My design was copied

Well I knew one day it would happen and it has. It was brought to my attention from a customer that Imed me asking what was up cause she bought my design which is a favorite and she went into another designers store and saw it on the wall so wanted to know if and which one was stolen. I went to the said store and sure enough my design was on the wall copied to a T. She also had it in the middle of her store and a model wearing it.

I contacted her and sent her a picture of mine and asked her nicely to take it down. When she came online she Imed me and said she was sorry and would take it right down. I went and saw that she had and talked to her for awhile. And she said she saw that I had made it before she came to SL. I asked how she got it and she said from one of those BIB's.

I am not sure how that would happen unless it was given for an event to an owner to put in a prize thing. But I stopped giveing full perms to things of that nature along time ago so this wouldn't happen. Your told trust me I will change perms but time moves on people forget and so I dont give them out.

She asked where I got the texture was it off the web and it was 2 years ago so I don't remember but I told her I do get inspirations from looking on the web and if it was something I saw I changed it when I made it. I do not do complete photo source designing. As I was leaveing she said she would redo the texture and outfit.

I got another IM from the customer that said ok now she has not only the silver up but other colors as well.. I am confused. So I went and sure enough she has it back up in 6 colors. I Imed her and she said she changed it so its not the same anymore. To me its still looks way to much like mine even with the slight change to the top. She is wearing a chain around her waist that doesnt go with the design.

She said I could file a report on her but there is nothing they will do and its more work than its worth and I am fighting over virtual clothes . She made the top a slight v cut the back of the thong slightly but the biggest change was the back she opened it and made an X texture connection. But you cant see it in the pictures or on the vendors.

OK my question to you is after looking at the picture do you think it's changed enough, if it was your design to not be upset or am I just being upset and frustrated for no reason? I really would appreciate your opinions on this because I am upset even if it is virtual clothes... she is still making RL $ off of them. Has she changed them enough? My opinion is she shouldnt have put back anything like it at all. Funny thing is I am redoing older designs... renewing them and it was next... figures. Thanks

No it definitely isn't changed enough. In any case, it doesn't matter how many changes she makes to it, it is still your design and your textures which were stolen from you, and she shouldn't be selling it at all. You are well within your rights to be upset and angry. File a DMCA for sure.

So, really, it's not entirely your own creation then is it? If you're being completely honest with yourself you'll admit that it isn't.

She claims she changed the textures and made the new dangles. Doesn't look like its different to me.

To be completely honest if I did see something like it on the web and made it then it was a case of getting an idea and designing from that not taking the photo and making it to fit the templet as a complete photo sourse. I am sure many many designers look at the web for styles to help give them ideas.

And I was asking a question about how you would feel about it if it was yours not if I was being honest and whether it wasnt really my design to begin with. You didnt give me an answer to my question. Thanks anyway.

This is one of the things that really get to me from sl's self described "Designers." As unbelievable as it is these people actually believe they and only they can come up with whatever they put up for sale. It's like no one else has the capabilities to make anything especially something they've already made.



"That's mine! Take it down. I invented it cause no one else has the brains but me to make that item."


This is the paranoia that has them acting like ego-maniacs constantly thinking everyone is out to get them by copying their groundbreaking items only they and they alone made in the dark in the back in some isolated island far away from humanities prying eyes.

This is the only place you see this BS at and unfortunately you see it too often.


Enough already!!

I dunno how I would feel honestly

as a side note though, I am working on a dress and have been forever, I just am never quite happy with it and as I learn new techinques in PS I tweak with it

well recently I saw a dress from a well known designer that looks very much like the one I have been doing for months now...
at first I was not sure if I should continue or not, because of the fear people would think I am copying, but.. I know in my heart it is not copying, that I honestly came up with it in my own head, and on that note I am going to release it (mine has a preview on my blog)

it was a hard decision because I do not want to be the next one people accuse of copying someone else...

(now this is a different situation as she said outright she knew it was yours, THAT I would never do)
I have resold stuff I bought, but only the no copy transfer stuff

Should not matter if you know that it's your own. If looks like an other designer's work you should not release it. That is my opinion.
There are simple ways to modify your stuff so it's not resembling to anybody's work, but have a special and unique appereance. It's fairly easy to make a different texture or shape, so I don't think you're right when you want to release the outfit even if looks like somebody else's.
Sorry for the hard work you put into that, but I think you just need to find out your unique way to do stuff.

Ricardo the point is she did not make it at all and it was my design, actually mine made in my PS, in her shop not one made to look like mine. She admitted she didnt make it so that is what I'm upset about and then to then make sutble changes to MY design and put it back. If I had in the begining went and saw what she put up with the changes first all I could say is it looked alot like mine.. extremely close and that would have been that.

It happens there are alot of designers out there so there will be alot of designs that look alot alike. I have been designing since 05 and dont have an ego as you claim we all do. In fact I have helped many people, shareing what I know and they have become great designers as well.

What I dont understand is I posted this for some opinions on whether others would be upset or not at this point. But instead get you getting down on designers and haveing read many of your posts know you just have a deep dislike for designers. you could have kept your sarcasum since you are not a designer and couldnt give me an honest answer to my question anyway. Enough already!

I think you would have to see both to see how similar or not similar they are
I think they look similar, then again, there are tons of shoes out there that look similar too, and they are not copies

this is not a copy, it is just strange how we both had similar ideas is all (the more I looked at their pics after seeing them and compared to mine, the less alike they seemed to be, which is why I am releasing mine)

some folks might see it as copying, others not... the thing that matters is... I know it is not copying and I do not have to defend myself, and do not feel guilty for doing releasing them)

IF they were copies, I would not dream of releasing them, but.. there ya go, I would not copy, so that makes that a moot point...

(sorry but your post just felt attacking, as you have not seen the items in question, yet jump to the conclusion that they are so similar that they are copies and that it is wrong of me to release it cuz it is similar to another design... would you feel the same if I were to have released first and a well known designer were to release something similar?)

/me sighs... sometimes I think I should just keep my mouth shut and not say anything and just do what I feel is right...

oh and as for finding my unique way to do things, implies that I do copy...

I am unique my items are hand drawn in photoshop, from my imagination

/me sighs again

Zazas do you ever feel like, no matter what you do, someone will always have something negative to say?

(that as a designer you are always in the wrong, low life, that steals from others and have no talent?)

sometimes I get that from folks, and it annoys me to no end...

I have been a painter in RL all my life, since I was old enough to hold a paintbrush

and now I learn to do stuff in a different medium, and really irks me when folks assume I am copying it and not unique in my stuff...

BLAH AND GRRRR AND GRRRRR AGAIN!!!!!

Awww Rha no worries I know you are a good designer and would never copy. You are just doing what most of us do we wonder if anyone else has something simular and worry about it. Thats what non egotistical designers do. We want everyone and everything ok.

This is a first for me and it is shocking I think if it had been a matter of her copying it really wouldnt have bothered me as much cause I would feel she must think I'm pretty good to want to copy me. It was because it was My copy she had there is a diference.

That other designers probably doesnt look as close to yours as you might think. Its like when we are designing and that one seam just doesnt line up but is only off by a tad... it will drive us crazy and we will not release it until it is perfect LOL. Hun again dont worry about it you definetly have your own style!

And in answer to your question YES I feel like that alot especially lately. Heck all I wanted was some opinions and look what happened lol I just wanted to know what others thought and i get told I stole mine from the web and that Im an ego filled designer ugg. give me a break. But again Yes I so know how you feel that is why I Imed you the other day. But hugsssss we shall overcome!

Thanks Zazas I appreciate the kind words
I honestly do not know how I would feel if I saw someone selling my stuff (other than reselling as I do sell some stuff transfer no copy)


omg I hate that one seam drives me nuts!!

here is one of the pics from my blog showing my side seams, now see if you know which dress I think it is similar to and how similar is it?


(keep in mind this is still not finished)

You have clearly been robbed and should take action. Not only has this shopkeeper admitted that the designs were yours, she has also said that she got them from a BIAB, which means there could be countless copies out there by now. I'd be very upset.




What the OP is talking about is perfectly legitimate visual research, such as any creative person (if they are any good), would undertake at the start of a project.

There is nothing truly new under the sun, just innovative recombinations of ideas. It's like berating a musician for using notes they didn't invent, but "found" on a piano.

Anybody who thinks that their creations spring fully-formed, purely from their own genius, and that those ideas are not influenced or inspired in any way by the world around them, is living in a deluded bubble of preciousness.

(grrr - sorry, too much coffee)

then I must be living in said bubble

granted not everything comes from my imagination, some is inspired by other stuff, but for some of my creations, totally from the imagination, no inspiration that I am aware of

if that puts me in a deluded bubble of preciousness then so be it (and I soooo need to make an outfit that can use that as a name LOL)

Thank you so much for responding and especially in a way that truly covers what I wanted to say but am so frustrated couldnt come up with the words. Thank you again!

I have seen many stripped designs so I couldnt say who's it looked like. I think its fine really when its done and if you want you can tell me where to go and I will tell you honestly what I think but I really dont think you have anything to worry about.

sounds good

Rhaorth, I didn't mean to criticise you or your methods. Look at it this way - you are a clothing designer, which means that you must be at least fairly interested in clothes - interested enough to have opinions about clothing you see around you, even if it's just "that's an interesting neckline", or, "Those colours work well together".

When you then start working in Photoshop on your own designs, it doesn't matter if you don't have a pile of reference images to work from, those ideas will be in your mind, and the work of your imagination is in the way they get recombined and made into something new and original. I don't think it's possible to get away from that.

If you and another designer come up with similar ideas it is not a case of copying, more that you both live in the same world and great minds think alike.

P.S. please put me down for a "deluded bubble of preciousness" frock - that sounds fantastic!

There is a world of difference between similar ideas and blatant, outright copying. They said they got it from a BIAB which is a pretty good indicator that it was stolen at some point.

The textures are very clearly from the same source, and a DMCA should be successful. But being practical about it, one has to decide if it's worth your time. That shopkeeper doesn't seem a very reliable source of information, but said that she got the original from a BIAB; she could well be lying, trying to convince you that there's no point protecting this design because it's already out there in every BIAB junkshop. But if she's telling the truth, then indeed it's probably already out there in every BIAB junkshop, and it's kind of futile: even if a takedown is successful and somehow gets all the copies and PhotoShop'd variants, the design's value would have been compromised just for having appeared in those places--perhaps so much so that you'd want to remove it from your own store (which would really, _really_ suck).

On the other hand, even if there's nothing to be done to save this design, I'd personally want to go after this shopkeeper with everything I could. It really needs to become very costly to copy. A few deleted accounts and IP bans would help, but those surely won't happen unless the infringed party takes the first step. (They may not, anyway, but recent events at an all-copybot island sim suggests that they do, indeed, occur sometimes.)Enough indeed. May as well mute him. He only has two topics anyway: all content creators are evil, and everyone who ever tried to keep the forums alive is a control freak. I'm sure if he ever gets new material, someone will let us know to take him off the ignore list for a while.

*nods in agreement*

/me nodds in disagreement



The textures weren't created by Zazas, so stop this witch hunt... the outfits might be similar, they could use the same textures, but how many of yours can say that you have an idea for an outfit that you never never saw in RL-magazines or even on comic books??? if so, what are you doing in SL and not creating in RL to earn real money???

I'd guess Blaze "Crush"?

Just seen it in a red version on a blog, and while it did remind me of your post and picture, because I'd just read that this morning, one tube dress isn't ever going to be terrifically different to another, apart from the detail of folds/texturing. I don't see that you need to worry Rha, since I imagine you could easily show the differences in your own texture.

--
Aes

If Zazas drew the original (and she states that she does not photosource so I would have to assume that she did) then she did in fact create the texture. (note: by texture I am referring to the actual drawing uploaded to create the garment, not to the fabric 'texture' which it sounds like you are referring to.) I for one absolutely admit that I take ideas for my work from RL, magazines, and even artists. But this work is open to interpretation, and while another person and I might have similar ideas, it would be pretty far fetched to think that we would come up with an IDENTICAL (which this was before the person in question made a few small changes) outfit. Case in point, I recently did a gown based on a painting. This gown had been done before by a very well known SL designer (I asked her before I did it if she minded if I did my own interpretation of it and she gave me the go ahead). The finished products, even though based on the same painting, are vastly different because being human our interpretations are different. While they might be similar, they are not identical.

It seems by your logic I could take a play by Shakespeare, change a few words around, and claim it as my own.