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- This topic has 22 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 4 months ago by Blooming.
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June 3, 2013 at 3:59 pm #990970
Imagine my shock, disbelief, and horror to walk into TJMaxx/Home Goods new store here in west Texas the end of April, and to see my floral reproduced onto a pillow! I took photos of its tags with identifiers and of course the pillow front to have when contacting the retailer. Not only did I have my original photo reference, but the original watercolor, and all the dates it was featured online here on WC and on blogs. The company immediately agreed it was selling unauthorized product and ordered all pillows pulled from retail, and gave me Devi Designs’ mailing address. Apparently my zinnia floral was stolen in India then the final production done here in the US. My queries to Devi have gone unanswered. I did alert TJX that there are other florals reproduced on pillows in their stores with similar styles (they sneakily cropped signatures off before printing) to mine and they have now notified all their buyers to cease business with Devi.
Just a warning to all artists! Put a watermark on your work, post at a smaller size with low resolution, and state it is copyright John Doe 2013. It won’t prevent theft but might be a deterrent.
Here is the one that was stolen:
Kay
Moderator: Watermedia, Mixed Media, Abstract/Contemporary
June 3, 2013 at 5:03 pm #1188643Wow Kay, a barefaced copy! Well spotted. I wonder how long this has been going on?
Doug
We must leave our mark on this worldJune 3, 2013 at 5:08 pm #1188649It’s great to know that the distributor is being so pro-active.
Diane
June 4, 2013 at 12:19 am #1188661Really sorry this happened to you, I hope you will be able to resolve it to your satisfaction. And BTW…beautiful work! Well adapted to that use, only problem was, you should’ve been asked and paid first!
June 4, 2013 at 5:17 pm #1188650I am currently facing several copyright infringement by companies, but I think going into a store and seeing it would be especially horrid. so sorry.
June 5, 2013 at 12:31 am #1188644T.J. Maxx, eh?
And your reaction was shock and horror?
Mine would have been, ahh, I see a very big payday in my future, finally!
There has to be a lawyer somewhere that would love to handle your case.
Further, if I was happy with the quality of my images on the merchandise, and not unhappy with the merchandise itself, I would not want the products destroyed–I’d simply want a fair percentage of the selling price of all units sold, being sold, and that will be sold.
Imagine my shock, disbelief, and horror to walk into TJMaxx/Home Goods new store here in west Texas the end of April, and to see my floral reproduced onto a pillow! I took photos of its tags with identifiers and of course the pillow front to have when contacting the retailer. Not only did I have my original photo reference, but the original watercolor, and all the dates it was featured online here on WC and on blogs. The company immediately agreed it was selling unauthorized product and ordered all pillows pulled from retail, and gave me Devi Designs’ mailing address. Apparently my zinnia floral was stolen in India then the final production done here in the US. My queries to Devi have gone unanswered. I did alert TJX that there are other florals reproduced on pillows in their stores with similar styles (they sneakily cropped signatures off before printing) to mine and they have now notified all their buyers to cease business with Devi.
Just a warning to all artists! Put a watermark on your work, post at a smaller size with low resolution, and state it is copyright John Doe 2013. It won’t prevent theft but might be a deterrent.
Here is the one that was stolen:
[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/03-Jun-2013/11698-Christys_Zinnias1200.jpg[/IMG]
Forcing the waveform to collapse for two decades...
http://www.syntheticskystudios.com
Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, "Small Works", December 2019June 5, 2013 at 8:01 am #1188660I’m with Keith. A major retailer with a large established customer base? Smells like royalty payments to me…
But I would be very upset at the manufacturer for ripping me off.
"Let the paint be paint" --John Marin
June 5, 2013 at 9:46 am #1188647This store is in a town 35 miles away, so I did go back in yesterday and all those type pillows were gone, replaced by white lacy ones. My lawyer niece says I’d need an intellectual property, or IP lawyer, and their fees would be so high it would not be worthwhile to sue. Especially if one design was used. I’ve had friends check other stores in Texas, and no pillows with my floral could be found.
I think it is time to go on Facebook and Twitter with this story. What do you all say?Kay
Moderator: Watermedia, Mixed Media, Abstract/Contemporary
June 5, 2013 at 10:18 am #1188651This store is in a town 35 miles away, so I did go back in yesterday and all those type pillows were gone, replaced by white lacy ones. My lawyer niece says I’d need an intellectual property, or IP lawyer, and their fees would be so high it would not be worthwhile to sue. Especially if one design was used. I’ve had friends check other stores in Texas, and no pillows with my floral could be found.
I think it is time to go on Facebook and Twitter with this story. What do you all say?sent you a message
June 5, 2013 at 6:40 pm #1188659[I]Further, if I was happy with the quality of my images on the merchandise, and not unhappy with the merchandise itself, I would not want the products destroyed–I’d simply want a fair percentage of the selling price of all units sold, being sold, and that will be sold.[/I]
That’s not going to happen. If they had wanted to pay an American designer, they would have done so. They likely destroyed the merchandise because they don’t want to talk to the real designer – and they will drop the Indian company ‘at fault’ but then likely just find another one of the same ilk, maybe even the same one with a new name. Yes Facebook.
June 5, 2013 at 7:27 pm #1188645That’s not going to happen. If they had wanted to pay an American designer, they would have done so. They likely destroyed the merchandise because they don’t want to talk to the real designer – and they will drop the Indian company ‘at fault’ but then likely just find another one of the same ilk, maybe even the same one with a new name. Yes Facebook.
Not all designers charge the same rates. For anyone to assume that they cannot afford an American designer (so its better to steal a design, and destroy merchandise if anyone finds out) is just stupid, wasteful, and wrong.
If I found out that eomeone had already made a number of products based on my work, I would not ask a designer “fee”; again, I would ask for a percentage or (if that really wasn’t possible) I would ask that they put my name prominently in their displays.
Forcing the waveform to collapse for two decades...
http://www.syntheticskystudios.com
Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, "Small Works", December 2019June 5, 2013 at 9:29 pm #1188652[color=”teal]Not all designers charge the same rates. For anyone to assume that they cannot afford an American designer (so its better to steal a design, and destroy merchandise if anyone finds out) is just stupid, wasteful, and wrong.
If I found out that eomeone had already made a number of products based on my work, I would not ask a designer “fee”; again, I would ask for a percentage or (if that really wasn’t possible) I would ask that they put my name prominently in their displays.[/color]
Sadly from personal experience dream on, these companies have a clever system of passing the buck,giving you the runaround. They won’t give you a percentage because that signifies culpability,they won’ t put your name on the work for the same reason. You will be told by the company they are not liable because it was a outsourced contractor sold it to them, the contractor then denies blame because they purchased the image from an independent person who somehow cannot be found or reached. The merchandise will either be destroyed or somehow end up on flea market stalls somewhere,or shipped back to the vendor and the company reimbursed. Hiring a copyright attorney costs thousands.
Modern Dog Design vs Target, and they have had to sell their studio to fund their lawsuit.
June 6, 2013 at 8:30 am #1188658Something similar happened over here, in the knitting, world where a design was in a high street store, Debenhams that had clearly been a copy of knitting designer, Kate Davies (she blogs[/URL] about it here). Such an outcry ensued that the company immediately withdrew the product and settled on a payout, which Kate donated to a charity close to her heart. This is in the fashion industry where copying is rife.
What worked in this case was not lawyers or any legal intervention, but a huge outpouring of anger towards the company who stole the design. It got taken up by social media: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry (knitting community of over 3 million people) – Debenhams knew damage was being done to their otherwise good name.
Just the threat of legal action and/or social media bombardment might get you some financial recompense.
Rolina x
https://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/16-Aug-2013/959592-bottombanner_resized.jpg
July 25, 2014 at 10:21 am #1188655Same thing happened to me when I walked into a popular travel center one day and spotting a display of cigarette lighters by the checkout, imprinted with my copyrighted designs. I talk about it more in another thread, but suffice to say, don’t just settle for a cease and desist. Go after them for damages and any profits realized from your artwork. I did in my case, and won.
July 25, 2014 at 10:27 am #1188648These stories are all so true yet disgusting in their flagrant disregard for artists and our hard work. A friend sent me a link to a Chinese site who had more than one of my pet portraits listed for sale with my copyright watermark clearly visible! No shame. With my second watercolor that appeared on a Target Australia store website, I just felt like giving up. (I’ve posted it here)…just put all of it on Facebook and here came their little apology:crying:
Matt, I’m glad you prevailed and won your case.
Kay
Moderator: Watermedia, Mixed Media, Abstract/Contemporary
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