Chris Campbell on sun 17 apr 05
I hate to sound more cynical than usual ...
but, copyrights are only useful if you are
wealthy enough to defend them.
or ... have a spare year or three to spend gathering the
necessary documentation to uphold them.
Technology has gotten to the point that a factory could
send someone to take images of your work on Monday
and have duplicates made by Friday ... then sue you
for copying their designs.
By the time some artists even realize they have been
copied, thousands of pieces have already been shipped
and sold.
The Rosen Group has taken on the task of defending a
notorious case ... cheap blatant rip offs of the artist's work
were sent to a certain big box store chain.
He lost his customers due to the devaluation of his image.
It would set a great precedent if they could succeed and
punish the offender. They have the resources that
an individual artist could not hope for.
A certain artist I know has a lawyer friend ... he immediately
sends a cease and desist letter to anyone in the USA who
comes close to his designs ... he has been able to fend off
small time copy-cats with this kind of diligence.
But ...what will he be able to do if an off-shore company
goes to town on his designs ??
It's another one of those things that is not right or fair... but true.
The notion of copyright does not seem to be up to the challenge
of world wide enforcement.
Chris Campbell - in North Carolina - my two cents marked down to a penny !!
John Rodgers on mon 18 apr 05
Chris
You have really struck a nerve here. I have been ripped off twice by
offshore entities. There was no way for me to fight them.
In one case I had a particular Christmas ornament, and it was a hot
seller in Alaska. JC Penny caried it in their Alaskana Gift Shop. I
walked in one day, checking my stock in the shop, only to find right by
my ornaments a Taiwan look-alike. Actually it wasn't a look-alike. It
was cheap crap.....and my stuff was very fine china painted porcelain.
My ornament sold at $15, the crap sold for $2.95. I was tweaked. I
couldn't fight the importers, and as it turned out, they didn't have any
impact on me other than having stolen the design. The Taiwan junk sold
to junk collectors, and my porcelain sold to porcelain collectors. My
observation was that there were two kinds of buyers. Those shopping
price, and they would not buy my stuff anyway - and those shoppijng
quality ... and they always bought my stuff.
Fortuantely, the rip-offs never did do me any real damage, just the fact
that I was ripped off made me angry however. That is always a problem
for artists in the Alaska market. I have known more than a few that have
gotten ripped off that way. It's tough to fight it.
Glad to hear Wendy is pursuing an action against a rip-off company.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
Chris Campbell wrote:
>I hate to sound more cynical than usual ...
>
>but, copyrights are only useful if you are
>wealthy enough to defend them.
>
>or ... have a spare year or three to spend gathering the
>necessary documentation to uphold them.
>
>Technology has gotten to the point that a factory could
>send someone to take images of your work on Monday
>and have duplicates made by Friday ... then sue you
>for copying their designs.
>
>By the time some artists even realize they have been
>copied, thousands of pieces have already been shipped
>and sold.
>
>The Rosen Group has taken on the task of defending a
>notorious case ... cheap blatant rip offs of the artist's work
>were sent to a certain big box store chain.
>
>He lost his customers due to the devaluation of his image.
>
>It would set a great precedent if they could succeed and
>punish the offender. They have the resources that
>an individual artist could not hope for.
>
>A certain artist I know has a lawyer friend ... he immediately
>sends a cease and desist letter to anyone in the USA who
>comes close to his designs ... he has been able to fend off
>small time copy-cats with this kind of diligence.
>
>But ...what will he be able to do if an off-shore company
>goes to town on his designs ??
>
>It's another one of those things that is not right or fair... but true.
>
>The notion of copyright does not seem to be up to the challenge
>of world wide enforcement.
>
>Chris Campbell - in North Carolina - my two cents marked down to a penny !!
>
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