Last week I uploaded what I thought was an original slogan. I did a thorough search to ensure it was not used on CP. TODAY I find that a SK who is in the same category as my store used my slogan and took it and made it his/her own. I would contact them but there is no way to contact this SK. I imagine they looked at marketplace because less than a week later, they used it and took it as their own.
I have related designs to upload but now I am hesitant to upload it as the slogan is no longer original.
My questions are: Is it normal practice for shopkeepers to look at marketplace and steal or use someone's else's idea or slogan? Is there a rule or some sort of etiquette on this? I am so frustrated because this is the 3rd time it has happened to me and I almost want to remove my store out of marketplace to prevent copycats.
I just have a suggestion to those SK who copy ideas from marketplace: Consider using your own brain to come up with some originality.
a) be sure yours were up before theirs. b) be sure it's not a phrase or idea that can be thought up by two or three different people - it's possible. It's pretty tough to be unique when you live on a planet with 7 billion people. c) If you're sure it's theft, and if your idea is subject to copyright protection, then report them to cup@cafepress.com
Now, I'll answer the obvious questions. No, it's not normal practice for others to steal ideas. Yes, it does happen (see reference to how many people there are above).
The "rule" is the rule of law. You need to learn it if you are to protect your work. The "etiquette" is only for those who have convictions that support following etiquette, just like the rule of law.
It's up to you if you want to remove your store from the marketplace. That just leaves their designs available for people to find and purchase.
Thanks Teesed and Kippy. I just needed to vent for the second time about this subject since it has happened before.
Yes, it's probably a slogan that someone else could have thought about, but when I did a search there was nothing like it, so I uploaded my design and now less than a week later after appearing on marketplace, someone took my slogan idea, multiplied it and it's no longer original.
I may contact CUP. I really don't want issues with other SKs, but it has happened a few times now.
A few months back I came up with what I thought was a super great fantastic original unique phrase: "Guano happens" . I don't mind reporting it here because as it turns out, after I made my design, I checked the MP and there were literally dozens of them! So sometimes it's just a matter of someone else thinking up the same saying independently.
Originally posted by scarebaby: Sorry that happened to you, Cali!
A few months back I came up with what I thought was a super great fantastic original unique phrase: "Guano happens" . I don't mind reporting it here because as it turns out, after I made my design, I checked the MP and there were literally dozens of them! So sometimes it's just a matter of someone else thinking up the same saying independently.
Oh brother, now I check the marketplace and there are only 2. What's up with that? Either I'm about to get CUP'd because it's under someone's copyright, or tomorrow there'll be 30 of them!!
Thanks Scarebaby. They thought of it all right -- a week after me!
What's funny is that the category I create is not a large category so you would think they would reconsider not copying or have some sort of conscience.
That's another reason to be glad if you aren't featured in the MP. I have a product featured now that's been in my shop since Christmas, and was the only version on CP or the internet that I found. As soon as it was featured, at least 5 shops had the slogan in their shop - some going as far as copying layout, colors, fonts. It's just disappointing, especially when it's someone you know, either on the forums or in person. There are so many other areas besides the Marketplace to gt ideas, unfortunately many SKs find it's easier to get ideas from those who came before them. But, they'll always be picking the low lying fruit...
Yup, this has happened to me on a couple of occasions. Most recently about a month ago I did a text design after doing a heavy search to see if it had been used. I sold a couple of them the very next day and within the week another one popped up in the "new" designs section. They used a different font and different colors but it was my exact words. Have those words ever been strung together before? Maybe, I couldn't find anything on the internet but this person obviously saw mine pop to the top when it sold and decided to use it as their own.
Yes I was ticked but I also believe in karma. People who steal won't find long term success here or anywhere else in life.
I have come up with one or two "brilliant ideas" only to find *gasp* that I was not the only brilliant one on the planet. Strange but true ;-) However, this is still a big problem for many shopkeepers, and one that has left me with a dilemma.
I am wanting to set up an affiliate page on my website for quips, quotes, humorous designs and oneliners as an extension of my own stuff, but I want to give credit where credit is due and only affiliate with the original author. So if you have designs in this category that you know have been pinched, drop me a pm so I am not promoting copycats!
(don't go rushing over there thinking you will see your stuff up there today! I tend to work slowly, and it may be weeks before I get it sorted out and published lol)
For text and clip art I wouldn't accept a claim that something has been copied as true no matter how honestly and sincerely a person believes it. It has been just too often that I have seen entirely coincidental duplication. Often that happens because the way something is phrased in the news sparks a thought making it come out exactly the same way in multiple people. Some act on it right away, often the thought hits and then submerges to rise later so that it feels like a spark of genius. I've been wrongly accused and I know how it feels to have someone honestly think they have caught you cheating but they are wrong wrong wrong. And I've seen posts here by people who admit that they believed they had been copied but then been proved wrong. Proving innocence is not how we work in this country, for a reason. It should take quite lot of evidence and convincing e.g. more than a single text or clip art design to support a copying claim.
Diane Blackman
Experiment! Try things! Then if you can't figure it out - ask. Play with Your Dog
Tanith's right. A few weeks ago I received the NASTIEST email from someone saying I copied a text design that they came up with two months ago. It's a design that's been in my shop for TWO YEARS, and I had the sales receipts to show for it and told this person just that.
It still made me feel like crap knowing that they honestly believed I took it. Just be careful because these things can be hurtful, and you could be wrong.
I also think that people take an MP search to mean that something did or didn't previously exist. The problem with that is that some people opt in and out of the MP, and they also work at other PODs. A design may exist anywhere before it's brought to the CP MP.
Check out my shops! _____________________ Is Super Duper Sorry for being a Big Meanie.
Am I right in thinking that not ALL designs are featured in the MP at once? If so that would be another potential reason why you may not see a design when you check
Originally posted by DustyLeaf: Am I right in thinking that not ALL designs are featured in the MP at once? If so that would be another potential reason why you may not see a design when you check
Yes there are periods when images that have been in the marketplace for a long time can disappear for many days before things are kicked and they reappear.
Diane Blackman
Experiment! Try things! Then if you can't figure it out - ask. Play with Your Dog
why limit it to the CP marketplace? i find copycats all over the internet, not just on CP. It's something that I've just grown accustom to over the years. it just pushes us to market our stuff better so that when you search, you see my stuff and not the copycat's.
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So sometimes it's just a matter of someone else thinking up the same saying independently.
I have a product featured now that's been in my shop since Christmas, and was the only version on CP or the internet that I found. As soon as it was featured, at least 5 shops had the slogan in their shop - some going as far as copying layout, colors, fonts. It's just disappointing, especially when it's someone you know, either on the forums or in person. There are so many other areas besides the Marketplace to gt ideas, unfortunately many SKs find it's easier to get ideas from those who came before them. But, they'll always be picking the low lying fruit...
