So one of the Facebook groups that I am apart of had a lady posting about some other business accusing her of copying one of their designs. This got me thinking about the time I got a random email from a lady stating the same thing.
I can't remember the ladies name or her business page now but I opened this email where she stated it had been brought to her attention by one of her likers that a design I had posted up that night was an exact copy of one of hers and I should remove it ASAP.
Now....
The funny thing was that the flower I had used in this headband was actually one I had purchased from one of my suppliers premade and is widely used. Of course it got my blood boiling slightly to begin with and I went into the fight or flight response. How DARE this lady accuse me of stealing her design when what I was using is mass produced anyway!
So....
I kindly and nicely replied to her stating that I purchased the flower from a supplier and if she would search "x" on Etsy that she would see the flower is widely used all over the world and by all means she can go ahead and tell all those other people to stop using the design. Until further notice I was using the flower.
No need to say that I never heard back from her again. I wonder if I can find that old email and look up her business page again.
Finding or designing something that hasn't been made before is very difficult in the handmade sector. There might be a pearl here or a ribbon there different between items but 90% of the time they look almost identical. I do have some items at BB that I think are pretty exclusive to BB and I would be annoyed if I found someone with the same design however by putting my products 'out there' and offering them to all of you then I do run the risk of my item being copied or reproduced in some way. The only way that I could stop this is with a trademark or copyright....but yeh...right...like I am going to do that!
It just annoys me when people get accusing of copying items when the accuser has no evidence to even back themselves up.
I say if you find someone selling something similar to you then that should just make you work harder to make your designs more original and for exclusive to your brand.
*jumps off soapbox*
TTFN xx
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