Gustav you are right about folk pinching posted images of rare kris or other swords and seeking to make copies. I have seen this done with kukris where firms steal / take images posted online at the behest of clients who want something similar and then make multiple copies and offer these for sale. These are always very inferior to the original given the limitations of copying from a 2D image often distorted by camera angle etc. It has resulted in collectors not sharing or posting images of rare pieces online on closed forums like this. The consent of the owner of the image has not been sought nor the source acknowledged at all. Its plagiarism for profit plain and simple in my ethical framework. Some would say imitation is the highest form of flattery though. Nonetheless the point on intellectual copyright and ownership of the images copied remains and although legally the issue is moot, broader ethical considerations on this copying remain a concern for me at least. In the present case this keris form is very rare I think and it was the image posted that was the direct cause of it being copied. Perhaps the differences between the old and the new are sufficiently great to distinguish between the two but that might only be due to the new keris makers inability to reproduce the original well. Anyway thats my personal view. I dont mean to cause offence or insult.
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