Stealing my friends work and passing it off as their own

[thequeenoftarts]

Hi

My friend makes and sells cards and sells the product in a craft shop. Someone is coming in and buying the product and putting it into photo frames and selling it on at a much inflated price, claiming it is her work.

Is there any way of stopping this? Is the person acting illegally? The work is not trademarked or copyrighted in any way.

Has anyone any ideas of how to stop this?

Thanks in advance

Well, she's getting sales so although annoying I can't see a real issue.

https://www.gov.uk/copyright

The work is copyright automatically. If the person is copying your friend's work, she is in breach of copyright. However, if she is merely buying it and reselling it, I don't think she is doing anything illegal. If she is succeeding in selling at the inflated price, it suggests that your friend should be getting a much higher price for her work.

Your friend could sell some of her works in frames upfront, take away the secondary market.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I have passed them onto her.