The above Banksy quote has been around since, roughly, 2004 when he published Cut It Out via Weapons of Mass Distraction. The "Brandalism" piece fits right into the Banksy ethos of empowerment and raging against corporate blinding. However, it appears that chunks of the text were lifted from Sean Tejaratchi and his Craphound magazine. The comparison between the two pieces can be seen here or, even better yet, here. Tejaratchi's take on the whole ordeal is actually amazingly level-headed:

My goal is to set the record straight online. There will be no lawyers or threats of legal action. I've tried not to jump to conclusions, or angrily denounce Banksy, or the Internet, or the terrible unfairness of the universe. Maybe a ghostwriter was responsible for lifting it. Maybe an attribution was lost in layout. (On the other hand, my words were rearranged and tweaked. How does that happen accidentally?)

I've little doubt that the passages were lifted but it's a bummer that attribution wasn't properly given. What's most interesting about the whole thing to me is the idea of what deserves attribution and what doesn't. Bigger name artists like Banksy or Shepard Fairey are obviously pulling content from various sources all the time (and sometimes getting in trouble) but why is some work Okay to be stolen and some Unacceptable?

I don't have the answer but I find the whole thing fascinating and hope Sean Tejaratchi & Craphound get their proper credit.. they've obviously got good ideas.

via Austin via Reading Frenzy.