Crafters, if you copy someone's design that you've seen online you're not just a CF, you're a thief.

[ThingsBeingVarious]

I have a small, successful craft business and mostly sell online, which means there are loads of photographs of my work for anyone to see. Yet again I've just been made aware of someone copying my original design and selling the product - she probably thinks it's okay because she's raising money for her local charity. And sometimes my 'followers' and customers will send me a photo of the copy they've made saying I've 'inspired them'.

I know people often say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but it really fucks me off. People should think up their own designs, not scroll through Pinterest or Etsy or wherever looking for ideas to nick. Or if they haven't got any original ideas they can BUY patterns from other crafter's.

A straightforward response and invoice would take away the awkwardness.

"Dear rip-off merchant

I am flattered you found my design so inspiring that you have chosen to copy it. However, it is my intellectual property that I earn a living from and cannot be copied without permission. I have therefore attached my invoice for use of my design. The payment terms are 30 days.

Kind regards

Things"

The other thing is, and people dont like to be reminded of this, humans are not that unique to each other

Of course each human is unique in that there is only one of you/me, but the way we think and live is not really that unique and therefore the things we create are not likely to be either

I love food and cooking, Ive 'invented' many a dish that later I find out is a cultural dish of many centuries old. Yet I knew nothing about it, didnt even know of the culture until I found out about it, people had got there before me.

Eh, if you can't copy a design/character for personal use then a thousand parents will be in trouble come World Book Day.

I'm.not sure I understand your reply? I bought a pattern from.a designer who is happy for people to make and sell items (but not resell the pattern obvs)

No. That wouldn’t be wrong.

If you copied the Mona Lisa and posted your effort somewhere as your own original work “Enigma” as in “A lady in renaissance style”, that would be wrong.

Obviously copying the Mona Lisa isn’t a good or fair example because it’s so famous and obvious. People would comment that it was a great copy of the Mona Lisa so it’s not passing off. However in your analogy, if people didn’t know the Mona Lisa and were commenting about the cleverness and power of the direct gaze, hint of a smile and focus on face rather not dress in an otherwise classically composed and painted Renaissance style portrait, - and you didn’t acknowledge it was actually a copy of the work of another artist, then that would be wrong. You would be accepting the credit due to another artist. You might be due the credit due to a good copyist, a skilful thing, but not the credit for the creative skill which is the greater part.

The Mona Lisa is also a bad example because copyright expires 70 years after the creator's death!

Technically you didn't do anything wrong - the designer was selling the pattern specifically for people to copy, unlike OP who hasn't gone down that route. However, you might be on dodgy ground tweaking it to sell for your own commercial gain but it sounds like the designer doesn't mind that.

Right ok. You happened to buy from a Designer that sells for people to make and sell. But you didn’t say that.

If that’s true, you don’t understand the Op.

The op isn’t selling her designs for other people to use for profit. So it an entirely different situation.

You didn’t create something unique from a scratch. You changed the colours.

This. Then you moan that people are wanting to copy you on a design that isn’t even yours originally

Well I just used that as an example as its the first thing that came into my head

Ok, just looking around the room then, I have a number of cushions with pictures or designs on them

What if I painted a picture of them for myself, OP seems to feel that would be infringement, either morally or legally

What if I painted pictures inspired by the colours and shapes on them, and sold them, is that infringement, the cushion covers are cheap old things from Amazon, tons of different manufacturers.

Except for the Ikea ones, which appear to be based on traditional folk patterns (at a guess)

If I see something that I know I could easily recreate myself then I'm going to do that and not feel any guilt whatsoever, whether that's an outfit, a cake or a painting.

Other customers might not have the skills, time or materials to recreate it and be willing to pay you for it but that doesn't mean everyone must.

If it's truly unique, get it patented or subject to copyright. If it doesn't meet the threshold for that then it isn't truly unique.

Even on dragons den one of the first comments is usually 'anyone could copy this so I'm out.'

I do think it's cf if it's copied in a professional capacity, to sell. But very few successful products aren't open to copying so it's to be expected and the originators responsibility to protect themselves imo.

I think I fluffed my response

What I meant was that I fully understood why op was mad, that even though I bought a pattern and didn't design it I was still peeved that others were rude about demanding information from me so it must be way way more frustrating when the idea is yours!

Genuinely wasn't trying to be an arse to the op!

@Inkpotlover perfect!

@ScarlettSunset ❤️

@PostOpOp thank you for describing so well what I'm trying to say. And I suppose, tbh, I'm only with myself here up to a point too. I do get why people try and copy other people's work as their own hobby and without permission. Creativity isn't taught in schools and most people aren't confident to try designing stuff themselves. But I'd like people to realise it isn't nice for the original maker, it feels disrespectful that someone is taking something of yours (however intangible, such as an idea, or a style) when if they really want the item they could buy it from me, or buy a kit or pattern or watch a tutorial by an artist who has decided to share their method.

Sorry, I don’t think you were being an arse to the Op.

I was pointing out it wasn’t the same. Yours wasn’t an original design. So it’s just simply not the same.

If op was selling designs for other people to use in their business I am sure they would appreciate you pointing people in their direction.

Some people won’t purchase your item as they prefer to make their own. For those people, I don’t get why you got annoyed and didn’t just point them where to go. Since they are only doing what you did.

I get it OP. I'm a silversmith. I get inspired by many things, including other jewellery designers at times. I see a technique they use and want to try it, I see a certain stone in a piece and I want to make something with that stone, or that shape etc. I make something, in my own style. Most of the time it creates something completely different. That's inspiration. Out right copying a design isn't the same thing. I've been copied, design for design, then they have taken very similar photos, and used a very similar logo to mine or a similar brand name. Marketed themselves exactly the same. This is more than being 'inspired' by me. It's disheartening. I get many messages asking me where I get such and such a tool from or how do you do such and such, where is this and that from. Most of the time they are curious to learn a new skill. But others think they can profit off your hard work without taking the time to properly learn something that took me years and ££ to learn. I've stopped replying to these messages now as a lot of the time it is people just wanting to copy. And some of them, quite a lot of them actually, aren't very polite in how they ask. I forward everyone on to a jewellery school where they can learn the craft. It's a shame because I used to enjoy sharing this knowledge with other crafters.

@Caprisunny it was the lack of please / thanks / general Crafty niceties that annoyed me! To be fair I always tagged the pattern writer in the posts 🤩

@NorthernGirlie I didn't think you were being an arse. We're not in the same situation but I thought the point you were making, which I completely identify with, is the bloody rude way in which quite a few people demand to know how you've made something. I've also have had people comment just 'send me the pattern'.

Oh the irony...

I think you need to get over yourself. Whatever it is you make, I seriously doubt that it is so unique that no other person in the world ever has done something similar.

I have a little ETSY shop, I make things, but I make them following patterns. No I am not embarrassed, I am not interested in being creative, I just like making things and I make them well. Too bad if you don’t like that.

Jeez, the infographic actually has, printed on it, permission to share 🙄

If you're copying patterns that other people have willingly sold, legally you are not doing anything wrong. But morally your attitude is appalling. Perhaps if you ever bothered to make anything original you would understand how frustrating it is to see your hard work ripped off.

I'm an artist. Years ago I owned an art gallery (with a different name to mine). Business partner excitedly told me an artist had come in with work very like mine. Had a look at it. The painting was an exact copy of a print she'd bought of one of my paintings...... I looked at this woman's website. It featured originals for sale including 4 copies of my paintings, one copy of my business partner's work, and several more paintings which were clear copies of other artists.....
She rang the plagiarist and asked her to come and pick up her work. When they saw me, their face was a picture. The website disappeared.

Whether it’s legally wrong depends whether the patterns were sold for personal use only or for commercial use. Most patterns I buy for knitting or dressmaking have a statement that they’re personal use only, so even if it was just a little Etsy shop or for charity you would still be breaking the law if you sold them.
Occasionally they say you can use them for any purpose but please credit the designer.

This comment brings up the reason why I'm finding this one difficult to judge this OP - so one person copies a picture of a picture that another person has done of a kangaroo, and you make a picture of a kangaroo from a real life kangaroo. But it's a kangaroo, and there's really only so many images of it you can make until huge numbers of them start to look similar, or the same.

People have been making images of kangaroos as long as there have been people and kangaroos, that's millions, or even billions, is images. It's hugely unlikely, to outright impossible, for one person to make one now that is so unique that it doesn't look like any other image of a kangaroo that's ever been made before. It doesn't matter how much more time you spent on it, or how you went to look at an actual kangaroo, if it looks almost exactly the same as thousands of other kangaroo representations that are already in existence.

I don't disagree that copying your work exactly, then emailing you and telling you that they've copied it and they're going to sell it is probably a breach of copyright law - they've literally told you they're doing it. But I'm struggling to believe that your work is so unique that you'd be able to sue for copyright infringement just because you see something that looks really similar to yours. You also said you've done online, free tutorials on how to create your crafts, which could be used as an argument against breach of copyright because you were clearly ok to share your ideas then with the public, meaning that if they then choose to create something that you've created before it could be down to the technique that makes them look the same, not because they've seen it and copied it.

Basically it's just hard to tell without seeing what you do, and how unique it actually is, but I think it's unlikely it's so unique that you'd reasonably be able to sue without the person actually stating to you that they used it for the purposes of making money. And I think it's unreasonable to get annoyed at people making their own copies for their personal use, that falls under fair use. It's also a great ad for your stuff, as their friends will ask them where they got it, they'll say they made it but they copied it from your website, so the less crafty person may go to your website and buy it. That's a win, really!