Flag Day
Etsy is very stringent about enforcing copyright infringement. And by stringent, I mean, la la la la I can’t hear you.
In a nutshell, it works like this: Etsy will not remove anything unless the copyright holder themselves complains about it.
So while it’s relatively safe to assume that none of these people have licensing deals in place to make this merchandise, Etsy will continue to collect listing fees and percentages on every sale until Walt Disney’s frozen head rolls into court and files a Cease and Desist.
Here are a few thieves waiting it out right now.
First, let’s look at Her Curious Creations on Etsy:
Joy is crafty! Here’s an original painting of two birds in her Etsy store:
What’s so curious about that creation? Well for starters, it was done by Kurt Halsey:
Curious!
Next up, Rich Witch on Etsy.
She’s “international recognized!” In fact, you might recognize this photo in one of her listings:
It’s a photo by artist Kerry Kate, and was lifted right off her Flickr Photostream.
Except her watermark disappeared.
AS IF BY MAGIC
Finally, my favorite of the bunch.
This is Marmite Mamie.
Except it’s not.
This is the real Marmite Mamie on Deviant Art.
This is the fake Marmite Mamie Etsy store:
This one is so blatant it’s comical. Not only did this peson download and list someone else’e art as her own, she made 20 sales before getting caught. She even took marmitemamie@hotmail.com as her email address!
Naturally, when the real Marmite Marie went to the Etsy forums for help, she was given all the support she could hope for.
Yes, Esty closed the thread down, because by saying that the thief had stolen her name, she gave “identifiable hints” as to who the thief was.
So just to recap, here is what to do if you find your work being stolen and sold on Etsy:
1. Read this page for information on alerting Etsy to the theft of your work.
Scroll down to the section that says, “What if I don’t see answers to my specific question?” which will instruct you on how to stop bothering them.
2. Do not talk about it in the forums, unless you don’t give identifiable hints, such as, “This person is using my name.”
It may be acceptable to say something like, “Someone may or may not be stealing my work using a name which may or may not be mine and none of this might even be happenening as far as I know.” Prepare to be muted.
3. Wait for hell to freeze over
UPDATE: The fake Marmite Mamie has just closed her Etsy store.
/small victories
October 10, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Fucking hell, Etsy. You can’t just magically make this shit not theft by pretending it isn’t happening, you know.
This will bite you in the arse one day, I promise.
October 10, 2011 at 2:04 pm
I honestly hope that someone big goes after Etsy someday; they deserve whatever their policy of blindly ignoring theft gets them.
October 10, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Isn’t there anything that can be done in the mean time?
October 10, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Not really, until some big corporation decides to get on Etsy’s butt about it. I heard that Sanrio got all over them once and made them clean house a few years ago.
October 10, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Not that you’d notice these days, sadly.
October 10, 2011 at 2:53 pm
BBC America once sent them a letter that they forwarded on to me about a shirt I had made and listed that had a “certain blue box” on it that may (or may not) have allegedly been piloted by a certain “time traveller” who might (or, again, might not) have had an advanced degree, of some sort.
Ahem.
At any rate, the gist of the letter revolved around the phrase, “Please do not use our copyrighted characters to market your handmade goods on Etsy.”
I liked the use of the word “please”, as it implied a courtesy of sorts. The upshot is, I promptly removed the offending listing MYSELF, as Etsy had not (as they should have, pending the outcome of any legal argument).
If the BBCA can’t get them to pull their collective cupcake heads out of the steaming pile of coleslaw that is Etsy Corporate, I doubt anything much could.
October 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I bet it was about Law & Order: UK… it was wasn’t it?
October 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Those people have collaborated with freaking NASA! It won’t be so easy.
(Not that I disliked that specific collaboration, but let’s say the things I don’t dislike about etsy get more and more outnumbered.)
October 10, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Ummmm Law & Order UK? Yeah, THAT was it! *snort* Either that, or about that fellow that travels about, fighting robots and things that look suspiciously like pepper pots with plungers stuck on the side.
October 10, 2011 at 4:10 pm
OH! So you really meant The Graham Norton Show. Gotcha.
October 10, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Wait, you sold Red Dwarf items in your shop? That is so awesome. (I’m assuming that the blue in blue box was a typo for red…the keys are right next to each other, it is an easy typo to make)
October 10, 2011 at 6:57 pm
The BBC was responsible for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure?!
October 10, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Um…blue box…uhhhh time traveller…hmmm…
advanced degree…was it Blackadder?
October 10, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
October 10, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Thanks Captain Law School, but the post clearly says that Etsy won’t take the listing down unless the copyright holder complains.
The criticism is not with the law, it’s with the fact that Etsy puts you through a complicated process to report theft, they are often slow to respond, and they take listing fees and percentages on the sale of stolen goods. They get to keep that money, even after the copyright holder has proven their claim.
October 11, 2011 at 6:12 am
A friend of mine had to take down a shirt that simply said, “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey” on it because someone may or may not own some kind of copyright or trademark on the actual phrase. What.
October 11, 2011 at 1:16 pm
But in the mind of the Etsy cupcake hive, wouldn’t your faux pa be more akin to this kind of situation???
“Artists may be inspired by other artists, previous art, and the world around them. For example, Cezanne is thought to have inspired Picasso’s cubism period and Boucher, Fragonard and Watteau inspired Renoir.”
You were just “inspired” which is totally acceptable! I’m sure that is fake MarmiteMarie’s issue too, she was just so inspired she just had to BE this incredible graphic design artist! Totally creamy!
October 12, 2011 at 2:54 am
Fwiw, Etsy once got on my ass and told me to remove an item that I had called Moulin Rouge in my listing purely as a descriptive term, after the actual Moulin Rouge folks got on *their* asses and got all cease-and-desisty on them – several listings got swiped, just because the Moulin Rouge folks have got the $$$$$ to properly intimidate Etsy into behaving.
Fair enough, I took the listing down – I certainly hadn’t intended to trade on someone else’s reputation, and that was fine, but it is indeed all about the $$$$$. We all know that simply reporting stuff as civvy-street Etsy buyers and sellers does bog all, but Etsy are bloody lightning-swift when the corporations get on them, showing us all just exactly what Etsy think of their user base
October 10, 2011 at 8:08 pm
unfortunately not, LipsLikeMorphyne – as long as people buy it, etsians get away with selling it. It’s a large part of the reason why I left etsy to sell elsewhere. Even I have some copyrighted designs that knitters are profiting from (which violates my copyright) … I’ve flagged these designs because they violate my copyright, and it’s not until I have to pay an arm and a leg for a C&D from my lawyer that etsy bothers to remove the items.
If you’re a big copyright holder that can afford to do that, awesome. Otherwise, more indie designers are kind of screwed.
October 11, 2011 at 11:12 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
October 11, 2011 at 9:52 pm
It would irritate the crap out of me to see items made from my patterns being sold. It takes time and effort (which I happen to enjoy, but that’s beside the point) to draft a pattern. You’d think people capable of following it well enough to make a decent item from it would have a little respect for that effort. But, I apparently overestimate humans.
October 10, 2011 at 2:07 pm
They really do.
The things is, if they just admitted that they were a fucking business instead of cupcaking and spunking glitter and fairies all over the shop, they wouldn;t be in this mess now.
It’s the ‘we’re a family’ nonsense that means they have to do the ‘no calling out’ shit, to keep up their image.
They’re like 1984, if 1984 was cut up and stuck on rocks.
October 10, 2011 at 2:14 pm
‘They’re like 1984, if 1984 was cut up and stuck on rocks.’
*snort* Good one!
I really do wonder why they can’t suck it up and admit that they’re a for-profit enterprise and not a feel-good image boosting society.
October 10, 2011 at 6:33 pm
I have never gotten the stigma about being for-profit. If they didn’t turn a profit, they’d be out of business.
October 10, 2011 at 8:11 pm
The only thing that’s seperating etsy from ebay is their dependance on banking on the ‘we love & sell handmade’ mentality. Anyone who has been selling there for more than a few weeks realizes what etsy truly is.
October 11, 2011 at 11:12 am
I don’t get the hiding-your-profit-making status either.
And to people who act superior because they work for a non-profit – unless you’re volunteering, they’re paying you more than it costs you to show up and do the work. In other words, YOU are a profit-making organization.
October 10, 2011 at 2:56 pm
“They’re like 1984, if 1984 was cut up and stuck on rocks.”
Depends. Are they using vintage paper to paste it on those rocks, or just artificially aged copier paper?
October 10, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Fuck knows. They’re probably claiming they’re using hand made paper bleached with urine and lemon juice with the ink made out of hipster tears and soot.
October 10, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Less 1984, more like “The Family” in This Perfect Day, or maybe The World State in Brave New World. Everything is happy and no one is ALLOWED to be unhappy.
October 10, 2011 at 2:32 pm
except Etsy probably has some layers of protection via their TOU regarding their liability for the malfeasance of any particular user. And the shop owner’s pockets aren’t necessarily deep enough to warrant action by large corporate copyright holders. Although, I’ve heard that Disney is rather active in protecting their copyrights.
October 10, 2011 at 2:37 pm
They do knowingly allow law-breaking to take place, and I doubt the Etsy TOU could protect it against state/federal law should someone take it into their mind to make an example. Ebay was targeted by some international fashion manufacturer for allowing fakes to be sold, as I recall, and I’d wager they have a lot more legalese and actual lawyers on their side than Etsy.
October 10, 2011 at 2:57 pm
eBay provides a listing service only, and, when informed of copyright infringement claims, investigate and if necessary remove listing or suspend accounts.
Etsy provide a listing service and rabidly defend all listers against any claim of copyright infringement.
Etsy is a lot more exposed than eBay. They provide a known and demonstrable safe haven. If you get caught on eBay, you get booted. If you get caught on Etsy, you might get featured.
October 11, 2011 at 7:17 am
At least eBay allows (and in fact relies on) ANYBODY to bring potential violators to their attention. Probably most of them get nothing more than a wrist-slap and a warning, but at least they know they’re being watched.
I’ve reported my share of eBay abusers in my time, though mainly over issues other than copyright. The latest was somebody selling “genuine tiger-tooth pendants”, which means he’s either dealing in CITES-protected animal products or else is lying in his descriptions.
October 10, 2011 at 2:52 pm
I think Etsy is playing a dangerous game. They aren’t involved in the commission of any of this theft or fraud, which means they have no control over the selection of victims. Someday, someone is going to use an Etsy storefront to rip off an established professional with a sharp IP lawyer on retainer. Then Etsy will find that in the real world providing the means for theft and then shielding the thief from accusations might fall outside the innocent cupcake defense.
I’d love to see someone like Ed Greenberg take them on.
October 10, 2011 at 6:36 pm
At least they aren’t playing THE Most Dangerous Game.
October 11, 2011 at 6:44 am
It’s a very dangerous game.
The same blather about “we only provide a service to introduce suppliers to consumers; we aren’t responsible for content” and “copyright holders are invited to notify us” are exactly the same words used by file-sharing sites like Pirate Bay. They don’t provide much protection in court.
Even less protection for Etsy, since they’re taking money for hosting the content and are therefore profiting by the theft. At least the people running Pirate Bay don’t charge for the privilege.
October 10, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Disney is pretty vindictive and has deep pockets for such things, so we can only hope. But until someone is made a serious example of, it’s just going to continue.
October 12, 2011 at 6:54 pm
I’m pretty shocked that Disney hasn’t already crawled up and died in Etsy’s goatse.
October 10, 2011 at 5:30 pm
If you ever see me dancing naked in the streets it’s because the news reported the Disney Corporation took out Etsy in a copyright infringement lawsuit starting an avalanche of lawsuits from other major artists and companies who forced Etsy to hand over every penny received from these listings! The poor chicken will be out of work though:(
October 10, 2011 at 6:24 pm
And very likely, no one will cry over the
deadunemployed chicken.October 10, 2011 at 6:57 pm
I’ll cry if the chicken is Extra Crispy. Much prefer Original.
October 11, 2011 at 11:49 am
A friend interviewed Harlan Sanders shortly before he died. His opinion of Extra Crispy couldn’t even be printed HERE.
October 10, 2011 at 8:20 pm
As long as people are still buying the copyright violations tho, there’s no reason why the sellers should stop.
It’s surprising how many people KNOW they’re violating copyrights, and are doing it “because everyone else is doing it”.
Try looking around etsy for Hello Kitty, Twilight, Disney, etc and wait for the eleventy million pages to show up.
October 10, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Speaking of people pretending to be other people, anything new on that front, Anninyn?
October 10, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Yep, all sorted. April banned the crazy loon. There’s a thread in the forums, if you;re a member.
October 10, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Can you give me a hint of the name of the thread? I want to read.
October 11, 2011 at 2:47 am
“Someone is pretending to be me”
October 10, 2011 at 2:43 pm
I was wondering the same thing and was expecting to see the faker as I scrolled by any second now.
October 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm
The irony would have been mind breaking.
October 10, 2011 at 2:37 pm
October 10, 2011 at 2:44 pm
yeah, that’s about right
The concept:
if it is making us money, we won’t stop until the owner threatens us
It’s a good thing Etsy has a
Chief CupcakeManager assigned to be sure everyone there is on the up-and-up!October 10, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I so want a badge that says “Chief Cupcake.” I also want it posted on my office door.
October 10, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Here ya go!
October 10, 2011 at 3:33 pm
If some idiot ripped off my shit and tried to sell it on etsy and then the site admins chastised me for calling out the thief, trouble would ensue.
I’d lawyer them to death and then eat their bones.
October 10, 2011 at 4:07 pm
…or make a necklace of said.
October 10, 2011 at 4:29 pm
But Mistletoe, if you’ve already lawyered Etsy to death where would you sell your Etsy-bone necklace?
October 10, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Oh please. We skinwalkers* care more about art for art’s own sake than such shallow things as selling and making ends meet.
*(am I getting the word right?)
October 10, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Skinwalkers… cupcakes… Cakewalkers?
October 10, 2011 at 11:19 pm
I’m going to wrap this up, now. You can’t call people out by name and threaten them! Even if the name is Etsy. ;p
October 10, 2011 at 2:03 pm
If these people put half the energy they spend faking and lying toward actually doing something of their own, they might be able to get somewhere in life.
October 10, 2011 at 2:05 pm
If they went in to politics, law, acting or porn people would pay them to do it and they wouldn;t be breaking the law.
October 10, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Ladies and gentlemen, here it is: a great post-Etsy job plan for any former cupcake staffers! There are only so many jobs where being able to blow smoke up people’s asses qualifies as a skill, after all.
October 10, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Yeah, ’cause I hear there’s not a lot of demand anymore for 18th century lifeguards.
Stupid economy.
October 10, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Love your “blowing smoke” reference there, McGee.
And, no, I don’t know why I blindly clicked on a link here without saying a prayer first.
October 10, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Oh, McGee, that was beautiful.
October 10, 2011 at 5:40 pm
McGee – thank you for that. I will be using this information for my whole life.
October 10, 2011 at 2:05 pm
I love Etsy, I think they’re cool…but shit, if they don’t need to clean house, big time.
October 10, 2011 at 2:36 pm
I have found some really amazing things on etsy, and have had great experiences with it. But, it’s a place for handmade things… not re-sellers, or people just flat out stealing someone else’s ideas. In college, I would have gotten a big fat F on a paper if I stole anothers intellectual property.
Almost makes me want to stop shopping on etsy…another case where a few people ruin it for everyone else!
October 10, 2011 at 3:01 pm
I agree. And, as a seller, this kind of shit is really disconcerting to me. Why should I feel like my hard work is going to get anywhere when any asshole can slap whatever they feel like stealing up there and make a quick buck? That’s why I really enjoy the “compare & save!” posts.
October 10, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Some people need to be kicked square in the taco. And by “some people” I mean art thieves and Etsy.
October 10, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcBcU2PD5Qw
October 10, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Wanna find all kinds of violations? Just search “Disney” on Etsy.
October 10, 2011 at 2:07 pm
That is just disgusting. What kind of sicko copies Kurt Halsey?
Isn’t the real Kurt Halsey bad enough?
October 10, 2011 at 5:23 pm
God, thank you. I was just logging in to register my disgust with that card up there. Sure, the blatant ripping-off is heinously gross but really? Who would want to copy something so masterbatingly smug?
October 10, 2011 at 6:36 pm
I think he’s adorbs. Although I only heard of him after finding one of his prints in the dollar bin at a local discount store, an Urban Outfitters buyout. I got so much great hipster crap for $1/piece.
October 10, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Glad the faker shut down her store. Etsy is so absurd when it comes to stuff like this, I just don’t understand what goes on in their minds.
October 10, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Ahh but wait a while and thieves like these will pop up later; different profile, different artist they’ve targeted, same song and dance.
October 10, 2011 at 2:26 pm
The funny thing is that the Etsy faker is listed as a male on his profile information. He was either being all out blatant and didn’t care if he got caught or was just plain stupid.
October 10, 2011 at 2:08 pm
This is starting to be one of those things where “fuck the police” is the best response now.
October 10, 2011 at 2:19 pm
October 10, 2011 at 2:20 pm
I’m also going to apologize in advance for any epileptics harmed by my spazzy text…
October 10, 2011 at 3:04 pm
*twitch*
You can’t apologize *twitch* in advance if you put the *twitch* apology after the text.
*twitch* *twitch*
October 10, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Too late
October 10, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Lucky for you I’ve been taking my medication regu….
October 10, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Sure, I’m an art student, but I just plagiarize in my free time. Nobody take a second look at my assignments, I promise they’re all totes original. Honest.
October 10, 2011 at 2:32 pm
I hope this “art student” turns in plagiarized work to someone who will catch them. I’m an art student, and I actually put work into making original products. These people piss me off so hard.
October 10, 2011 at 6:06 pm
She had “credited” the original artist in the keywords. I was looking for Kurt Halsey’s Etsy (he has one, somewhere) but found that instead. It’s a monstrosity compared to the original, and here’s our exchange when I messaged her to call her out on it…
McDerpinson:
Hello,
I wanted to let you know that Kurt doesn’t like people using his art for profit.
(link to piece)
HerCuriousCreations:
hi, what does that mean?
I painted this so i can sell it.
McDerpinson:
Right, but it is basically a copy of his work. He has said before that copying his work for profit is not ok.
“I painted this so I can sell it”
“I PAINTED THIS SO I CAN SELL IT”
are you fucking KIDDING ME
October 10, 2011 at 7:02 pm
October 11, 2011 at 6:37 pm
I often enter online writing contests, and the amount of plagiarism in those is appalling. Once, some guy copied and pasted my entire entry, just changing some of the names (he didn’t catch them all). Then he entered again by stealing someone else’s entry.
I took third. He was disqualified.
October 10, 2011 at 2:08 pm
So, how long do you think it’ll be before I’m busted and closed down for my new store; JoAnnFabrics…look I even have a website: notJoAnn Fabrics
October 10, 2011 at 2:11 pm
I’m wondering where Joy Binder is enrolled for art school. I’m an art grad and, I shit you not, I’ve seen a girl get berated so badly for using canvas board that she walked out of a crit in tears.
Canvas board was pretty much the art school equivalent of those icky negative comments etsy tries to pretend don’t exist.
October 10, 2011 at 2:16 pm
I like canvas board.
October 10, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Oh I do too, but I kept that fact locked down. I embrace canvas board the same way I embrace making a bowl of instant mashed potatoes for dinner…it’s a wonderful thing, but I only do it at home and immediately try to hide the evidence.
October 10, 2011 at 2:31 pm
And without loads of gravy.
October 10, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Canvas board + gravy = $2000 “artwork” on Etsy
October 10, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Canvas board + gravy + some mention of worship of hairy hippy vaginas in the description = $2000 “artwork” on Etsy’s front page
October 10, 2011 at 3:37 pm
BRING ON THE GRAVY!!
October 11, 2011 at 1:20 am
See this here? This is why I’m so glad I never succumbed to the temptation to go to art school. What the hell if it’s painted on canvas board? You could paint it on the inside of a cereal packet, it doesn’t affect the actual art!
Yes, if someone is planning to make a living from it, you might point out that higher-quality materials will last longer and get a higher price from buyers – but that’s nothing to do with the actual art. That should be a sidenote in some kind of “practical tips for selling and storing” class.
But art schools just seem to be full of people who are so obsessed with the “only right way” to do things, they completely fail to see the wood for the trees.
November 14, 2011 at 9:23 pm
I took art classes at a not-art-school, and I still got this kind of bullshit. “You didn’t make this to look like what the teacher thought it should look like, so you fail!”
Never mind that the bitch ignored me in class so hard, that I might as well not have existed. How the hell was I to know what she wanted when she refused to aknowledge I was real?
I wasn’t the ony one either. She pretended a good third of the class wasn’t there.
Bitter diatribe over.
October 10, 2011 at 2:11 pm
This is the acme of asshole-ery.
October 10, 2011 at 2:12 pm
that’s so sad…Etsy should really be ashamed.
October 11, 2011 at 6:03 am
They’re crying all the way to the bank. Assholes.
October 10, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Keep giving ‘em hell, Killer. I’m starting to be a huge fan of cyber vigilante justice, Regretsy brand.
October 10, 2011 at 2:13 pm
October 10, 2011 at 3:08 pm
SCOTTISH FOLDS! MY SNARK-KRYPTONITE!
*can’t control the cute* must have
kittehs!October 10, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Aw, look at the sly one on the right… Alissasaurus? Alissasaurus, are you ok?
October 10, 2011 at 7:54 pm
i’ve lost control of my basic motor functions in a cute-induced daze
October 10, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Christ on a cracker those damn things are cute.
Etsy is still a festering bunghole for allowing plagiarism and copyright violations…but look! KITTEHS!
October 10, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Gnomestress is working for Etsy and is cleverly using cute kitty pictures to distract us…from…can’t concentrate….kittens…too…cute….*melts*
October 11, 2011 at 1:26 am
Those Kittens are so Cute
October 10, 2011 at 2:14 pm
can someone please photoshop the “occupy wallstreet” hoodlums and hippies crowd in Front of the ETSY corp building complete with bongo drums thanks
October 10, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Aren’t bongo drum vintage & hip? If so, Etsyians might like them. How about playing popular tunes and holding up signs that “call out,” or chanting “glitter is craft herpes?”
October 10, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
October 10, 2011 at 2:38 pm
October 10, 2011 at 2:20 pm
“until Walt Disney’s frozen head rolls into court and files a Cease and Desist”
Now I’m picturing his head rolling into a courtroom. His face is all red because he’s so mad. In my mind it’s done in cartoon syle (of course).
October 10, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Like Nixon in a jar on ‘Futurama’.
October 10, 2011 at 8:01 pm
This would make an awesome ep of Futurama! KApril and Bronc and Walt Disney as heads in jars, fighting a war against the evil twee cupcake aliens, Etsians.
October 10, 2011 at 3:13 pm
But in the case of Walt Disney, wouldn’t it be a Deceased and Desist? (there’s never a “badum dum” when you need one…)
October 10, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Oh but you are mistaken, my friend!
October 11, 2011 at 6:51 am
Not being in the US, I can’t see this video. But that doesn’t mean I can’t share:
http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/walt-vs-elian.html
October 10, 2011 at 2:20 pm
The thing about Marmite Mamie is that she gives her stuff away. “Hey, this is what I made, if you use it, just show me a copy because I think it would be cool to see what you did.” This probably left such a bad taste in her mouth that she won’t share anything on DA again…. which is sad.
UGH!
Thieves suck.
October 10, 2011 at 2:20 pm
I get the feeling that the etsy staffers are just above all of this. Kind of like the Greek gods chilling up on Mt Olympus and laughing as the lowly mortals flailed around down below. I mean in their case they’re probably chilling in some diy fortress of sparkles, but you get the idea.
October 10, 2011 at 7:48 pm
The Fortress of Sparklitude, it’s up near the north pole, I hear.
October 10, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Well technically, the fake MarmiteMamie store is just empty, but not closed.
Small steps in the right direction nonetheless.
October 10, 2011 at 3:04 pm
And somehow, “she” has become a “he.”
October 10, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Somehow, that just makes it worse.
October 10, 2011 at 2:24 pm
There was one shop a while back tat was blatantly ripping off logos from major league sports, photos of celebs, other people’s jewelry designs, you name it. Then she was a rude snot when called on her shit. So I took the time to find every single copyright holder, found out how to contact their legal department, and reported the violations.
The most fun was getting letters back from the celebs’ staffs, thanking me. The most satisfying part was the thank yous from small independent artists whose work had been ripped off.
We CAN kick these people’s asses, if you are willing to use a little time, Google, and email.
The dA Marmite Mamie needs to send Etsy a DMCA take-down notice, for examples of what’s needed, see http://rising.blackstar.com/how-to-send-a-dmca-takedown-notice.html
October 10, 2011 at 2:33 pm
http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?ref=auto&q=warcraft&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US
(some of these items are recycled licensed products, which would not violate copyright.)
World of Warcraft is the IP of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
From: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/legal-faq.html
Can I make and sell my own products (T-shirts, card games, models/figures, etc.) based on a Blizzard universe?
No. Blizzard Entertainment® does not enter into licensing agreements with individuals. To ensure the quality of all Blizzard products, all of our merchandise is created under a licensing agreement and all prospective licensees are thoroughly reviewed by Blizzard Entertainment before a license is granted. If you are a company that is interested in creating licensed merchandise and your company is looking to pursue a corporate licensing relationship with Blizzard Entertainment, please contact merchandiselicensing@blizzard.com.
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October 10, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Yikes. The tail end of my “cite” tag got bit off. I hope I didn’t break the whole blog!
October 10, 2011 at 2:48 pm
My post above was my response to this exchange higher up:
LipsLikeMorphyne — “Isn’t there anything that can be done in the mean time?”
freckleyredhead — “Not really, until some big corporation decides to get on Etsy’s butt about it.”
Big corporation suggestion followed.
OK, I’m going to go hide in my bedroom, now, and research how many Benedryl will fit up my nose.
October 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm
please get back to us on that pill count…and sorry about your allergies…October sucks for me too…all the damn mold spores are killing me!
October 10, 2011 at 2:51 pm
um..that was supposed to be a reply to Postmenopaws…man, I need a drink or something…I’m not doing very well in here today
October 10, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Um…it was a reply to postmenopaws? It looks like it landed where it was supposed to be? Now I’m confused.
October 10, 2011 at 8:43 pm
I’m confused too…when it first posted, it went elsewhere
o_O
October 10, 2011 at 7:57 pm
blizz is INTENSE about this kind of thing.
October 11, 2011 at 6:41 pm
It’s almost kind of a pity … I’d wear a “For the Horde” bracelet.
October 10, 2011 at 2:34 pm
I know I may be calling out here BUT I actually had a transaction with “RichWitch” (aka Gina*Luna) on ebay (I bought doll eyes from her). She charged me $16 for shipping and mailed them in a normal white envelope with a little bit of cotton.
I complained. She insisted that her shipping was not too high. I left negative feedback. She went ballistic and broke a dozen ebay rules trying to retaliate. I see that she no longer has an ebay account.
Why am I not surprised to see her once again doing something shady?
October 10, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I’m pretty sure calling out is not only OK here, but highly encouraged.
October 10, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Doll eyes mailed in an envelope is a disaster waiting to happen. Were these eyes for a BJD, or just little plastic eyes? Either way, totally irresponsible and bullshit- and the sort of thing other people NEED to know so they won’t get suckered like that. $16 for shipping is pretty damn ridiculous on a pair of eyes.
October 10, 2011 at 7:53 pm
Her store sent my $camAlert alarms buzzing. After wading through her “About me” section, I thought she was going to tell me to “Forward this to 20 of your friends or you’re cursed unless you send me $10.”
October 11, 2011 at 1:57 am
I am surprised it took this long for something she was doing to show up on Regretsy. I can’t claim to be pagan or know the significance of certain spells so maybe “enchanting” some lipstick is really worth a ton of money. But many of the “vintage” things she sells are obviously just retailed from somewhere, and her prices are SO HIGH. Those crystal balls must be like 500% mark up. It just oozes arrogance, and both stealing images and cheating on shipping seem within her league. I don’t know why it annoys me so much, maybe because I am the crazy type who triple-searches to make sure things I buy on etsy aren’t mass-produced or faux vintage or even if they are vintage, that they aren’t overpriced. Seeing people buy for those prices makes my eyes bleed.
October 11, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Spells are better if you do them yourself. Expensive ingredients are not required. I’ve used a ballpoint pen, notebook paper, and WalMart votives.
October 10, 2011 at 2:35 pm
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75736048/peacock-feather-watercolor-painting
I think this one’s a mess. Not only is it obvious the board was all scratched up before she painted on it, but there’s a big mark on the right of it. She should add that she used “reclaimed” cardboard paper that she “salvaged” from the dumpster outside her apartment complex.
Also, “the peace is not signed on the front.”
October 10, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Is that ever lame! I bet in person you can even tell what the writing/drawing was that accidentally got imprinted onto that board. You hold it sideways & see her doodles of Justin Beiber or something, ha ha!
October 10, 2011 at 2:58 pm
I like how her cards were “digitalized for printing.”
Gives me a new thing to call this group of sellers: adhesively-digitalized.
October 10, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Surely that damage happened after the fact. I mean, if the board was damaged before, she could just do a heavy white wash over the whole board to give herself a fresh surface. Anyone would do that. Right?
Right?
October 10, 2011 at 3:25 pm
At least, anyone who was an art student with a GPA above 2.0.
October 10, 2011 at 3:23 pm
yes, but I bet it is dated be me , like the ripped off birdies.
(do we cry for them or wait til they are killed off?)
October 10, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Click image for embiggening.
October 10, 2011 at 4:19 pm
I wuv you
October 10, 2011 at 4:31 pm
I embiggened it and loved loved loved it
MPFC FTW
October 10, 2011 at 7:09 pm
I grovel at your not-nailed-to-the-perch feet.
Brilliant!
October 10, 2011 at 9:20 pm
I still say it’s pining for the fjords.
October 10, 2011 at 11:11 pm
1) I love flowcharts
2) I love the word “embiggen”. It’s such a cromulent word.
3) *sniffle*
October 11, 2011 at 7:15 am
This is a thing of beauty and you should feel very, very good about it.
October 10, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Need. More. Thumbs. UPPPP.
October 10, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Looks like it might have been “reclaimed” from someone’s cat. How bloody difficult is it to slap something on the cardboard to fill in those gouges or, y’know, flip the thing over and paint the other side if it isn’t all scratched up? Or, better yet, to find another piece of cardboard?
That thing reminds me of something submitted to the art show at the anime con I work. We had one precious little snowflake enter something unsealed, painted on a bare, slightly dingy square of board from a hardware store with the barcode still stuck on the back. The painting was mostly in the middle of the board and looked liked she either ran out of paint or was going for some kind of fade effect but couldn’t be arsed to even prime the damned board so the paint would actually blend into the background. Poor little cupcake could not fathom why no-one wanted her super speshul half-a-naked-female-robot painting, especially when the starting bid was “only” about a hundred bucks.
October 10, 2011 at 6:38 pm
THANK YOU! I run into these self-same cupcakes at every damned convention I do, anime or literary or scifi or “we can’t decide, maybe some sort of media..?” convention. After they submit their “art” to the art show, they wander into the dealer room and commence telling me their life story, and why soooo much of it would make great buttons or shirts.
No. No, it wouldn’t. Go away.
October 10, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Gah, yes! They think that every goddamned thing they’ve ever done is soooo totes hilarious/adorbs/interesting to anyone other than them that of course anything related to it will sell out immediately. Sorry cupcakes, but you are not as clever as you think you are. Fuck off.
October 10, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Exactly! It’s taken me 43 years (and counting) to hone my snark to its present razor-edge, and no 17 year old twit who just “suffered through a devastating break-up with her boyfriend of like, TWO WHOLE MONTHS!!!!” can ever match it. Their idea of “pain” would, at worst, barely make me giggle.
October 10, 2011 at 11:13 pm
It’s worse when you have a table next to their table and you have to staff your table for a full three day convention and listen to that dribble.
October 10, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Unrelated but your name is the best ever. Empty night!
October 10, 2011 at 2:39 pm
CR infringement SUCKS!!
Here’s a little episode I’m currently trying to fight:
Here’s my original, a collaborative design between my wife (for the Chinese Calligraphy), the owner of another studio who happens to be a close friend and who did this just for me (the dragon), and myself (the flames/overall idea, piecing it together):
Here’s the image some other jerk in Germany “created” because I respectfully told them that I had to turn down their request to use my image for free so they could put it on t-shirts and sell it themselves to their students:
Sweet, no?
October 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm
ignore the above in preference for the below
sorry about that, Chief!
October 10, 2011 at 2:40 pm
*URGH!!
I hate when I screw up my html
This is what it was supposed to be:
Here’s my original, a collaborative design between my wife (for the Chinese Calligraphy), the owner of another studio who happens to be a close friend and who did this just for me (the dragon), and myself (the flames/overall idea, piecing it together):
Here’s the image some other jerk in Germany “created” because I respectfully told them that I had to turn down their request to use my image for free so they could put it on t-shirts and sell it themselves to their students:
Sweet, no?
October 10, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Yours is cooler. No contest.
October 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Um. What I meant was, not only was your original design cool, but the rip-off was lame and not even a good tribute to the original.
October 10, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Thank you! Though they at least re-drew the dragon, the Chinese characters are still identical to the hand brushed originals my wife did. They didn’t even bother to change that part!
October 10, 2011 at 3:05 pm
26!
Seriously, though. The copy-dragon looks like Urkel.
October 10, 2011 at 4:19 pm
26?
and Urkel??
LOL
Never noticed that!
October 10, 2011 at 2:46 pm
That sucks big time. Here’s hoping you clobber that bastard good in court. It seems like a black & white case.
October 10, 2011 at 2:49 pm
only problem: he’s in Germany, I’m in the US
Looking into ways to issue a C&D order for Int’l Copyrights
October 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Just sent an email to our Int’l CR department. I’ll let you know what they say.
October 10, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Wow
Thank you!
October 10, 2011 at 3:18 pm
One year my design school’s official t-shirt was the BMW logo with “BMW” replaced with our faculty’s calender code.
There were a lot of problems with that place.
October 10, 2011 at 4:20 pm
ouch!
October 10, 2011 at 10:43 pm
A DESIGN school couldn’t come up with their own logo? Not one teacher or student had ANY original idea? Wow.
October 12, 2011 at 9:34 am
Oh, there was a competition. With I think a couple of dozen entries submitted by design students. That was the winning entry as selected by a student committee and approved by the faculty.
Technically the student decision was independent, but the faculty maintained oversight and you know they would have vetoed someone outrageously offensive (like “Kill The Jews”). So the faculty did not consider blatant trademark theft to be an issue.
October 10, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Someone should make a fake etsy, and then have it so that the only way that etsy can report the theft is to write a message to the admin of the fake etsy. But for that message to be heard and not flagged immediately, they cannot even vaguely refer to copyright infringement or theft. Or even use the name “etsy.” This exercise would be futile, since etsy, like a 15-year-old artist, cannot even fathom accepting criticism, but it might result in a few bitter laughs.
October 10, 2011 at 5:19 pm
The fake Etsy will be called Esty.
October 10, 2011 at 2:43 pm
If Disney/DC/Marvel/Mattel/Hello Kitty went after Etsy – Etsy would roll over like a pussy whipped puppy – I list some of my embroidery designs on there to hopefully get additional exposure for my real website that has more designs. But just simply lookin at one catagory (embroidery appliques) you will be mind bent by all the infringement in that one section alone. Why should someone want to buy someones original design created from artwork they legally bought the rights to use when grandma gerty can just go buy batman or mickeymouse for 3 bucks.
I don’t do it because I do not want to lose my legit business – but these other people are fly by night sellers can come and go as they please with no recourse. It is a huge butthurt, and it pisses me off that ETSY doesn’t police it like Ebay did. I can tell you that companies like Mattel and Disney DO indeed have email addresses that you can turn infringers into….but we’d be spamming them all day if we all did with just ETSY alone
October 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Can I get a Petagram to clean my oven?
October 10, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Have you ever heard of http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com?
October 10, 2011 at 3:06 pm
cool – gotta go thru the rest of that tonight
October 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm
My favourite recent one from that page is also detailed on this Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/nXV2BR
I love his response. “I didn’t steal anything. I know the law. I gave full credit for the design.”
And then you sold copies of another artist’s work/company’s product without permission. No, you don’t know the law.
October 10, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Several hours now looking at that site. Thanks, I think.
Amazing what people will do.
October 10, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Helen, by publishing these thieves on here, you are doing a community service which is completely and utterly priceless. You save so many sellers so much angst whether its outing barnwood or hobos or thieves like these.
You are the voice for the muted.
LOL
October 10, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Woo Hoo! I love this recent post. I never knew there were such shady people on Etsy. I know now to double check before I buy anything “handmade”. Thanks Regretsy!
October 10, 2011 at 3:50 pm
here in cupcake land the law is see no theft hear no theft speak of no theft
and have a nice day !!
October 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm
The first seller is wearing a bra in her profile photo…that’s pretty screwed up!
October 10, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Not anymore. She’s changed her profile picture and…
dun… dun… DUN…
removed the infringing item.
October 10, 2011 at 3:58 pm
I just wish there was some big list of who you contact to report these infringers to. The only one I know is Disney, and I have reported shops to them before and seen those shops get closed down or listings removed a few months later.
But I see so much other crap – Sanrio, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, NFL, MLB, etc. etc. but I have no idea where to report them. I’ve gone to all their websites but they don’t have any information. I once just used the contact page on the NFL & MLB sites but didn’t receive any reply from them and the shops I tried to report are still open and raking in the money.
October 10, 2011 at 4:01 pm
I had a C & D email from Etsy about a NAME I GAVE A NECKLACE. It was a very generic sounding name, but it seems there is a diamond company out there that uses that phrase as a trademark. I had no idea, since I don’t buy diamonds on a regular basis. Etsy was all up in my face, ready to shut down my store, which has sold less than 100 items over time, but when I wrote directly to the offended company, the representative wrote back to say they were cool since I immediately renamed the ONE NECKLACE with that name(which certainly didn’t have any diamonds in it). I’m sure I’m on the Etsy watch list now. But jerks like these shown above, rip the entire product off, name included, and Etsy jumps on the offended party.
October 10, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Recently someone for the Marine Corps. did a sweep through Etsy and a lot of people had listings removed. I had a necklace that said “marine mom” on it (not a trademark or copyright phrase, I checked) but in the title I included several search keywords including “usmc” and my listing to removed for that. I did a search and found that usmc is trademarked (obviously I didn’t know that before or I wouldn’t have used it) but Etsy pulled my listing because of the freaking title – the item itself was not in any way violating anything. I changed the title and put the listing back up, haven’t had any problems since then and hopefully won’t in the future.
October 10, 2011 at 6:05 pm
That’s actually pretty lame. As far as I know, the Marines aren’t a for-profit organization, and since you weren’t representing your merchandise as “official,” I’m not sure what interests they were protecting. I think using USMC as a keyword is completely legitimate.
On the other hand, the military does like to exercise its authority BECAUSE IT FUCKING CAN! NOW DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH-UPS, AND I MEAN THE JACK PALANCE KIND!
October 10, 2011 at 6:34 pm
You don’t have to be for-profit to have a trademark. And trademarks have to be defended against any unauthorized use, or an organization can lose them.
That wasn’t authoritarianism, just due diligence.
October 10, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Yep. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) licensed their name and distinctive likeness (the red serge and the hat) to Disney for several years. The idea was Disney’s lawyers would clean out the infringers that had multiplied over the years.
It wasn’t a popular deal with the Canadian pubic. But it was for a fixed, limited time, and it worked.
October 10, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I’m wondering if the USMC dildo showed up in that sweep? Someone might be explaining a few things to their CO about now.
October 10, 2011 at 4:02 pm
the way etsy handles these situations makes me sick. it’s particularly frustrating to realize that they have set up their entire system around protecting thieves and liars. i would like to think there is a way for us effect a change…
but then i guess that would just be an exercise in futility.
October 10, 2011 at 4:19 pm
I really love the sticky note after the bird text:
(Original Text) We are more than most will ever find
(stickie note) So don’t fuck it up.
October 10, 2011 at 4:26 pm
At one point in my art career I was copied so often, I just started giving it all out for free, silly little pixelated dollies. I flooded them everywhere, declaring “Art is for the people!” Guess what? Nearly all the people who altered them claimed sole copyright.
Re: RichBitch: Oh for fuck’s sake. She’s also selling “consecrated blood goblets” which are she claims are vintage Avon Cape Cod red pressed glassware. (Which I drool for, had to leave behind my entire collection 5 years ago, wahhh!) BUT there’s a rainbowy sheen on the closeup, which in my experience means it’s a Chinese dollar store knockoff. I know this cuz I keep buying that cheap crap to slowly replace the collection I can never afford.
AlSo, ApPaReNtLy If YoU tYpE lIkE tHiS iT’s MaGiCkAl.
I’ve lost count at somewhere over 20 of her items being cheap-ass stuff from the Azure Green catalog.
Signed,
Your friendly neighborhood Buddhist Pagan. Puddhist. Bagan. Whatever.
October 10, 2011 at 6:45 pm
I saw a LOT of items in her shop, not only from AG, but from a few other vendors I use, as well. I sell all sorts of pagan items alongside the handmade shirts and buttons at conventions. However, I do NOT list AG or other stuff from my other vendors on Etsy, as it’s NOT handmade.
October 10, 2011 at 4:27 pm
and then there was my issue. http://www.etsy.com/listing/63844416/chess-piece-necklace-original-design-by
Is this an amazing creation? NO, but I was the first on Etsy in Aug 2008 to make this necklace. I called it Bella’s Transformation, referring to the change in Bella in the final book by S. Meyer, Breaking Dawn. Of course I tagged it with the Twilight book names, etc…But it is my original design with an original name.
This summer Summit Entertainment contacted Etsy and Etsy took down the listings for my necklaces. Etsy as well as Summit’s lawyers contacted me to stop selling these. I relisted them after I spoke with my attorney – with no tags referring to any of the Twilight stuff. My issue is all of the other Twilight stuff that is still on Etsy – listed – with exact images pulled from the books, names used in tags etc… WTF?
Why aren’t they all gone?
October 10, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Do they happen to say “fan art” or “fan tribute”? That’s how deviantart stayed alive in the early days (although after they started selling stuff, I lost track, not sure how they sell deviations now). I made a silly mandala for fans of Furby, sells on Etsy for $1, cuz only someone who realllllly loves Furbies would have any interest in it. But I could never claim any copyright on it, nor could I put it in a coloring book, or a PDF e-book. Title 17 of the Copyright Act generally covers fan art. As long as you don’t make any significant profit, it seems to be ignored.
October 10, 2011 at 8:38 pm
You should at least tag it “vampire” so you can try to get SOME of the audience this appeals to.
October 11, 2011 at 6:39 am
Even more targeted: sparkling vampire. Unless Meyer holds the copyright to those.
October 10, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Agreed–all that other stuff should be gone, or forced to make it slightly less obvious that it’s stolen.
(Did you know your listing says both chess pieces are the same size?)
October 10, 2011 at 4:29 pm
BTW – BABY on the oven is a bit creapy in a hansel and gretel kinda way..lol
October 10, 2011 at 4:30 pm
“Restricted Activities: Your Content and your use of Etsy shall not:Infringe upon any third-party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary or intellectual property rights or rights of publicity or privacy”
But don’t worry, we don’t actually LOOK for this stuff!
October 10, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Every time you see another Admin reminder not to “call out” there is a 150% chance the Admin never read the thread, never read the comments.
The head in the sand attitude about theft and copyright comes right from Etsy. They don’t care, why should anyone who opens a fake store care?
In the end, Etsy isn’t about the shoppers, it’s about the seller fees and big gobs of cash from seller ads on hidden pages.
Shoppers don’t see any of this because they aren’t shopping on Etsy. It has a crap reputation.
October 10, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Since Mickey Mouse is kinda old school and some vintage claims could possibly be made, I searched Pokemon instead. Geez.
3,622 items for pokemon
http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&q=pokemon&view_type=list&ship_to=US
October 11, 2011 at 6:41 am
Which is why my Umbreon-colored fox tails are called “perfect for a black and yellow fox type pocket monster.” Hm.
October 11, 2011 at 12:37 pm
I’m a little iffy on bringing down “copyright infrigement” that involves pop culture, etc. I just think that stealing someone’s artwork and acting as if you are the sole creator is different than fan creations that involve images of Pokemon, Twilight, etc. They’re on totally different levels. Primarily because obviously no one selling a pair of hand-painted sneakers with Pikachu’s on them is claiming to have created Pokemon. It’s not stealing so much as a tribute.
It’s very hard for fans to find merchandise of things that aren’t as popular anymore. For example, with the Harry Potter craze dying down after the last movie, related merchandise will slowly become nonexistent. Etsy is a good place for fan items like jewelry or clothing.
Should someone be sued for because they’re filling a void in a market that consumers demand? If the copyright holders don’t fulfill the wants of consumers, why is it so wrong for crafters to take on that job so long as credit is provided?
October 11, 2011 at 12:44 pm
I also wanted to point out that I’m not aware that it’s easy or even possible for artists to buy a limited copyright license for things like Pokemon or Harry Potter. I talked to a guy once who had a band, and they did two cover’s of songs from other bands. To sell their CD’s legally, they paid a royalty of I think just $.02 per song per CD.
It seems like it’s standard practice in music, but is that even doable for artists?
October 10, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Sounds like former lawmakers end up at Etsy, eh?
You know, like “stalking isn’t a crime until he tries to kill you” and “sorry someone stole your identity, but unless you know who it is there’s nothing we can do.”
The Etsy people go it one better…don’t even SAY that someone is doing something “bad” to you…you might knock the frosting and edible glitter off the cupcakes.
October 10, 2011 at 6:48 pm
But what about the sprinkles, man?? No one ever cries over the dead sprinkles!
October 10, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Recently when searching for old embroidery books on Etsy, I noticed that there was a huge crop of pdf versions of Japanese embroidery books, mostly of the “kawaii” (cute) doodle embroidery type. The pdf versions sold for 10 percent of the paper version, and obviously they weren’t legit. Then, all of a sudden, they were gone. A few have snuck back in over the past week or so, but nothing like before.
October 10, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Hi there ,I want to give a BIG HUGE thanks for helping me ditch the bitch who was using my name – resources – cats litter box and so on . I owe you so much (a beer ,maybe 2) for not only getting my stuff off her page ,but for helping me – a stranger to you !
So Iv been getting mail from Fake Mamie …. Image here of the convo ,so far … its a bit like Eastenders really ,she talks shit while I threaten to ‘Sort her out’ lol ,link – http://www.kwikpiks.com/files/166/Fake%20Ass%20Shit%20real%20good%20translation%20.png
Sorry ,dont know how to post pics here yet . Il keep this up to date . Once again thank you for saving my stuff!!
October 10, 2011 at 6:53 pm
Beautifully done, Mamie! And welcome to our little gang of “fat, jealous losers”! Pull up a bottle of something..
October 10, 2011 at 8:36 pm
And I’m so glad to be here ,I mean I fit in , I have a hug fat ass ….. (see pics ,not stolen or anyfing) .Seriously ,I’m so glad It’s almost over ,the help has been tremendous and I couldn’t have done it myself .
October 10, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Gosh, for a translator, that’s some damn good grammar
/sarcasm
October 10, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Ha yeah I though the same thing but was too mad to actually type it ,maybe next time she mails me with a ‘I speak ze spanish’ Il show her the difference between a bullshit scale to a fish scale .
October 10, 2011 at 8:44 pm
If I could speak Spanish, I’d totally re-write your message so she’d have no excuse not to understand. What a bunch of bullshit!
October 10, 2011 at 10:23 pm
I love how you give ‘em hell, Mamie. Contact all the buyers? Perfect! I’d be surprised if by the end of that convo the seller wasn’t running away whimpering with their tail between their legs. Serves ‘em right.
October 11, 2011 at 3:55 am
I lost my shit when she said that “MarmiteMamie” was “more American” sounding. They fail at plausible deniability BIG TIME.
You want American, you go with “KetchupKatelyn”.
October 11, 2011 at 4:23 am
Congratulations on kicking her ass! Please post more emails. Your smack down is epic.
My favorite excuse: she chose MarmiteMamie as a name because it’s more American.
Um, yeah. That excuse might work if Marmite were some sort of craft adhesive and not an imported food product that no one eats in the US. Perhaps she was trying to steal PeanutbutterandjellyMamies work and this is all just a case of mistaken identity?
October 11, 2011 at 12:20 pm
New day …. more excuses ….. linky to the next round – http://www.kwikpiks.com/files/166/Now%20she%20blames%20me%20….png
I was a tad angry when I wrote it ….. just a wee bit .
October 10, 2011 at 5:52 pm
For the love of all that’s Pagan… this really pisses me off…
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63899813/lust-in-lipstick-spell-sexual-desire
Yes, because you can resell lipstick only if you “enchant” it first *eyeroll*
October 10, 2011 at 6:03 pm
I have to say, I do like that particular Clinique shade! But ‘~enchanted~’? To hell with that — at her price, I could buy several at Clinique AND they’ll come with one of their awesome gift-with-purchase packs!
October 11, 2011 at 9:21 am
I’ve put off buying perfume—and rationing out what I have—until they have a good gift-with-purchase or at least a gift set (which is sort of the same, if the perfume’s price by itself is the same as the gift set)! It’s insane, I know.
Reminds me of the Rita Rudner joke about such gifts-with-purchase (although it does NOT apply to me; I’ve only bought things I’ve needed. Really!)
“A gift with purchase: You buy what you don’t want, to get something you don’t need.”
October 10, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Wow, thanks for posting. I had no idea my mass-produced lipstick tubes were sacred to Venus. I’ll be sure to… uh… Actually, I have no idea what to do about that.
October 10, 2011 at 8:00 pm
It’s up there with the bottles of “Holy Water” sold on ebay.
October 10, 2011 at 10:04 pm
deep red lipstick + sending out yr own hump me vibes in a bar should be enchanting enough.
October 11, 2011 at 12:43 am
Of course. The “enchanting” obviously takes care of potential germs AND makes it OOAK.
I can hear my pagan friends screaming now. One of them in particular would have serious raegface at this.
I’m also really enjoying the “youth elixer”. I know *I* would absolutely love a vial of questionable liquid from an unknown person on etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78533065/youth-elixir-drink-me-rich-witch
It’s a half ounce of Kombucha mixed with alcohol for $18. A few drops every day (like she says to use) does absolutely fuckall; drinking a cup or so a day is what is actually effective, and I highly doubt there’s 8oz worth of concentrated kombucha in a few drops of that.
October 11, 2011 at 12:51 am
*elixir
(I hate making a stupid error when I *know* how to spell the word.)
October 10, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Looks like the bird painting is down, and wasn’t sold, so. More small victories?
I hope you have a “blessed and beautiful day” as well, “Joy”.
Ass.
October 10, 2011 at 6:07 pm
wow, what a bunch of assholes. i am referring to both the copyright infringers and etsy. i don’t understand how they can turn a blind eye to stuff like that!!! wtf.
October 10, 2011 at 6:30 pm
You know, after looking at the pictures and scanning the endless drivel in the description, I still don’t know what that witch is selling!
October 10, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Mass produced products from Azure Green and few other importers of pagan-themed items from India and Pakistan.
October 10, 2011 at 7:53 pm
I think all that drivel is actually a MaGiK sPeLl that destroys your ability to read and comprehend. A powerful SpElL at that.
October 10, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
October 10, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
October 10, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Wouldn’t you classify “calling out” as making a complaint? At the very least, they shouldn’t be enabling this kind of behavior.
October 10, 2011 at 10:51 pm
it should certainly be etsy’s decision whether or not to allow someone who has completely copypasta’d someone’s entire deviantart site to etsy & is selling off the deviantart person’s work.
the only requirement there should be that the deviantartist should prove she is herself. as weird as that sounds, but, anyway– a drivers license, etc & ect. should be enough. etsy should, sol help me, be honorable & active enough to get the copyjunk removed!
October 10, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Your work can remain original if you can afford to fund a retainer.
It costs money to protect your shit.
October 10, 2011 at 10:06 pm
i wish i had something to add to this discussion. i dont.
the worst, the very worst part is, of course, the etsy moderator. i cant top it.
the other bizarre tidbit is that the cat who couldnt be called out in the forum for absolute theft is committing two dollar thefts. i cannot wrap my mind around how that could be interesting or profitable to anyone.
apologies for being serious.
October 11, 2011 at 1:16 am
Look at this item from HercuriousCreations;
http://www.etsy.com/listing/77449074/hand-full-of-daises-fine-art?ref=v1_other_2
It is ” Copy Write 2011 “
October 11, 2011 at 3:51 am
“RichWitch” (oh, the username) just replied to my convo wherein I asked why she stole that photo. She wants to know if *I* took it and if *I* own the copyright. Because I cannot possibly be concerned about the theft and infringement upon someone elses work, right?
She makes me ashamed to be Pagan.
October 11, 2011 at 7:49 am
I noticed that someone let the photographer know on her Flickr page, so hopefully she’ll take care of that herself soon.
October 11, 2011 at 6:48 am
I have a question, maybe someone can answer, so where does upcycling/recycling/reusing/repurposing etc. fit into the grand scheme of copyright?
For example, my friend had an item removed from etsy, it was a little girls t-shirt dress made from a Paul Frank t-shirt. I was told that repurposing falls into fair use something something something.
What are the specific rules if you make something from licensed fabric?
Its like I made some beanie hats that look like Stan and Cartmans hats from Southpark, I had them listed on etsy as “southpark inspired”, after I posted I thought “shit I might get in trouble for that”, they never sold after a few months, no one ever did say anything and I eventually pulled them, but it seems to me that etsy just likes to pick and chose what they want to pull or flag. Maybe they are using the manatees to make those decisions.
October 11, 2011 at 7:11 am
If you own a physical object, you can do what you like with that object, and sell it afterwards if you want to.
So if you buy paper or fabric with (licensed) characters on it, fine. Make something out of it. You’ve paid for the licence when you bought the materials. That’s why they manufacture the material in the first place — for things to be made out of it.
The same if you’re recycling, upcycling, repurposing, or whatever the buzzword is right now. As long as the original object is legal, then you can do anything you want with it. Cut it up, sew patchwork out of it, make a collage, whatever.
The only possible caveat is if you managed to make something that could be considered libellous against the original creator, or if you’re passing off (pretending you’re the original creator).
October 11, 2011 at 7:12 am
I had a transaction with RichWitch under her other name, Gina Luna. I make beeswax-based moisturizers, and maybe she was genuinely curious and chatty in Convo, but she was really after my specific recipe. Granted that recipe is not copyrighted or anything, but it struck me as odd.
October 11, 2011 at 7:21 am
Holy motherfucking shit!
So, I went to her store, and I am pretty sure that she is reselling the Bee Butter that she bought from me. She bought it from me in June, listed it as some witch bullshit in July.
My listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/65864496/bee-butter-moisturizer-lotion-natural-4?ref=pr_shop
Her listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76544606/face-mask-luxury-4oz-100-natural-sophic
And here’s the kicker: She marked it up 1100%
October 12, 2011 at 11:58 am
Looks like she took it down. Did you call her out on that?
October 11, 2011 at 9:14 am
RichWitch changed the photos on the listing AND, per her listing,
“The second picture is a close up picture of the Altar Pentacle where the symbols are not clear on purpose as it is only for the dedicated initiates to see.” [Emphasis mine, although I'm sure she'll now steal the idea.]
So, from now on, all Etsyians who take blurry photos can claim only the true [fill in gag-worthy new agey term] can see…and who’s going to admit they can’t see it? Hell, no photographic talent at all is required. Take a photo with the lens cap on? Just say “If you can’t see the magnificent jewels in this $4,000 ring, then you don’t deserve to have it.” Brilliant!
October 11, 2011 at 10:08 am
THANK you!
October 11, 2011 at 11:16 am
Some of Regretsy’s ‘Awesome Purchases of the Week’ have incorporated licensed characters like Admiral Ackbar. Can someone explain why this is not copyright infringement? I’m not being facetious. I really want to know.
October 11, 2011 at 3:21 pm
rawrf – thanks for pointing out the size issue on my listing. I fixed that. and I did add in Vampire as a tag. We’ll see what happens!