Originally Posted by Tink's Mom
Originally Posted by Favorite Fabrics
Just my 2 cents, but it's more likely that someone will copy, having seen your item online, than at a local show. Though the copying did happen to me, locally. (It was a stuffed cat.)
And... unless you have a lawyer in the family that will work for free, Jacquie is right... there is not much you can practically do about copying.
It has happened to me, too...at a local show. I have one person that is always checking out my booth...then I see her version on my original idea in her booth a week or so later.
I have even had people stand looking into my booth and sketching. I usually walk up to them and tell them to at least have the courtesy to purchase one before they duplicate my item...a couple have stomped away...rather redfaced...
It is happening more with the use of cell phone camera's. I found one person taking many photo's , they stopped when I told them the designs they were photographing were copyrighted, and my brother is a Lawyer. ( I don't even have a brother), but they were/are indeed copyrighted.
I wouldn't mind if someone is going the duplicate for a one time or personal use ... but if they intend to sell my design, now that is another issue. Many times I can tell a quilter or sewer looking really closely , and I ask if they sew , if they say yes , I will gladly tell them how I did it . Many times they end up buying because they say ... "you know I will get home and figure out I would never really get it done... too many other things".