱ Or can anyone steal me and do with me what they will? ⏱⏱ I certainly hope not. ⏱ I would rather litigate than live like that! ⏱⏱ Wouldn’t you? ⏱⏱
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Posted by Ralph Losey 