Morality has been called into question in so many quarters of life these past few months, be it bankers and their incomprehensible greed, members of the British parliament and their expense claims that range from moat cleaning to duck islands*, and, closer to our own hearts, insurgents in the tattoo industry.
I recently received an email from a Chinese supply company who asked if I might be a helpful chap and direct them towards distributors in the West. He quite proudly mentioned that his company was producing counterfeit versions of many items, including a very well known brand of ink complete with descriptions taken from the manufacturer’s website, and that they didn’t see that they were doing anything illegal or immoral because they clearly stated that their products were copies. I’m not sure if my newfound friend thought such candour would find favour but if so, he was sadly mistaken, and his details have been passed on to the genuine manufacturer.
Another incident of late regards a popular online auction site (see what I did there?) and the sale of cheap copies of trusted and renowned machines under the guise of being the genuine article. The guilty party was rumbled and his operation ceased with whiplash-inducing rapidity, but I can’t help but feel the legitimate operators who strive to make the best possible tools and materials for tattoo artists are playing a perpetual game of Whack-A-Mole with these parasites.
The protagonists’ cause is certainly not helped by the lackadaisical enforcement of the aforementioned online auction site’s policies concerning items protected by copyright, but the problem extends far beyond that when wholesale copyright violation surfaces on the high seas of the internet proper, making the enforcement and application of laws tricky to say the least. So, perhaps that leaves us hanging on in the hope that a sense of right and wrong might prevail…and we are all aware of currency’s ability to erode ethical practices when people allow it to.
Too often, morality has little standing where money is concerned. Tattooing’s exploitation is nothing new in regards to the manner in which the mainstream media and fashion plunder iconography and motifs to sell a product, but to have people without any knowledge of tattooing or concept of ethics enter this arena purely to make money is akin to jackals tearing at the soft underbelly of the industry.
The most direct and obvious manner in which the industry can endorse the genuine article is to buy from reputable suppliers and machine builders, the ladies and gents who are in it to deliver the finest equipment that they can. Supporting those who have love and respect for this most unique of worlds might not eradicate the unscrupulous traders, but it ensures that your money finds its way to those who believe in the same principles that you yourself hold dear.
Bon appétit,
* If any of our international readers are unaware of the scandal of MPs’ expenses in the UK, please do read up on it. The stories are so good they just have to be fattening.
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