"Portrait of Governor Mike Huckabee" by RB McGrath Unveiled in L.R. August 24, 2015

During a campaign swing through Arkansas former Governor and now Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee and Janet Huckabee took time to unveil my Portrait of Governor Mike Huckabee before a crowd of about five hundred onlookers and the 60th birthday celebration for Mr. Huckabee.  The event took place at Union Station in L.R., AR at 7:30 pm on 8.24.2015.  The presentation of the RB McGrath painting of the former Governor was arranged by current Lt. Governor Tim Griffin of Arkansas.

RB McGrath Featured in Arkansas Life Magazine. "Portrait of the Artist" by Jordan Hickey - July 2015

Read Jordan Hickey's eight page feature story "Portrait of the Artist" in Arkansas Life.  The story covers the life and work of the Artist.  It delves into McGrath's battle against Chinese wall art manufacturers for IPR and Copyright theft.  Hickey also addresses the upcoming documentary film "Digital Peruggias" by Independent Filmmaker Keith Hudson, the story of the theft of McGrath's "Still Life of Violin", which is due to premier in May of 2016.

http://arkansaslife.com/portrait-of-the-artist/

Photo by Rett Peek for Arkansas Life magazine:

CBS NEWS NEW YORK STEALS RB MCGRATH STORY. SHOWCASES NEW JERSEY ARTIST IN FEATURE

Jacksonville, AR  - In a stunning turn of events producers at CBS News ripped off RB McGrath's story and case information from the artist's battle with a mainland Chinese manufacturer that pirated McGrath's now famous painting Still Life of Violin for counterfeit reproduction and sales world wide, only to create a story and instead showcase the work of a New Jersey based artist who, according to producers, has also been a victim of art piracy.

Since March of 2013 McGrath has worked closely with Producer Jennifer Janisch at CBS News headquarters by phone and by email correspondence with constant updates as the artists art piracy case has worked it's way through legal channels, federal investigations and media attention.

As recently as Friday, Oct. 18 CBS contacted McGrath for updates on a recent conference that included McGrath, representatives of the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington and representatives of the IPR Division's China Offices. McGrath's fight against art piracy by a foreign manufacturer drew the attention of former U.S. Congressman, now Lt. Governor of Arkansas Tim Griffin, who launched an inquiry into the matter on behalf of McGrath.

"Your the perfect person for this story." Wrote CBS News Producer Janisch in memos to McGrath. "We would love to interview you." "By sharing your experience over the last several months it has helped to inform our reporting about this problem." "You should know that that has made a big difference. Your notes to us got the ball rolling and illuminated us to this problem." In June of 2013 Janisch wrote to McGrath: " A great deal of interest over here in a story. " Please don't speak to other media outlets"

As of Tuesday, Oct. 22 however, CBS News turned the tables on McGrath with the following: "The only way (we) would be able to do this story was if we interviewed someone local, just outside New York, in a small town in New Jersey. He too is a struggling artist. He only makes about $20,000 a year. Our choice has everything to do with logistics."

McGrath fires back: "If I were in New York, I'd feel as though I had just been mugged!" In a response to the CBS News Producer, McGrath wrote: "You can't possibly comprehend the hurt, disappointment and disillusionment I feel right now. You say I'm the perfect person for the story, you want to do this story, and all of my information has helped inform CBS's reporting on this subject, and that I made all the difference, but...your going to do the story around a New York artist and give HIS work national exposure, while I get relegated to back to oblivion? Geez! Can you drive the knife in any deeper? Talk about throwing salt on a wound!!"

It is estimated that the Chinese manufacturer in Fujian, Xiamen, China (mainland) may have sold as many as 570,000 counterfeit copies of RB McGrath's Still Life of Violin painting for an intake of as much as $1.8 million.

States McGrath. "My work has been pirated by a Chinese manufacturer,pirated by an online music blog for CD promotion and now CBS News pirates my story and nine months of my cooperation and uses my case to create the story yet they showcase another artist because he lives near New York and I'm just a nobody down by the railroad tracks in a small town in Arkansas." "Perhaps CBS News should go into business with the Chinese wall art pirates. They seem to have something in common - a total lack of integrity."

Still Life of Violin. 24x30", oil on canvas. RB McGrath 2006

Xiamen Bigal Co., Ltd's online ad via Bizrice.com for sale of counterfeit copies of RB McGrath's "Still Life of Violin".  Xiamen Bigal Co., Ltd. pirated the image of McGrath's original work from the web and are reproducing both hand painted and machine made copies of the work for sale world wide.

THE ONLY FINE ART PAINTING IN U.S. HISTORY TO SPARK A CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY.

The painting:  "La vie Immobile du Violon" - Still Life of Violin.  The Artist: RB McGrath 2006.  In February of 2012 the image of this painting was pirated from the artist's web site, rbmcgrath.com , by a Chinese wall art manufacturer in Xiamen, China (Mainland) for mass reproduction and counterfeit sales worldwide.  In addition to pirating and counterfeiting the image the Chinese manufacturer is using McGrath's original photo image and the artist's signature to advertise the sale of knock offs via five different advertising platforms around the globe.

In March of 2012 the incident caught the attention of the media resulting in a slew of television and print stories surrounding the copyright and IPR theft of McGrath's work. The artist was contacted by the Washington D.C. office of former Congressman Tim Griffin (R-AR), now Lt. Governor of Arkansas, who launched an inquiry into the matter.  Congressman Griffin arranged a conference with representatives of several Washington based agencies including the U.S. Copyright Office, the IPR Division of the USCO and the International Trade Association.  McGrath was invited to present the case of the theft of  this artwork before the conference. Congressman Griffin personally visited the McGrath studio in Jacksonville, Arkansas on November 8, 2013. 

McGrath's battle against the foreign manufacturer is ongoing and is now the subject of a documentary film by Independent Filmmaker Keith Hudson.  The documentary is still in production. The filmmakers recently completed on camera interviews for the film with Mayor Gary Fletcher of Jacksonville, AR, Musician and Philanthropist Dr. Alan Storeygard, Philanthropist Joan Tyler Zumwalt and former Congressman Tim Griffin. Shooting is still taking place at the McGrath studio in Arkansas and plans are in the works for Hudson's crew to film in China in September of 2015. The documentary titled "Digital Peruggias" is scheduled to premier in 2016. Lt. Governor Tim Griffin is still pushing forward on the issues of Copyright and IPR theft and it's effects on the U.S. economy.

It is estimated that the Chinese manufacturer has sold as many as 570,000 counterfeit copies of Still Life of Violin worldwide. The original painting, now on exhibit at the RB McGrath Atelier et Galarie in Jacksonville, Arkansas, is now valued at $1.5 million .  www.rbmcgrath.com

RB McGrath's original image of "La vie Immobile du Violon" - Still Life of Violin.  The original painting is 24x30". Oil on stretched canvas and depicts an 1897 Antonius Stradivarius hanging on a peg board wall and reflected in a glass counter top, signed lower front right and is currently on view at the RB McGrath Atelier et Galarie in Jacksonville, AR.  The original work is valued at $1.5 million.

Congressman Tim Griffin (R-AR) visited the RB McGrath Atelier et Galarie in Jacksonville, AR on 11.08.2013.  In March of 2012 Griffin launched an inquiry on behalf of McGrath in response the the piracy and counterfeit sales of McGrath's work by a Chinese wall art manufacturer.        http://www.rbmcgrath.com/News_from_the_Studio_2013.html

NBC affiliate KARK News stories from 3.28.2012 and 11.28.2012

Congressman Tim Griffin speaks on camera in the second segment. 

Jessica Dean and Marci Manley reporting.