This topic comes up almost as much as copyright infringement so I thought I would let you know where I stand on the subject. This is me, I don't speak for how any other creator of stuff feels about it.
When I look deeply, artist may be too strong a term for me, I am a creator of stuff and have been since I knit my first scarf at 9 years old, maybe before when I made play dough beads or dressed barbie dolls with scraps of fabric.
It is at the core of who I am, it satisfies me like no other time spent. I create because I have to. Sometimes I am happy with what I create and since I discovered beads my love of creation and my love of adornment come together.
My creations are seldom planned, most often sitting down with a pile of beads and the very wispy sense of an idea. Sometimes a piece of costume jewelry will influence a shape, or a color, sometimes a piece of glass or fine jewelry and sometimes just playing with the beads leads me to a new creation.
I know that at times I am subliminally influenced by something I've seen. There is so much visual stimulation on the internet that it would be almost impossible to not let influences creep in. When I think of the growth in sophistication of beadwork these days, I think it is no accident that it coincides with the proliferation of images we are exposed to. If a similarity to my influence shows up in my work, it is as likely as not that I don't' even recall the original piece. I of course never sit down to intentionally copy someone's design, so any work I do is original in that all of the influences I may have absorbed are changed up by my brain and my hands to create a new piece that is pleasing to me.
I hate the thought of being accused of not giving appropriate credit because someone somewhere sees a similarity to their work. I am not saying this has happened to me, but I think it is at the root of this discussion every time I see it come up.
Although as I've said, I may have been subliminally influenced in my past, I may also have just arrived at a similar design on my own. If I were expected to give credit for that, I would find that unfortunate.
If my designs influence other creators of stuff to create stuff I am happy that they saw value and added to their own repertoire and growth. That's good enough for me, I don't need public credit. It is not why I create.
As always, there are exceptions and fine lines. I get that if you use a significant design element from someone else's work, it would be polite to mention it. Again for me it's not required, but I don't want to speak for others.
