craig clark on sat 24 feb 01
Susan. Three words of advice. SUE HIS ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-----Original Message-----
From: Scsclay@AOL.COM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2001 11:02 AM
Subject: unexpected sightings of your work
I guess this would be a variation on seeing your pot in the Salvation Army,
as discussed a while back.
I went to a Home Show last night, and low and behold there was a relief
border
tile of mine in a display by a tile and granite store that is new to the
area. This
would not be such a surprise except #1-I have never met or done business
with
this store, and #2-I stopped making tiles a year ago and pulled out
everything
(I thought) except for the sample boards which tile stores had purchased.
This
was not one of the sample board tiles. Evidentally the person who
represented
me is still selling my work. He has tried to hand reproduce one line ( I
found out
through the grapevine) but not successfully I was told, as they basically
ram
press field tiles, no art background.
My question is: what do you do if someone makes a mold of your tile,
unbeknownst to you, and sells it as their own? Is it legal? This would be
the only way he could continue to sell it I think. We had discussed making
some of the work with less undercuts to mold and I would get a cut from each
tile sold, but I never made the models for him. He also never asked my
permission to attempt to copy my line.
Thanks for any advice.
Susan Schultz
Stonington, Ct.
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Scsclay@AOL.COM on sat 24 feb 01
I guess this would be a variation on seeing your pot in the Salvation Army,
as discussed a while back.
I went to a Home Show last night, and low and behold there was a relief border
tile of mine in a display by a tile and granite store that is new to the
area. This
would not be such a surprise except #1-I have never met or done business with
this store, and #2-I stopped making tiles a year ago and pulled out everything
(I thought) except for the sample boards which tile stores had purchased.
This
was not one of the sample board tiles. Evidentally the person who represented
me is still selling my work. He has tried to hand reproduce one line ( I
found out
through the grapevine) but not successfully I was told, as they basically ram
press field tiles, no art background.
My question is: what do you do if someone makes a mold of your tile,
unbeknownst to you, and sells it as their own? Is it legal? This would be
the only way he could continue to sell it I think. We had discussed making
some of the work with less undercuts to mold and I would get a cut from each
tile sold, but I never made the models for him. He also never asked my
permission to attempt to copy my line.
Thanks for any advice.
Susan Schultz
Stonington, Ct.
Snail Scott on sat 24 feb 01
Your work is yours, and copyrighted automatically
even if you never wrote (c) anywhere on it. This
includes the design, not just the item itself.
Tiny modifications do not excuse the plagarist.
Dig up documentation of your original design, with
dated paperwork if possible, and find a lawyer.
-Snail
p.s.- There's a technical term for a mold made from
a finished work of art after the fact: 'surmoulage'.
There's also a technical term for selling the
product of such a process: 'theft'!
-S.
At 09:20 AM 2/24/01 EST, you wrote:
>My question is: what do you do if someone makes a mold of your tile,
>unbeknownst to you, and sells it as their own? Is it legal? This would be
>the only way he could continue to sell it I think. We had discussed making
>some of the work with less undercuts to mold and I would get a cut from each
>tile sold, but I never made the models for him. He also never asked my
>permission to attempt to copy my line.
>
>Thanks for any advice.
>
>Susan Schultz
>Stonington, Ct.
Terrance Lazaroff on sat 24 feb 01
Susan:
I would suggest you try to find out if there is a copyright organisation in
your area. These organisations work for you as your copyright agent. They
take a commission on any contract they negotiate for you.
Most copyright organisations will keep a watchful eye out for art concepts
and design and imagery that are being used without permission.
Copyright organisations may also have deals where you can claim monies for
published images.
If there is no organisation then I suggest you find an art organisation and
try to get them to set about organising a copyright protection agency.
If you can prove that the design is yours, you could send, the people
reproducing your image a bill processed by a lawyer. In order to do this
you would have to know how many units have been sold. The fact that a
lawyer is sending the bill may, I repeat, may encourage them to pay up.
You only other recourse is to take the people to court which probably would
cost more than you wish to invest and more than will be recovered from the
company.
You could also tell the ceramic shop selling the tile that it is your design
and that you are considering legal proceedings against the manufacturer.
This may encourage the store management to withdraw the product from sales.
Remember you have copyright protection. The law is there. You just need to
put teeth into it. Just be sure it is your design and not some inspiration
from ceramics past.
Terrance
>
>My question is: what do you do if someone makes a mold of your tile,
>unbeknownst to you, and sells it as their own? Is it legal? This would be
>the only way he could continue to sell it I think. We had discussed making
>some of the work with less undercuts to mold and I would get a cut from
each
>tile sold, but I never made the models for him. He also never asked my
>permission to attempt to copy my line.
>
>Thanks for any advice.
>
>Susan Schultz
>Stonington, Ct.
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Cindy Strnad on sat 24 feb 01
Susan, I don't know about this.
It might be time for you to talk to your lawyer, if you think it's worth the
trouble. What your rep has done is obviously illegal, and if you believe he
has a chance at making a go of selling your tiles, it may be worth your
while to establish ownership of the design now rather than later, when you
see it in Home Depot.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
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