Yesterday I posted about a copyright infringement which had been spotted by a fan (see the post HERE).
I contacted both the Etsy legal team and the owner of the Etsy store in question, and although the seller did not reply to my message, I’m pleased to say that this morning, when I checked the store, the chart in question had been removed from sale, so there has been a positive outcome.
I hope the seller feels suitably guilty and ashamed of what they did, as passing off the work of someone else is never alright, and it has been the cause of several designers quitting. I do, however, think I recognise a great many of the designs on sale in that particular store. The only problem is, I cannot say, off the top of my head, who the designers in question are, and so I cannot alert them. I will, however, be looking around the internet to see if I can spot the designs and alert the people who hold copyright for those charts, so that they can also contact the seller and have their charts removed from sale in this store.
I once again thank the eagle-eyed fan who spotted this infringement. Without her help, I would never have known that one of my FREE designs was being sold by an unscrupulous person and that people were, as a result, being ripped off.
Designers count of the good will of fans to get in touch when this kind of infringement happens, so please, if you ever spot a design you recognise being sold by someone other than the designer, get in touch and let them know – you never know how much revenue the designer is losing because of it!
Kincavel Krosses 
I’m so sorry that you have been the victim of this theft. There is a feature of Google which allows you to search for an image. Just download the image you want to find from the Etsy shop onto your desktop. Click on Google Images and use the camera icon in the search bar to load the picture. Google will then search the internet for matching images.
I find it really useful for tracking down designs when people can’t remember where they came from.
LikeLike
Thank you – that’s very useful to know!
LikeLike
Would it be possible to post the name of that particular Etsy store. I know it’s impossible for one person to remember where all the familiar looking designs came from, but with more eyes looking, maybe more designers can get notified.
LikeLike
The Etsy store in question is called Danceneedle. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/danceneedle?ref=exp_listing
anyone recognises other designs for sale on there, please do get in touch with the designers directly, as Etsy will only act if the person with ownership rights gets in touch, it seems!
LikeLike
Hello.
There is something to know about the chinese : the notion of property of a design is foreign to them, so copying is not an issue for them. That is sad. The good thing is that, before Internet, you had no way of knowing a design had been copied. Now, you know.
Have a nice day
LikeLike
I wanted to let you know that I shared your article from yesterday on my Facebook page and as of bedtime last night, one other of my stitchy sisters had shared it with hers. I’m urging every stitcher I know who loves the privilege of downloading charts they’ve purchased to be more proactive about reporting these abuses when they’re spotted.
Our Internet is a global thing, and we can’t expect every person who has access to it to have moral values that keep them from exploiting the creativity of others for their own profit. All we can do is keep those unscrupulous persons from exploiting the designers and the hobby we love (and please note, unscrupulous people live all over this world, not just in third-world countries). We have to reach out to let designers know when we think their work is being stolen. And we have to let our fellow hobbyists know that there is a real, and terrible, price to be paid for every pirated chart downloaded.
Let’s all keep speaking up about this issue wherever we find it. Creative energy is precious energy, perhaps the most precious in the world. :) Imagine what a world it would be, if we all treated it as such!
/soapbox ;)
LikeLike