Weekly Challenge and Chat Thread 2008, part 2

[Gingermonkey]

Ooops - we've filled the thread, best start a new one, eh?!

have just blogged about it all, rather reluctantly, dh thinks i should just move on and forget about it, but if i am going to sell on etsy, i didn't really feel i had a choice, i have to make it clear as to where i stand.

i haven't copyrighted my work, other than i have a creative commons license on the blog (its free to do btw and advised by u-handblog, she is ace for business based advice) but as a coats kit, yes, the pattern will be copyrighted.

i have convo'd her (as per etsy's advice), and her reply is basically a long drawn out description as to how long she has been making her owls , which may well be, i can't disprove that either way, but the point is, in design, there is close, and there is so close there is no doubt it can be nothing but a copy, and her's are just too close. it's everything, the way the base is sewn, the eyes, the top of the head, the wings, i'm willing to be proved otherwise, but i don't believe her i'm afraid.

I have to say LK that when I looked on the link, the first thing that caught my eye was the copyright disclaimer she's put on, which straight off made me think that they're copied. Can you contact Coats for advice?

JeanGenie, my dd1 is like that, gets very upset if things don't look just perfect. However she is now, at the age of 10, producing stuff that's almost as good as mine (god I sound like a show-off, but ykwim I hope), so a combination of that plus me showing her some techniques means it's all coming a lot easier to her and we have less tears!

at the Corn Exchange, haunt of my youth! Is the plane still there? I come from v. close to Leeds (though have lived in Scotland for years now!). And the V&A - when I lived in London I used to spend my days off wandering round the V&A - my faves were the history of costume collection and the tapestry room (dark, quiet and contemplative)

LK, about the owls - like everyone has said, her copyright thing is so OTT - "methinks the lady doth protesteth too much" ! A real bodyblow, but try not to get too disheartened by it. In real terms I doubt it will affect your sales in any meaningful way. (and they are crap compared to yours!). No doubt about it, they are copies!

My parents arrived and went off for the night (not staying with us) about 9pm, since when I crocheted a bib for ds2 (which had dh rofling ). It looks quite bizarre and mad but also a little cute! I might blog it tomorrow if I have chance!

yes i agree, the lady doth protest far too much

i've had an email from her via etsy with a veeeeerrrrrry long description as to how long she has been making these owls, funnily enough, while reading it, i'm sure i got a wiff of bullshit

lk, have you seen acid copyright it's not cheap, but if you have a few original designs could be worth looking in to.

GM, tell me when you're at Mosaic again, and I'll be there- Nbg, will you be braving the 'inner loop' road too?

(I can smell it from here, LK )

thank betty for the link, i have come across acid before, all students get bombarded with info just after graduation about it all

to be honest, if you are going to blog, place images on flickr, or advertise yourself and your wares freely on the internet, you lay yourself open to copying, it comes with the territory. the answer is, unless you have one main product which you could patent, or a large company interested (sometimes i wonder why i left, but, oh yes, we moved!), us small fry just have to live with it. keep moving forward with your designing, adapt faster than the copiers and leave them standing 'oh those owls, oh thats sooooo last year don't you know, this year, i'm doing ...blah blah blah'

it's like that woody allen quote, "..it's like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.?

we may have a dead owl situation

NOOOOOO, not a dead owl LK, please - hers are crap compared to yours, really, I've looked closely...they stink...so in a way you could just say "who cares" etsy is huge and if anyone looks for owls and sees both yours and hers together they will just buy one of yours, straightaway, without thinking twice...I know it rankles...but please don't stop making your owls, they are just gorgeous and I really wouldn't give her another thought, hers are not anything like the quality (and that is SO important) of yours...she is obviously a one-owl-pony too as she has nothing else in her shop...whereas I am pretty sure you will have more than owls...but please do have some owls...we can't lose the owls...

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lucykate i think her shop has been withdrawn/closed !!!

check out the links someone - to check it not just me

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hey that's good news then!!
the cheeky fraudster

she has removed her listings, but she has emailed me to say her mum can back her up

bring it on, that's all i can say!

have edited my post and linked to one of her images which i just so happened to steal onto my desktop and load up to flickr, in the event that she would cover her tracks

phew!

right, back to normal service, might just have to sell the owls i've made at a higher price, now that they are a limited edition (rip little owl )

Betty! Hello! I was planning to do one of the mosaics over easter, but then it got too cold and I couldn't bear it. ha ha. I am a fair weather market trader! But I'll let you know when I do, you can be brave and do the loop - you can!
Miaou - I know nothing of this plane you speak of!!! Although, saying that, the Corn Exchange is half closed. Apparently (I heard rumours) it's going to be a food hall eventually. Now, I think it would make a lovely studio/shop type place for artists, like the craft centre in Manchester. Obviously the lack of culture we have going on in Leeds would prevent this from happening. I'm surprised they don't just stick a debenhams in it, or some other high street tat, like they've done with the Victoria Quarter - do you remember Boodle Am?, it was a hippy type shop full of kickers and kangol hats as well as kaftans and things. Very peculiar place, but been there for YEARS. DH got his first kickers there in the 70s, DD got hers, and so did DS. Now it's gone, pushed out by rent increases desinged to push out the small operator. It'll be replaced by a Reiss. Or a Karen Millen. (I get very wound up by it, I'm sure I rant about this quite often )

Anyhoo - back to the Owls. I think the fact she has taken them out of the shop says a lot, doesn't it. I wouldn't take my stuff out of my shop. Phew, I hope this is the end of her, LK. But I think it's a shame to not make the owls at all.

lk, it would be such a shame to not make the owls, they are so lovely. i'm pleased she has withdrawn the shop, that speaks volumes....

after sleeping on it, i agree, the fact she removed them so quickly does speak volumes. i'm not sure how i would deal with it if someone approached me about the same subject, but then i don't think (and hope!) i would ever get myself into that situation, i do a huge amount of research when designing, this is one of the reasons why...

when i was working, there was an issue with a junior designer, she was copying and then hiding the original reference. a embroidered tablecloth design was placed in a magazine, and coats was then contacted by another designer saying we had ripped her off. we had to go through the whole design studio searching for the copy of the original design, which itself, had already appeared in a magazine and was eventually found. it caused coats a great deal of embarrassment. the magazine had to print an apology in the next issue, and name the original designer, coats had to pay the lady for the use of her work, she could have taken coats to court over it, but luckily it was quickly resolved.

this was not the only incident, needless to say, the junior designer (and i use that term loosely!) 'left'

oh, and don't worry about the owls, think of it as evolution

lk- have left a comment on your blog... sorry to hear about the trauma... perhaps your owls will evolve into peacocks and eagles

hahaha at her taking the owls down - speaks volumes, doesn't it? I wouldn't give two hoots about her (sorry couldn't resist!)

You are so right about the copying issue - I ought to put some kind of disclaimer on my blog too.

Hey result LK
Thats good news.

I really really cannot see how she could come up with the exact same design.
I find it a bit too hard to swallow.
The same stitching in the same places, with the same use of fabric.

Dior, the necklace is bloody fabbola
It will go spot on with a cardi I have bought.
I love it.
Now the email address I have for you is that your paypal one?
Remind me how much I owe you.

Betty, I dont drive so it would be a 55 min train ride for me Although dont know why I'm grinning about going on the train.

Well last night I started a new little softie.
DD drew a fab picture of a cat (well as fab as a 4 year old can) and I thought I could make it look alive
I'm halfway through it so when its finished I'll blog it.
I have however done Whizzz's vintage swap pressie so could you email me your address please Whizzz and I'll post it on Tuesday.

Have mailed you NBG

My challenge today is to try & crochet !!
I've seen a lariat necklace in Bead Mag & I want to give it a go. It's 'only' a plain chain but looks quite effective (well the one in the mag does, not sure if mine will!)

Brillo, thanks Whizzz

Dior WOW at your seed beading !!

not done any crafting but DS and I made and coloured hard boiled eggs... well we started out with 4 in the pan, DH fishered one out when it was soft boiled and ate it... so that left three... DS stamped and coloured one then cracked it on the table.. the other two we dyed with food coloring one red and one green... so I crackled the rest of the cracked one and put it in the dye then when dry DS and I pulled the peel off to reveal all red cracks on the hard boiled egg... he was quite impressed and ate it about a minute after we took a picture of him with it... will load pictures tommorow...

oh and just got made fun of by DH and MIL for getting green and blacks dark(ish) chocolate to make cornflake cakes. I said I hate cadbury's and if I'm making something in my kitchen it will be my way... no substandard quality choc..

dior-your seed beading is lovely! very pretty lariat.

I can crochet a chain with beads

Nothing worth taking a pic of yet, but I can do it !!!!!