While this did not happen to me, it did happen to a friend of mine. She was selling her wonderful, original jewelry on Ruby Lane, and another person directly and blatantly copied (though not as well) her designs and sold them at a lower price. Even though she contacted Ruby Lane, they did nothing, and she ended up moving her shop to another site. It was very sad and frustrating.

I am often inspired by the cool designs I see, but I always try to make them my own, and give credit when I use a pattern or technique that I learned from someone else. I'm sorry you are dealing with this.

~Pippi

I think we have had variations on this discussion before and it is a good one. I think that you start out discussing artistry and someone else gave a commercial crafting project as an example.... so, I will tell you that I have different answers for each.

In art classes, we are expected to and assigned the task of copying existing work. It is a way of studying an art or craft. There is nothing wrong with copying for the purposes of learning or experiencing or even producing. Sometimes the practice of copying teaches how hard it is; sometimes it teaches how easy it is. Sometimes it inspires, sometimes it detracts. But copying a work of art for the exercise of it is a long-practiced tradition.

Copying a creative product on the commercial market is another story. Too, though, it is a long tradition. In most economic models of free-enterprise, the business that can produce goods at a lower price become the (financial) winners. In some economic markets, copycats or pirates are not revered (think Bentley or Mercedes), in other economic markets, they are an existing part of the market (some fashion designers flood the low-end markets with their own knock-offs, to create more "cachet" for their own high-end products), and even further down the market, they are almost the only market (think digital music downloads).

For handcrafters, especially in small business, the business is personal and the craft is personal. So the theft is personal. I understand. But I think that making, creating, completing and producing a piece is the lifecycle of that. As an artist, when I create something, that piece is done. I might go on to do a next piece that is a slight improvement or move two steps away from the previous one... or I might go on to do something completely different. I believe I am prolific and I never concern myself with whether that is my one and only best idea. What I thought was "best" 10 years ago is no longer best. Each piece, as I produce it, is best. For that moment. It has been created and now it is done. I sit with it and revere it, or maybe I move on. But it is mine and that is enough for me. Now, has someone seen it and gone to their studio and made one just like it? If they have, it takes nothing away from my piece nor me. That is their piece, their art. And maybe I had something to do with that piece, or maybe I didn't. But art is art. If you create art, more power to you. If you replicate my art for the practice of training yourself as an artist or for some other purpose (my art isn't for sale and you want one for yourself...), maybe I should consider myself flattered.

Now, deciding to market my piece for profit is an afterlife of the creation process. Say I create something, and someone copies it. THen I decide to market my piece, then they decide to market their piece. Or, say I create a piece, decide to market it, and only after I market it does someone copy it. Either way, at that point, the two pieces ARE competiting in a commercial market. They are not art anymore, they are products. Is anyone free to be inspired by other works? Yes. Can they steal an idea or exact patterns and produce them and take the profit? That is against the law and most business ethics. Does it get done? Yes. But at that point, we are talking about business ethics, not craft/art ethics. It is a free market in most western economies, and price/products/quality are determined by the market... the market is made up of the consumer, the producer, the currency system, the banking system, the resources/materials available, the distribution system, and of course branding/marketing/advertising. at the point, the product is just a bit player in the game. steal the idea? eh. steal your vendors? now that's a different story. have a better/cheaper/faster/sexier distribution system? that might be what makes them more successful. have a better marketing campaign? thsat might be what makes the sale, not the product (i.e., they could have copied someone else's designs and done well because they are good at marketing).

if someone has clearly taken your designs (like the actual sketches, calculations, materials list, measurements, patterns, techniques, etc), then you could possibly sue them. but as an artists, legal issues might not be your strong point. your time might be better spent going back your creative kleenex box of a brain and pull out another great idea.

As an artist, tho, i am sure you are prolific and will never be short of ideas (they might not always come out when you need them, but that is a delivery issue, not a creativity issue). if you believe that, then theft can sting, but not paralyze you. use some emotional bactine and get back to the studio! you've got something brilliant to create today!

and I have had the experience, many times. when it first happens, it is CRAZY MAKING! later it just raises my body temperature to a boiling point when I think about it, but that passes. now? can barely remember the project and i have so many other irons in the fire, what can i say? i have a lot to create on this planet... i hope to leave a bread crumb trail of my life everywhere, but i am not going to carry them around and horde them for myself... THAT would be crazy making!

I have had the word ethics defined to me as what you do when you assume no one else is looking or will catch you. Interesting thought in this case. I've gotten inspirations going to craft fairs for doing my own things. To a degree, I may have copied an idea, and tweaked it. If someone asks how I came up with the idea, I always tell them that I saw another piece that was similar and was inspired to put my own spin on it. When it comes to ethics, people either have good ones, or they don't. I feel sorry for the ones I see copying others and trying to sell the idea as theirs. Often, I see the flaws or lack of quality in those pieces - or sometimes the lack of imagination shines through.

That is how I go with it. I've had my ideas "stolen" or copied. I decided for myself to simply feel sorry for the idiot who did it as they obviously couldn't come up with an idea on their own and must have liked mine a lot to go through the motion of copying it. I also know that I can come up with more ideas, and even have been inspired to improve the piece that was copied.

There will always be thieves in the world. Some may be more like Robinhood, but theft is wrong anyway you look at it. So, just know that you are the bigger person, and be glad that you have good ethics. I believe the more you rise above those that steal your ideas, the more you shine as a winner. Quality and originality always shine through. Anyone who buys the knock-off piece will be getting lower quality - and you get what you pay for.

I find it hard to believe that there are THAT many original ideas out there - especially in jewelry making. Though you may not have ever seen a design before, doesn't mean it hasn't been done. I do know, though, that if you are making something and somebody DIRECTLY rips off your design/style & underprices you in the same market it can be infuriating. Integrity is everything & if some people don't have it, there's not much you can do about it. Sad as that is.

I've always been hazy on the subject of selling something you made from a pattern you bought. I haven't done this, but I occasionally will knit something from a pattern and people say they want one too. I've never felt comfortable with that idea, but then if I think about it, I did buy the pattern which is essentially releasing the design to the public.

What say you, Crafty Vixens, on using someone else's pattern to make a little money? Keep crediting the original designer? What if, by chance, you start making a lot of money? Does credit still suffice? I don't know if I'd sit too well with that, if I were the designer, but you all may have another opinion.