Weekly Inspiration

Blue Gemstone Mosaic Pendant, originally uploaded by grayraven.

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Handling Copyright Issues

Snarky craft blog Regretsy recently targeted a seller violating copyright. This post discusses the response they got from Etsy and the frustration caused by it. The thing is that Etsy acted entirely how they have to in response to unrelated 3rd parties reporting copyright violation. In this post I'm going to discuss how to handle when you discover someone ripping off your work.


Why Etsy responded the way they did.

Picture this scenario: You are an Etsy seller with an original design. Someone else has ripped off your work. A person unfamiliar with either of you sees both and decides that YOU were the one that did the ripping off. They report you to Etsy. Now if Etsy considered this proof enough to take someone's items down you would be pretty upset wouldn't you? Of course you would. Copyright violation is a serious legal matter and if Etsy were to act on it without proof provided by the copyright holder they would be in a shaky legal position. So Etsy requires the copyright holder or their lawyer to notify them with proof that their copyright has been violated.

What should you do when someone has copied you?

Remember I am not a lawyer, this is not official legal advice just my personal opinions on what your options are. If you feel like you need a lawyer, by all means consult one, it's probably worth the money if the infringement is serious enough.

You have several options when you discover someone has copied your work. Your first step should be to contact the person copying you and ask them politely to remove the infringing items (a cease and desist letter). Make sure you give them examples of where you believe they have copied you. Many people don't understand copyright and don't realize they are breaking the law. Once contacted many people will remove the infringing items.

If after you have made a polite request and it's been ignored or rejected you're going to have to do more work to solve the problem.

In cases where a seller on an online venue is selling infringing items you should contact the site's legal department. Make sure you have documentation that shows how long you have been making or selling your items to back up your claim. An example would be records of when your first version of the item was listed or sold. Unfortunately if this is a very unethical person they may just start selling somewhere else, if this happens you could keep going after them on every website they try to sell on and make it too much trouble for them to continue selling the infringing items or get a lawyer involved to take it to the next level legally (usually suing them for infringement).

In cases where someone has used a digital copy of your photos, artwork, writing, or other creations without permission you should send a DMCA takedown notice to their hosting company or ISP (use Whois domain lookup). By law service providers must take down potentially infringing material reported to them by a DMCA takedown notice (there is a response process if the person believes they aren't infringing but that's a different subject).

If your items are being copied by a company with their own website or store things get harder. If they have ignored or rejected a cease and desist letter you really have no choice but to consult a lawyer about your options and possibly file suit.

If for any reason you feel like your business has been harmed or that the infringement has cost you money you can try to collect damages. This absolutely requires a lawyer familiar with copyright law.

When is work not covered by copyright?

Unfortunately not everything crafters do is covered by copyright. From the US Copyright Office website:

Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
1. literary works
2. musical works, including any accompanying words
3. dramatic works, including any accompanying music
4. pantomimes and choreographic works
5. pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
6. motion pictures and other audiovisual works
7. sound recordings
8. architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”

The way this is explained in a legal guide I have on craft work is that functional items are not covered by copyright only their artistic elements if they can be viewed separately from the functionality. So say you designed a fabric print and then used it to make a dress. Clothing is a functional item and the function can't be separated from the design so the dress isn't covered by copyright. On the other hand the fabric print is considered a graphic work which can be viewed separately from the function of the clothing therefore it is given copyright protection. This is one of the reasons fashion knockoffs are so easy to come by and so hard for fashion designers to put a stop to unless the fabric or other artistic element has been copied (or it infringes on trademark but that's an entirely different legal issue). Another example would be soap molded to look like a cat, the soap is functional but the sculptural form of the cat is artistic. Photos of your crafts are separate works from the craft itself and are covered by copyright of their own regardless of whether your craft item is able to be copyrighted. The website listed below for the US Copyright Office has more information on what qualifies for copyright protection. If you are uncertain whether your work qualifies for copyright protection and the website for the US Copyright Office doesn't help you should absolutely consult a copyright lawyer.

Copyright Resources
US Copyright Office
Etsy Copyright Policy
Digital Millenium Copyright Act
Sample DMCA Takedown Notice
Whois Domain Lookup
US Patent and Trademark Office


Note: After I started writing this post I was informed of an Etsy seller who had copied my designs. I contacted them via convo about it and they promptly apologized and removed the infringing items.

Weekly Inspiration

Jasmine, Lilac & Freesia, originally uploaded by Milk and Honey Naturals.

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Weekly Inspiration

cuff-138-rosecabsilvgauze-2, originally uploaded by 11BOLDstreet.

Submit your photos for consideration as a Weekly Inspiration by adding them to the Flickr Group.

Weekly Inspiration

neck-154-rolledbeadrose-6, originally uploaded by 11BOLDstreet.

Submit your photos for consideration as a Weekly Inspiration by adding them to the Flickr Group.

Useful Etsy Features

I've written before about Etsy Hacks and how useful they are but today I want to talk about digging into Etsy's options that you may not know about that make running your shop much easier.

Your Etsy
By default clicking the "Your Etsy" link takes you to your currently listed items if you're a seller. If you go to the Account link and click the Preferences tab you can change this to go to your Sold Items instead.

Message to Buyer
A thank you note is always nice to send your buyer but you can do so much more with this message. I include a link to my newsletter which is simply using Feedburner to turn an RSS feed into an email. You can use your shop RSS to do this, I went a step further and used RSSMix to combine both my shop feed and my studio blog.

Download Shop Data
I use spreadsheets for all my accounting including tracking inventory. Etsy added this option fairly recently and it makes inventory much easier. I download my entire shop as a .csv at the beginning of each month which combined with the data from the beginning of the previous month and my sold items I have most of the inventory data that I need with a minimum of fuss. You can find your shop data under Shop Settings -> Options and click the Download Data tab.

Download Sold Items
At the beginning of each month when it's time to do my accounting for the previous month I download the .csv file for my sold items form the previous month. This file has a wealth of information about your sold items that you can use, price, shipping, sales tax, coupon codes used, customer names and addresses, and more.

Download Etsy Bill
Another useful accounting download on Etsy is your Bill. It has a breakdown of every fee and payment you've made for a month. You can find it under the Your Bill link then click the month you want and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Handmade Interview: Anna Clifton

For this installment of the Handmade Interview we have Anna Clifton, her website is at annaclifton.com.

You can also find her on twitter and facebook.

Please introduce yourself and your business

I’m a 34 year old mum of 2, wife and designer/maker of jewellery. I have a degree in jewellery and silversmithing and design and make innovative pieces of jewellery, using precious and recycled materials.

Q #1: When did you start your handmade business and what inspired you to do so?
I properly started my business in 2006 when my daughter was 2 years old. I’d gone back to work as a teacher full time when she was only 6 months old, mainly because we “thought at the time” that I couldn’t afford not to. I love teaching but I really wanted to try and make my business ideas work and maybe becoming a mum helped me to take a risk and leave my permanent teaching job in order to concentrate on being a “proper” designer!

Q #2: Do you have to balance your business with work, children, both? How do you do it?
Yes, as already mentioned, I have 2 young children and I also teach jewellery making part time so it’s all a bit of a juggling act!

Q #3: What is your usual work day like?
I don’t think I have a “usual” work day at the moment. Maybe when my youngest starts at pre-school after Easter things will get a little easier, but for the time being, I usually get 1 day a week where I can get to my workshop and spend a few hours there. On these days, I start work at around 9am, after dropping off the kids at school/childminder and work until 4.30pm when I have to pick them up again. This time usually gets taken up with making orders and commissions so any new pieces/website updates etc etc have to be fitted in in the evenings – hence filling this in at 10.45pm!

Q #4: What is your favorite thing about running your business?
Can I have 2? 1: Being able to drop off/pick up my children from school at least on most days! 2: Being able to make money out of designing and making beautiful things!

Q #5: What is your biggest challenge?
I’ve just been accepted into the Devon Contemporary Craft Fair in Bovey Tracey in June. It’s a really prestigious event so everything will have to be right.

Q #6: How do you market your business?
Word of mouth, arts and crafts markets, magazine advertising, social networking – twitter/facebook.

Q #7: What is one mistake you've made in your business that you've learned from?
When I first started up, someone rang me out of the blue and said how wonderful they thought my work was and how by paying to be part of a free CD ROM on the front of a wedding mag would make me £1000’s! It didn’t but it taught me to think very carefully before committing to expensive advertising campaigns.

Q #8: What has been your biggest success and why do you think it's been so successful?
My Mendhi jewellery seems to have been really successful, as has my recycled ranges. I think my biggest success though is with commissions as I can design and make something the my customer’s exact requirements.

Q #9: What is the one thing you'd most like to tell someone just getting started?
Get some good photos taken and invest in a good website. I ALWAYS check the web first when looking for something so I can’t be “too” much different to lots of other people.

Q #10: What goals do you have for the future of your business?
I’d like to really develop my recycled ranges as well as setting up some regular jewellery making classes in and around Malvern, where I now live.

Q #11: Anything else you would like to tell the readers?
Thanks for reading all this and watch this space!