Intellectual property is a broad term which can cover creations of the mind such as music, literary and artistic works, as well as discoveries, patents, trademarks and more. The basic idea is to afford some protection for intangible assets such as a logo or illustration.

(SINCE WRITING THIS BLOG POST PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN IN TOUCH TO SHARE MORE STORIES OF IP THEFT - SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POST FOR UPDATES)

Ok, so that’s the (very) quick intro to the topic out of the way… here’s why I’m writing about it:

I’ve seen two of my friends talking about having their artwork stolen recently. Both times their Intellectual Property has been "infringed" - stolen and used to create a product to be sold for profit, with no credit or cut of the money going to them.  It is so surprising to me that someone could think it is ok to “create” a product and just rip off another person’s hard work and creativity wholesale. I don’t want to sound like the anti-piracy advert – you know the one… “you wouldn’t steal a CAR” – but if those companies took a physical product made by an artist, without paying and then sold it on for profit, it would be dealt with and perceived in a totally different way.

It’s a shame that the creativity, talent, hard work and skill that goes into creating an illustration or artwork isn’t valued in the same way as a physical product.

So, a bit more information about my two friends:

First I saw that Amy Blackwell’s work had been "appropriated" and used on cushions being sold on ebay:


Amy is an artist, crafter, cat enthusiast and thoroughly nice person who lives in Nottingham, has taken part in our Pretty Dandy Flea and produces beautiful work like this:



And then Jon Burgerman’s art was used to create a product for sale on fab.com:


Jon lives in Brooklyn and is a famous doodler, salad eater, one half of pop-trouble-makers Anxieteam and yellow coat wearer. He makes cool work like this:


These are just the two latest incidents that have arisen, but it seems to be happening more and more, with both unscrupulous individuals and big businesses ripping off individual artists.

Recent high profile examples have included Marks & Spencer, who were selling a top with a print which was an exact copy of one by pattern designer Rachael Taylor. This has now been settled, with M&S withdrawing the products for sale and stating that the t-shirt had been bought in good faith from a supplier. However, for whatever reason, it did take twitter and a bit of unpleasant publicity to reach this point.

Another well-publicised case recently saw Claire’s Accessories taken to task for infringing on the IP of Tatty Devine. These are just the high profile cases, or the ones the artists hear about and decide to speak out on, so it could really just be the tip of the iceberg.

There is a new IP bill coming up, but it doesn’t really go far enough to protect individual artists who rely on unregistered IP rights – which is most of the smaller artists and designers out there. You can read more about that on the ACID (Anti Copying in Design) website.

So, what can we, as individual consumers, do?

• We can refuse to buy design rip-offs! This is obvious, but still worth stating… if we don’t buy them, perhaps market forces will stop them being made?
• Keep our eyes peeled for unauthorised use of artists’ work. If you think you spot something then let the artist know privately, so that they can investigate. They will be grateful for your help. Often an artist won’t be aware that their work is being stolen and sometimes the company won’t be aware that a design has been ripped off. Letting them know will allow them to decide whether to pursue it. Telling the artist privately will allow them to contact the company privately first, in case there is a genuine error which can be resolved.
• Support campaigns for better IP protection like the one being run by ACID - http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jul/16/design-copyright-clampdown-retailers-targeted
• We can show solidarity. If you see an artist trying to take a company to task on social media then support them – retweet, share, like and spread the word. Complain to the company and hopefully they will listen to their customers and take action, or they might at least try to avoid the bad publicity!
• Buy direct from artists at markets and so on, or from outlets where the artist is properly credited.

If we work together, look for originality, ethical sourcing and quality in the products we buy, then perhaps we can be a part of making sure that creativity is correctly valued, respected and rewarded.

Here at Pretty Dandy we work hard to support our artistic community in various ways: commissioning exclusive prints and crediting the creative minds behind the work on our site wherever we can (let us know if we've missed any!). Plus we organise the Pretty Dandy Flea to give established and up-and-coming artists, designers and crafters a cool, affordable opportunity to sell their work.

Have you got any stories to share on this topic? Or suggestions of other ways to support artists and designers? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Becky

p.s. if you have a minute have a look at Jon's Tumblr Girls project, it's great:


UPDATE (16th June)

Since sharing this blog post, got in touch on twitter to say that the company selling cushions with unlicensed Amy Blackwell designs was also infringing on the intellectual property of the fabulous Donna Wilson (a design favourite of mine!) and artist Gennine too. It’s actually a different company selling those items, but the story is the same: hard work, talent, development, style, creativity and artistic brand stolen.

I also spotted designs by Ferm Living (one of the brands we stock here on the site), Paul Frank and illustrator Nate Williams. I’m sure there are also lots more which, with a bit of time online, we could find the real owners of the IP rights for. 

Here are the links to the eBay sites, if you would like to view them yourselves (copy & paste into the browser):
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/fancystop?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/citychic-online?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

If anyone has any advice as to the best way to tackle this blatant theft, please get in touch and I’ll pass it on to Amy and the other artists & companies involved. In the meantime, I copied eBay into the twitter conversation, as these companies are "Top-rated sellers", and that doesn't seem right.

UPDATE (18th June)

Twitter friend has commented below, reminding me about the problems that is facing. His work is continually copied and ripped off by another Etsy seller. I'll post the two below to see if you can spot the similarities...

YUMLALUM Etsy Shop ( on twitter)


HANDZ Etsy Shop

It's shocking to see the similarity of the designs, and it will almost certainly affect Yumalum's sales and perception of their brand.


UPDATE (23rd June 2013)

I've been sent another item from the Etsy site above, placed side by side with a piece of work by artist Maria Holmer Dalgren. Once again there are striking similarities between the two designs, not only in terms of colour tone, but in terms of the textures, patterns and layout used too. Maria's work is the lovely London print, and the piece by the Etsy seller appeared around a year later. Do you think this is coincidence or copying?