I’m at odds over something and don’t know whether to bring it up or bury it in a mental "ick" file. This is about copyright and although it doesn’t affect me directly, someone out there, who should know better is doing it and I need to vent it out so I can file it as a cold case and move on. It is our responsibility as shop owners, designers and craft enthusiasts, to air out the copyright blanket, shake it out a few time a year to get rid of the thieving bugs.
You would think a guild teacher and shop owner would know better but three things have happened in the last month to prove otherwise. A couple of weeks ago, a rug hooker brought a pattern in that was clearly copied. I am the only one with the permission to produce this woman's designs and I give her a percentage of the sale which is standard practice. So when one of her designs came in on white linen that I don’t stock, I was immediately curious. It was copied poorly, with shaky lines, I wouldn’t even let a messy pattern like that go out the door. The woman told me she thought she had purchased it from me but I let her know that I don’t produce that kind of workmanship and I don’t sell that linen. Interestingly, the shop's name was written on the bottom of the pattern so the mystery was solved. I phoned the designer afterwards and she was very surprised. A one off we thought/hoped, maybe not worth making a stink over?
A couple of days later, a customer came in and we were chatting about this and that and out of the blue, she mentioned that she hasn’t frequented that same shop since 1996. She said she had designed and hooked a rug, took it into that shop and was asked if they could have a picture. The woman was flattered and said yes. She later discovered the pattern was being produced and sold without her permission.
So this brings me to my experience. A woman came in with a quilt that had a cute design of teddy bears and building blocks. She asked me to put it on a backing for her and I told her sorry I wasn’t able to do that. She said it was ‘only’ a Mary Maxim pattern and I’m not sure why that brand was up for guiltless grabs, but I told her that it was someone’s design and I couldn’t touch it. She said she can’t draw so would have to find someone to do it for her. I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears so I didn’t hear that, but I did tell her that I would be terribly upset if someone did that to me so I wouldn't do it to others. So she came in on Saturday with the pattern and it was drawn by the same person, unmentioned above. That’s three patterns proven to be copied, one can assume there are more.
So what do I do with this? I’m not the rug hooking police and I wouldn’t want to get into that arena for all the wool in New Hampshire, but it’s upsetting. I’ve been chewing on it like stringy celery and it keeps popping back into my head like a ball attached to a paddle. In this day and age with all the focus on being honest in the pattern department I don’t get how anyone could do this. I can see why a new hooker would be unaware but an old timer?
I’m asked all the time to do up Disney patterns like Mickey Mouse and Goofy. Winnie the Pooh is highly desired for nursery rugs and I’ve refused copying that one more than I have fingers and toes. I always say, "no, can not do" and explain why. Truthfully, I would love to be able to produce those TM designs, I’d laugh all the way to the bank and back. Dishonesty might fill the till, but I'd rather feel good about towing the 'right' line.
You would think a guild teacher and shop owner would know better but three things have happened in the last month to prove otherwise. A couple of weeks ago, a rug hooker brought a pattern in that was clearly copied. I am the only one with the permission to produce this woman's designs and I give her a percentage of the sale which is standard practice. So when one of her designs came in on white linen that I don’t stock, I was immediately curious. It was copied poorly, with shaky lines, I wouldn’t even let a messy pattern like that go out the door. The woman told me she thought she had purchased it from me but I let her know that I don’t produce that kind of workmanship and I don’t sell that linen. Interestingly, the shop's name was written on the bottom of the pattern so the mystery was solved. I phoned the designer afterwards and she was very surprised. A one off we thought/hoped, maybe not worth making a stink over?
A couple of days later, a customer came in and we were chatting about this and that and out of the blue, she mentioned that she hasn’t frequented that same shop since 1996. She said she had designed and hooked a rug, took it into that shop and was asked if they could have a picture. The woman was flattered and said yes. She later discovered the pattern was being produced and sold without her permission.
So this brings me to my experience. A woman came in with a quilt that had a cute design of teddy bears and building blocks. She asked me to put it on a backing for her and I told her sorry I wasn’t able to do that. She said it was ‘only’ a Mary Maxim pattern and I’m not sure why that brand was up for guiltless grabs, but I told her that it was someone’s design and I couldn’t touch it. She said she can’t draw so would have to find someone to do it for her. I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears so I didn’t hear that, but I did tell her that I would be terribly upset if someone did that to me so I wouldn't do it to others. So she came in on Saturday with the pattern and it was drawn by the same person, unmentioned above. That’s three patterns proven to be copied, one can assume there are more.
So what do I do with this? I’m not the rug hooking police and I wouldn’t want to get into that arena for all the wool in New Hampshire, but it’s upsetting. I’ve been chewing on it like stringy celery and it keeps popping back into my head like a ball attached to a paddle. In this day and age with all the focus on being honest in the pattern department I don’t get how anyone could do this. I can see why a new hooker would be unaware but an old timer?
I’m asked all the time to do up Disney patterns like Mickey Mouse and Goofy. Winnie the Pooh is highly desired for nursery rugs and I’ve refused copying that one more than I have fingers and toes. I always say, "no, can not do" and explain why. Truthfully, I would love to be able to produce those TM designs, I’d laugh all the way to the bank and back. Dishonesty might fill the till, but I'd rather feel good about towing the 'right' line.
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