If Value Then Copy

If Value Then Copy is a series of text paintings. First conceived as a slogan for the work Copyshop, it questions the idea of rights to immaterial works and ideas. 

Within the copyright regime, every commodity and concept is assigned ownership and thus becomes incorporated within a global system that functions to protect and defend its perceived value. The dictum “if value then right” is used by copyright advocates to suggest that anything that could be valuable should therefore be copyrighted, and that all unauthorised copying should be considered theft and be punishable by law.  

Each iteration of If Value Then Copy consists of three identical paintings; this repetition points to the uniformity of commercial mass production. At the same time, the slogan challenges the very idea of originality, authorship and value. Is any idea truly original? Can one claim ownership of immaterial goods? How do we evolve if not by mimicking and copying what is already surrounding us?

If Value Then Copy was developed within the context of Copyshop, 2005, a collaboration between Copenhagen Brains and SUPERFLEX.