I Love Your Work and Want to Make One for Myself is not a compliment, it is a copy


The post "I love your work and want to make one for myself"  is raising a lot of discussion and tons of comments. For this reason, I am bringing  a blog post to the Crafthaus community.

 

To avoid duplicate content, read the original post on ASK Harriete.

For Crafthaus, I thought that this post could include an another story brought to my attention. The names have been removed to protect both the innocent and the guilty.

The unfortunate problem right now is that digital technologies have developed faster that the social mores surrounding them. People copy images without attribution, or copy content they didn't write. Whole pages exist on Pinterest about "I want to make this."  Makers stand at their wholesale/retail booth display which cost them $1,000's  while enthusiasts make deep inquiries "I love your work and what to make something just like this for myself."

Here is a sample story:

It has happened again! "Minutes before reading your post, I  had actually responded to a "tell me how to make one" request. Here is one of several stories (of many) that I have on this topic:

"Several years ago while I was attending a conference, I succumbed to overwhelming pressure to share a technique I had developed. I did a demo of the technique for a small group of 6 or 7 people who all swore they would not pass it along, since I was actively selling the work made with this technique."

"Only a few weeks after my demo, a free online tutorial was posted by someone who had not even been present at the demo. I discovered that one of those who saw my demo at the conference reproduced it during a large guild meeting after she returned home, and the written tutorial was derived by a third person from that guild meeting."

"When I contacted the tutorial author to ask her to take the tutorial down she said something like "No, the community NEEDS to share this important new technique". My BAD for naively sharing in the first place, but I was amazed at this attitude and the disregard for the effect on my livelihood."

 

"I have had more than one person very nicely ask me "Since you do not plan to teach or write a tutorial for technique X, would it be OK if I did?" To me, it felt like they were asking: "Could I please profit from your hard work and also undermine your business?" I was baffled as to what they could be thinking, how they could see this as an ethical thing to ask."

 

"When a friend sent me a link to a direct knock off of one of my new designs for sale on Etsy I contacted the owner of the Etsy page and explained why they should remove it. The response was to send me links to two other copy cat pieces as evidence that everyone else was doing it, so she should be able to as well. It was eventually removed after I persisted.
 "I saw an advertisement for a class featuring the technique I developed, which had now long since been out there. The image for the advertisement was an exact copy of one of my recent designs. There is often confusion about the difference between a TECHNIQUE (which can not be copyrighted, keeping it confidential is the only way to protect a technique you have developed)  and a DESIGN (which is automatically copyrighted in the US)."

 

FROM Harriete:
This one story demonstrates many "BAD and UGLY's in the AGE of the Internet including, but not limited to:




 I am sure that many of you have stories to share and welcome hearing what you have to say. (If you want me to share your story anonymously, send it to me privately. and I will post it as a comment.)

The issues are numerous, but our first step is to recognize the problem and bring awareness to all levels of the arts and craft community.

"It is not our abilities that show who we really are, it is our choices."

Harriete Estel Berman

Views: 537

Comment

You need to be a member of crafthaus to add comments!

Join crafthaus

Comment by Harriete E Berman on February 28, 2014 at 9:56am

John and everyone, there are a "ton" of example of the "workshop impostor." And while you can not copyright technique, it is unethical to copy a person's workshop and teach it as your own. People also copy the visual materials, workshop descriptions,  workshop titles,  and handout which is illegal. 

Having sympathy or no sympathy is not the issue. We need to discuss the problems and bring awareness to ethical and legal boundaries.

The problems are chronic. Did you read the comments on the original post on ASK Harriete. ASK Harriete? At this point there are actually too many comments to read. Copying is rampant from within the arts and crafts community and from outside.

Comment by 2Roses on February 28, 2014 at 9:43am

Harriete, its time to read copyright law. Techniques are not copyrightable. Secondly, how naive does a person need to be to travel about the countryside teaching a technique and then profess shock and outrage that people start using what they have learned.

The story quotes an instance of someone taking the author's techniques and using them for "spectacular financial gain". Apparently that person was smarter than the the individual who is claiming she has some imagined "right" to the technique, but couldn't figure out anything better and financially advantageous to do with it than teach it to a lot of other makers.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for these types of complaints. They are ignorant of the law, human nature, and the generally accepted practices of the field in which they operate.

Comment by Harriete E Berman on February 27, 2014 at 9:06pm

 How about story. Does it sound familiar? Names have been removed to protect the innocent and the guilty, but I do have permission to share the story.
"Your blog post struck home. I began teaching out of economic necessity , then wrote my first book simply to have published proof of my right to be intellectually associated with the development of my specialized techniques. These techniques are now being devoured by the crafting world. Only one person labels to her work stating from whom she learned the technique from my book, but others don't. and simply copy my work."

"And then there are people, who not only taught themselves the technique from my book but copied the workshop format I described on my blog." 

"At long last I am in a position to sell my work through appropriate venues and so am planning to retreat from teaching. I've met some lovely people through workshops but a lot of vampires too. Such as those who teach my technique the week they get home from my workshop, and then ask if I have any printed handouts."

"Then there's a person from (city, state, country) who even takes my words and represents them as hers (as well as using my technique for spectacular financial gain) All this is only the tip of the iceberg."

Latest Activity

Aleksandra Vali posted a status
"2023 Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy"
Sep 19, 2023
Aleksandra Vali and Letitia Pintilie are now friends
Sep 19, 2023
Catherine Marche liked Rebecca Skeels's discussion streamlining our pages
Feb 3, 2021
Jonathan Leo Brown posted a status
"An art deco inspired ocean liner container with multiple containers."
Nov 9, 2020

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

© 2024   Created by Brigitte Martin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service