::grumble::grumble::
Argh! I have spent the past day and a half unhappy. I put out free patterns for people to use because I want people to use them for their personal enjoyment. You'll also notice that there is a very clear copyright notice and statement at the bottom of each page. What part of "personal use ONLY" do people not understand? Crafters who sell their crafts even on a small scale should be aware of what a basic copyright means. Even people who don't sell, knows. Now, granted the depth of knowledge can vary.
Prompted by a request by someone asking me to grant him permission to sell swifts based on my yarn swift pattern for a very very small royalty for every one he sells, I decided to look on a certain website to see if other people were not so kind and did NOT even bother to request permission. Lo and behold, what did I find?
I found 2 sellers on this not-to-be-named website. One seller just listed this month and has not sold any swifts. This first person has altered the design a little (changed the look of the base), but it still eerily resembles my pattern and the options I discuss and provide in it. The second person, has sold about 20 swifts. I would say about 98% of it looks like the ones in my photos and the construction definitely is a spitting image of my design. The only thing that the second person didn't do is put in the CD that I used as a stabilizer in Version 1. You actually don't even need a CD, stabilizer or block spacer if you have nice tools that drill straight, but if you don't you'll need one. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous blog post or in the pattern itself.
I'm still on the fence right now about reporting the first seller. (edit 2/14/08, 1:59pm: I should note that the reason is that I was on the fence about it at the time of my blog post although it is similar, I do realize that it is possible that people can come up with similar ideas and designs. When I woke up this morning, I have decided not to do anything about the first seller, because I think the design is different enough that I don't think that this person used my plans.) However, I just shot off a notice to the second seller to remove all listings, and I reported it to the administrators of the website.
This has thrown me off a little because, though I know logically that there are always people who choose not to care about someones creative right, I chose not to believe it in my heart because I so love the knitting community and most of the people I have met through this community.
I do have some plans to sell swifts from my pattern at some point, but I don't have the tools or the time right now, especially since Aubrey and I are still working hard at Handicraft Cafe, which should be launched in the beta phase very very soon. We hope to be able to contract with someone to produce the swifts for us to sell. But this is not the reason for me getting upset about these people selling swifts. It's the fact that they are trying to sell and pass something off as their own design. Now, if they want to design their own easy-to-make, cost-effective and portable swift and then sell it, by all means they should -- just come up with their own plans and ideas! The other upsetting part of it is that I spent a lot of time writing and revising it so that people will benefit and be able to use it, and their violation of that is disheartening.
Oh- please be advised that no part of this post may be printed or distributed without my expressed written permission. This post is for your personal and non-commercial use only. :)
On a happier and related note, I just reformatted the swift pattern onto pdf in my new layout and included the long-awaited instructions for making it on a Lazy Susan! If you are on Ravelry, here is the link. If you are not, again, I am sorry, you will have to wait. I have plans to reorganize this website and don't want to have to upload and rearrange it twice later.
Prompted by a request by someone asking me to grant him permission to sell swifts based on my yarn swift pattern for a very very small royalty for every one he sells, I decided to look on a certain website to see if other people were not so kind and did NOT even bother to request permission. Lo and behold, what did I find?
I found 2 sellers on this not-to-be-named website. One seller just listed this month and has not sold any swifts. This first person has altered the design a little (changed the look of the base), but it still eerily resembles my pattern and the options I discuss and provide in it. The second person, has sold about 20 swifts. I would say about 98% of it looks like the ones in my photos and the construction definitely is a spitting image of my design. The only thing that the second person didn't do is put in the CD that I used as a stabilizer in Version 1. You actually don't even need a CD, stabilizer or block spacer if you have nice tools that drill straight, but if you don't you'll need one. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous blog post or in the pattern itself.
I'm still on the fence right now about reporting the first seller. (edit 2/14/08, 1:59pm: I should note that the reason is that I was on the fence about it at the time of my blog post although it is similar, I do realize that it is possible that people can come up with similar ideas and designs. When I woke up this morning, I have decided not to do anything about the first seller, because I think the design is different enough that I don't think that this person used my plans.) However, I just shot off a notice to the second seller to remove all listings, and I reported it to the administrators of the website.
This has thrown me off a little because, though I know logically that there are always people who choose not to care about someones creative right, I chose not to believe it in my heart because I so love the knitting community and most of the people I have met through this community.
I do have some plans to sell swifts from my pattern at some point, but I don't have the tools or the time right now, especially since Aubrey and I are still working hard at Handicraft Cafe, which should be launched in the beta phase very very soon. We hope to be able to contract with someone to produce the swifts for us to sell. But this is not the reason for me getting upset about these people selling swifts. It's the fact that they are trying to sell and pass something off as their own design. Now, if they want to design their own easy-to-make, cost-effective and portable swift and then sell it, by all means they should -- just come up with their own plans and ideas! The other upsetting part of it is that I spent a lot of time writing and revising it so that people will benefit and be able to use it, and their violation of that is disheartening.
Oh- please be advised that no part of this post may be printed or distributed without my expressed written permission. This post is for your personal and non-commercial use only. :)
On a happier and related note, I just reformatted the swift pattern onto pdf in my new layout and included the long-awaited instructions for making it on a Lazy Susan! If you are on Ravelry, here is the link. If you are not, again, I am sorry, you will have to wait. I have plans to reorganize this website and don't want to have to upload and rearrange it twice later.
Labels: design, knitting, misc babble, patterns, swift
posted by Anne at
12:23 AM
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4 Comments:
I feel for you! This is a problem that many people face when they put ideas for handmade items out there... When I have an idea for something I want to make, I always try to stay away from looking at websites where people sell their creations so that I don't get too influenced by other people's ideas but truly, everything we see has some influence.
I don't want to stir the pot too much but I have to play devil's advocate a little... I'm NOT AT ALL saying this is the case with your swift but I'd like to point out that it IS possible for 2 people to individually come up with the same idea and virtually the same product. If a person sees a commercially available product and says "hey I can make something similar/better" who's to say that another person didn't have the same eureka moment? With simple devices/products, it is easy (IMO) to see how this might occur. These situations are often encountered with patents... one would have to prove who actually had the IDEA first (I know you have plenty of proof of when you first had the idea!). It doesn't matter who did anything with it first, if you can prove you had the idea first, the patent is yours.
In your case it is quite suspicious and I would at the very least contact the seller.
CraftyCanadian, yes, your point is well taken and I did consider those issues and possibilities. When I did the swift, I had just learned to knit and didn't even know what it was called, nor had I ever seen a tabletop model. When I searched for a contraption to wind yarn, my search results were only ball winders and a few umbrella swifts. Later, after I built it and found the that it was called "yarn swift" , I also checked other sites just to make sure that I wouldn't be stepping on anyone's toes before I posted my pattern design, even though I really did pull it out of the seat of my pants.
In that vein, I actually delayed in responding to the listing because I wanted to give it due consideration and not just react on a initial emotional level. This is the reason that I decided not to report the first seller of whom I spoke. The design is similar, but different enough that I don't really believe that that seller looked at my pattern or used it as a template.
It is entirely possible that the person's actions weren't absolutely intentional, but still may have seen and inadvertently used my pattern, which is still infringement. This can be very likely, especially when in a Yahoo and Google search of "homemade yarn swift", my page/blog is the first one listed. And in a search of "yarn swift" my page/blog is the 4th item on Yahoo, and the 12th on Google, and the Instructables posting is the 14th on Google.
Anyway, I feel a little better now, having vented and after the agonizing decision on whether I should do something. I should mention that I just got a courteous response from the seller explaining the seller's position and take on the matter. We'll just have to wait and see what the admin at that website says.
I applaud your restraint! SO many people would (and do) fly off the handle without even considering all the possibilities of the situation. I know you and I knew that was the case here, I just wanted to put what I said 'out there' so to speak for the benefit of others. Your situation is much different than some others I have read about and I agree that you should be looking into this matter in detail. I noticed that your posts come up readily if you search for yarn swift so we know they are not buried in obscurity...
Hearing that you had never seen a table top swift before coming up with this porves just how crafty you really are - WOW! I had my Dad make my swift using a commercially available one as a guide and although it is different I would never dream of selling them. I believe in commerce and fair competition but outright copying just sucks!
oops that should read "that wasn't the case" (meaning you were NOT just flying off the handle)
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