See the circled bits on the image above? Now recognise them below on my ORIGINAL design called Retro Breakfast which I've done in 3 colourways. My prints have been selling in my etsy shop for 2 years and loads of people have purchased them. The bowl, the mug and the design on the sugar bowl/coffee pot on their products are all mine! How lazy is that - stealing someone else's designs!!
Hi Nat. That's very naughty of Marks and Sparks.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I picked up a book on Chakras in a shop. I read a few bits and one page seemed very familiar. Then I realised that it had been lifted verbatim from an essay I'd written a few years earlier. I'd given some photocopies of it to people who were interested. No idea how it ended up in the book. I didn't bother to pursue it, but it would have been nice to have had at least an acknowledgement. I'm not sure if I even put my name on the original text, as I wasn't expecting it to be used.
It's kind of nice to be published, but it would've been nicer if it had been published under my name not someone elses'!
I love your designs by the way.
Cheers
Graham
Oh Nat that is SO out of order, I am fuming for you!! I don't know what the outcome of the Rachael Taylor case was, but they obviously haven't learned from it...how hard would it have been for them ot contact you and pay you for your designs, if they wanted to use them?! Outrageous. Rachel x
ReplyDeleteNat you must try and do something about it. Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits blog had her knitted bunnies totally ripped off by a High Street supermarket - maybe ask her for some sage advice?
ReplyDeleteSally @Lavender Attic
Thats rubbish, I remember years ago I was working for a card company and another card company ripped off my lettering, in the end the card company didn't take it any further as it was going to cost too much to take them to court.
ReplyDeleteThat is such an obvious rip off its unbelieveable.
I would definately look into it. Start a twitter campaign that always seems to raise the profile!
Still love my print by the way, it always gets lots of lovely comments.
Thanks for the supportive comments - I'm going to have to start by finding out whether it was an in-house designer or a commissioned studio who stole the designs. After that, not sure what I can do about it but let them know how wrong it is.
ReplyDeleteThat is so awful! It's hard to believe that there are people out there who are so unscrupulous. Best of luck in pursuing justice! I agree with Graham, your designs are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh Nat! I'm so upset for you! I am going to tweet this right away, I cannot believe M&S are at it again!x
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear that -
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you start a facebook page like M & S pinched my design... or some such? It's probably the case that lots of people have had their work taken, but its just not in the public.. might be worth 10 mins of your time.
Either that or tell them you wont pursue it for X amount..
Good luck anyway.
oh! this sucks Nat... What are you planning to do about this?
ReplyDeleteI don't know yet what I can do about it but if there's any news I'll definitely be posting it up on this blog. First port of call first thing Monday morning: ACID.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for all the supportive comments!
GET THEM!!! THIS IS NOT OKAY!
ReplyDeleteAnother awful story. Their brand is not getting good publicity out of this. So sorry. Hope you get some sort of compensation, mainly on the moral aspect of it. A public recognition of their mistake is due.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this. My husband is a copyright lawyer, and I am a designer. The general rule is to change it 15-20%, and it looks like they did. The handle on the mug is different, the sugar in the bowl has been changed, the colors and placement arent identical. Yeah, it sucks - and happens to me all of the time as well - but take it as flattery. Not much you can do really, other than to send them a Cease & Desist letter, which means youre getting lawyers involved. At the end of the day, any $ you make from them wouldnt pay your lawyer's fees for a day! People are lazy, and your designs are good - as long as this is true you'll continue to be knocked off!
ReplyDelete