Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. This was the strangest Mother's Day in history! I, like you, would give anything to be able to wrap my kids, and grandkids in my arms. When that day comes, it's going to be the best day ever.
Now to get to the matters at hand. The following pictures are my Country Sampler quilt and design. This is the pattern that I taught on a Quilting Cruise to Alaska two summers ago.
It's a learning quilt pattern which reinforces the construction of the same components over and over again. It looks much more complex, and detailed than it is. I've been contemplating remaking this pattern using Betsy Chutchian fabrics. I just need more hours in my day.
We found this old truck when we took the quilt out on a photo shoot. It was the perfect backdrop for display.
Here is the picture that I have on the pattern front which I exported from EQ software. I chose this picture for the pattern cover so you can really see what the quilt looks like.
Now I will get to the point of this post instead of making it look like a shameless, self-promotion of my pattern. Sales have been very brisk on my Etsy site for this pattern. When sales start to pickup considerably on one pattern, it usually means that a quilt shop, an individual, or the photo has been widely reposted on Pintrest, Instagram or Facebook. I was curious, so I did an search on the Internet to see what I could find.
I found a picture of MY DESGIN on a Tee Shirt website. You can buy a super king size quilt/blanket for $89.99! No self respecting quilter would call it a blanket. You can't purchase the fabrics for $89.99 to make the quilt. Most importantly, did they get my permission to mass produce my design!!! NO!! There is also a tab on their website covering their copyright dispute policy in great detail. This is just so irritating.
I don't think this is why sales have picked up on this pattern. I never would have found it had I not be curious.
Now I need to decide what to do about this copyright infringement. Is it worth my time, effort, and money to pursue a company that is most likely off-shore? I would like to buy one of the "blankets" just to check out the shoddy workmanship, but I don't want to give them one red cent.
Most likely I will just sit a fume about this for a few days, (insert red face emoji with steam coming out of my ears), and chalk it up to imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Soon,
Lynn
We had this same site take our Guild banner. We reported them and complaints filed thru several offices - but nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know Sharon. I thought my efforts of going after them may be the equivalent of spitting in a Nor'easter. Stay well my friend.
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Deleteso sorry to see that Lynn - I have heard of several things happen like this to other quilt designers and never hear in the end what happened. I guess with so many pinning and facebook etc it probably happens more than we even hear
ReplyDeleteI think you are right Karen.
DeleteI'm pretty sure I saw that ad on Facebook a week or so ago. Word to the wise is never ever respond to anything being advertised on Facebook. Pretty much all scams out of China, where else?
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ReplyDeleteIt must take a lot of nerve to out and out steal someone else's work. I'm sorry this has happened to you.
DeleteThanks Fran. It is very irritating.
DeleteThat is terrible Lynn. Wish there was something you could do. I am with Quilting Babcia - never ever respond to ads on FB. That is out right stealing from your hard labor. GRRRR--
ReplyDeleteI tried to find their ad on FB, but I didn't see it. I may drop a line and picture to FB and tell them about the unscrupulous people behind the ad.
DeleteI am totally embarrassed to say I fell for a quilt blanket years ago as a gift for my sister. When it came in, it was a photograph of an entire quilt that had been printed on one piece of cheap fabric and quilted with an all-over design. It hasn't seen the light of day since.
ReplyDeleteI remember you talking about that. I never connected the dots until now.
DeleteOMG!!! How infuriating! I don't blame you one bit. I'm so sorry this happened. You work so hard at what you do and someone just steals it is just .... ARRRR!
ReplyDeleteYes it is infuriating! I sent them a nasty email that made me feel much better!
DeleteMy guess is: China. they are notorious for stealing our intellectual property! Sorry about that!! We all know that those "blankets" won't be the quality that yours is!! It is a beautiful quilt!! Hugs, H
ReplyDeleteI think you are right Helen. I can't imagine a super king for $89.99!
DeleteI am joining the chorus! I am dashed!
ReplyDeleteWhat a low life to abscond with your intellectual property.
Pity those who bought it unknowingly and double-karma to those who "stoled" it!
Yes, I do feel sorry for the anyone who bought their cheap product. I'll just keep on designing and hope this doesn't happen again. Wishful thinking on my part.
DeleteI'll purchase your pattern for this, and what a great idea to make it in Betsy C fabrics! I've just been looking for an excuse to buy some. :) I guess since there's nothing you can really do about the theft, just take a deep breath and know that those cheap blankets do not represent your work.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Debbie. Your order will ship today. Betsy's fabrics are all so gorgeous! You can't go wrong by adding them to your stash. Now I'd better start remaking Country Sample with them!
DeleteJe comprends votre colère car cela se produit trop souvent. En effet, je parle ici surtout de broderie car j'ai déjà rencontré quelques créatrices qui m'ont fait part de leur indignation car les grilles sont copiées et utilisées sans faire mention du nom de la créatrice.
ReplyDeleteEn patchwork je pense que le problème est le même.
Vraiment désolée de voir qu'il y ait trop de personnes peu scrupuleuses et respectueuses du travail d'autrui.
Amicalement
Merci beaucoup pour votre commentaire. Il est frustrant de voir une telle copie blantante de mon travail. La pensée que l’entreprise a fait de l’argent à partir de mon modèle est tellement irritant.
DeleteI remember reading somewhere somebody's comment that they had bought a quilt from this company. The pattern isn't pieced, it's printed on the "quilt."
ReplyDeleteIt won't last long, and will probably fall apart after the first washing. Thank you for commenting.
DeleteFirst of all - Your quilt is exquisitely done! The story behind this must be devastating to you though - outright theft of your design. Is there any way, even small, that you could visit their website and leave a comment - typically there are options to post a review, etc. stating the fact that what they are offering is a stolen design and copyright infringement. Of course, the administrator could remove any negative comments, but maybe it would stay on long enough so at least a few other potential “customers” might have second thoughts. I remember years ago when the Smithsonian Museum was embroiled in a mess regarding the overseas reproduction of one of its historical quilts. The workmanship was deplorable and quilters across the US protested. The Museum never did that again. I am so sorry to hear this has happened to you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat. I looked for a review area on their website, but couldn't find one. There are so many hoops to jump through to lodge a complaint. I'm just not sure it is worth my efforts.
ReplyDeleteACK! No respect for copyright. Hard as it is, I think that ignoring it is your best option, otherwise you get dragged into a fight you didn't ask for and your energies are much better spent doing something positive.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I found another "knock off" site that is using my design, and many others printed as a quilt/blanket. I'm going to stop looking.
DeleteLynn, be sure to start putting your name on the pictures of anything you do online. That way you are putting your name on it and that should cover the copy right! I googled the name and came up with this -
ReplyDeleteweird.https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=country+sampler+quilt+blanket&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
They are selling this all over the place and it is a company out of NY. This is bad! I know most bloggers do a signature on each picture!
I am so very sorry that this has happened. It would be worth the time to send a letter to them.
You know Lynn, there is a pattern called Sweet Surrender and no longer in print. I have had 4 quilters wanting me to make a copy and sell it to them! Another blogger and I finally had to put a statement on our posts that we did not have the pattern and yet about 2 weeks ago received another request looking for the pattern.
ReplyDeleteMost quilters honor the copyright laws. I wonder what is really going on with your pattern. Weird.
Hi!! I’m late reading this in your blog I know!! But I had this happen to me in a design I had made and someone was mass producing them and selling them cheap. Because I had a picture of mine date stamped to show when I made it originally. My lawyer sent them a cease and deceased letter letting them know that copyright infringement will cost them 10,000$ per copy, which is what it is, and we would pursue legal actions if they didn’t pull the product immediately. They did. It worked.
ReplyDelete