8 hours on a design and Cafepress made it red and pending and banned sales. So is it the design OR what it is called? I created this for my husband's birthday... why is this design banned?

http://www.cafepress.com/angels2004/197358

Celebrate Music design with keyboard and red stars...

thx.
Eve

Write to cup@cafepress.com and ask them. Stuff that is red boxed quickly usually have (1) known image problems that can be identified with image matching (2) key word or description problems - use of trademark, names etc that suggest risk of infringement.

Mistakes do happen, so ask.

I did leave a message on their answering machine... but thought while I wait for a response which could take a couple of days... was wondering if someone has a clue... :-(

No clue viewing only the image. As noted tags and description may also be involved.

I was out on google and found this one... but I don't think mine looks like this and I can't tell who this belongs to out on Cafepress:

http://images.cafepress.com/pr...v3_240x240_Front.jpg

I have seen too many honest coincidences to make judgments. What bothers me, however, is that you say you don't think it looks like yours. I would expect a reaction more like "Wow, look how similar." Ultimately a jury gets to decide how similar two works are. Despite lots of groans and moans about the legal system overall juries tend to be fairly honest and straightforward. While I have no idea what a jury would decide, and no idea what legal instructions would be offered, I can assure you that it takes no imagination at all to see that the two designs are very similar. Coincidence, quite possible, but "not like" I can't buy.

OK - looking around - you ARE joking right? I'm not going to go into this further but once again my lack of knowledge of popular culture bites me. Of COURSE they aren't going to let you print that. Boy you are playing with fire!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tanith,

Yes it is similar persay... both are red and black... but my keys are different... I have red stars and different notes... and mine looks better. :-)

... but just to say this on designs... you have two black dog designs same kind of dog but one has his tail going left the other has his tail going right and one has a bone and the other one has chewy toy... same but different. :-)

I see you point... thank you Diane.

I have to agree with Tanith. These two images are too similar.

Copyright/trademark infringement doesn't require that two items be 100% the same. The question is: is it similar enough?

You have more ebony keys. You have an extra red bar above and below. Your notes are slightly different.

But the similarities are too striking to ignore. Keyboard at the same angle. Identical coloring. Same theme. Music notes floating down. Had I done the original artwork, I would believe you used my work as a guide and tried to tweak it a touch. For me, these two items are 90% the same, 10% your touch.

As for the dog you mentioned, yes, it can be copyright/trademark infringement. In a case like that, both the image and context are important.

Say the first is used for selling dog treats called "Hard Bonz" and the 2nd work is entitled "Hard Toyz" or is used to advertise a different company named "Hard Toyz." The content and context are almost identical and the 2nd is ripping off the first. Even without the context, though, you can one into problems. If one image merely looks like a mirrored image with only the difference being the tail and toy, there is reason to suspect copyright infringement. (I'm assuming when you say black dogs, we are talking silhouettes). If, per chance, they are actual photos or drawings and they have the same paths and curves, with the 2nd image having a few more or less hair stroke,

Useless information: Are you familiar with Duck Head clothing? Shortly after the war of northern aggression, (The Civil War for those of you outside the South), two brothers bought some tents made of duck (a type of fabric). They tried to trademark the name "Duck," but were turned down because of the vague nature of the word. By adding "head," and using a mallard, they managed to come up with a unique identifier for their product.

A keybord is too general to trademark. A keyboard it a 45 degree angle with red bars above and below and notes floating around it is pretty specific.

This is just my take. But I am more of a writer than artist. So, I look at these things from an author's perspective. Plots are often similar. Man meets girl, wants girl, gets her, loses her, wins her back. Two people can write this plot without infringing on copyright. But--say book 1's main characters are William & Meredith and book 2 has Bill and Mary. One is in NY and the other in NJ. William/Bill are both graphic designers for an ego maniac. And Meredith/Mary are unhappy housewives, married to fat slobs who never put the seat down. And while the dialogue and descriptions of places are different, the plot points are the same (how they meet, how they fall apart, etc) one has to reasonably conclude author #2 plagiarized. At worst, if the two were honestly written independent of each other, without any knowledge of the other's work, I believe the first completed actually has the copyright and while the 2nd cannot be fined for infringing, he can be stopped from distributing his unique work until it is dissimilar enough.

Do not take any of this to mean I think you copied the work. I am not levying any accusations. I apologize for the length of this post. I sometimes get carried away with my thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by Eve:
Yes it is similar persay... both are red and black... but my keys are different... I have red stars and different notes... and mine looks better. :-)

... but just to say this on designs... you have two black dog designs same kind of dog but one has his tail going left the other has his tail going right and one has a bone and the other one has chewy toy... same but different. :-)

I see you point... thank you Diane.

On the plus side, at least your black and white keys are at the correct intervals. On the minus side, other than that the two designs are strikingly similar, or at least appear so in the thumbnail versions available to me.

Thank you all for your postings... WELLLLLLLLL... how about if I change the red to like red white and blue... I like the slant because it takes away from having that square look... I like my notes and stars... :-( ... any suggestions so I can keep the design...? change color... keyboard with something else... stars and notes without a keyboard...

OR

... will that still be an issue in your opinion... fyi... Cafepress has it still under review...

thx.
Eve
www.angelartbyeve.com

My suggestion is that you make it look a lot less like the shirt Michael Jackson is wearing in the Beat It music video. http://static.squidoo.com/resi...on-beat-it-shirt.jpg

That one looks more like the other Cafepress shirt... did Michael Jackson wear a Cafepress shirt?

How about if I do the whole thing in black and no red... keys are different... lines would be black not red... lines don't extend out on mine... and are different... and I would have black stars mixed in with my notes... so then still too much the same...?

Eve (and everyone else),

When an image (and subsequently all related products using that image) is put into pending it's going to remain that way until you either:

1) Request CP review it and CP takes action to restore.
2) Remove it and upload a new image that does not trigger a "flag" (reason to have it put into pending).

CP may take time in reviewing it, so please try to be patient.

When an image is pended it's not banned. It's a temporary holding position that protects Cafepress as well as you until concerns or questions are addressed to CP's satisfaction.

However, having said that, CP won't necessarily give you details as to what you can do to correct it if it's an infringement as there are a variety of levels and ways something may infringe (the image itself is only one of those things).

Similarly, CP likely won't put themselves in a position to direct you to making adjustments here or there that suggest that, if you do those things, it'll be "okay" to use because some types of infringement aren't for CP to say it's okay or not. It's up to you. They can't say "Change this color and you'll be alright."

On that note, this CUP forum isn't here so other shopkeepers can give you advice for how to make adjustments that may, or may not, get you out of the line of fire. It's not our place, it's not within our abilities, and there's nothing we can do to assume risk if we've suggested the wrong thing to you. There are liabilities that we're not going to risk running afoul of in these forums. It's honestly in the best interest of protecting everyone's hiney.

Until either you make changes on your own, based on your research, or until you hear back from Cafepress (hopefully with valuable information as much as they can give), there's not a lot we can do for you here. This forum is for discussing a narrow element of Usage withing Cafepress' Terms of Service. Most of this discussion is outside that purpose.

If one needs clarification about how content works within CP's TOS or general Copyright/Trademark then this forum becomes more useful.

I'm going to close this thread since it's stepping outside of the purpose. If someone has something to add that works within the guidelines I mentioned above by all means Private Message me and I can open it up again.