Yesterday was yet another sad day for yet another wonderful artist. The fabulously talented Rachael Taylor was the victim of another lazy copycat. You can see her full post on the situation on her blog. Rachael is based out of the UK, so I am not sure how it works there. However speaking for the US crowd, you MUST copyright your work! By copyright I don't mean mail yourself the art or however that tale goes. I mean officially register your work with the US copyright office! This is absolutely mandatory if you truly want to protect yourself and your art. It really is not nearly as daunting as it may seem...keep scrolling!
[caption id="attachment_2058" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Rachael's print on her own cushions"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2058" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Rachael's print on her own cushions"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_2059" align="aligncenter" width="314" caption="Rachael's print on lamps for seascape.com"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_2057" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Rachael's print copied w/o permission on shutterstock.com"]
[/caption]
For only $35 you could copyright your entire catalog at one time! Last time I checked rates for lawyers are just a tad bit higher...just sayin' :) The best part is you can do it all online. Bet you didn't know it was going to be that easy! See there is really no good excuse for you NOT to be doing this. You will get immediate confirmation from the copyright office. Then a few weeks later, you get this very official document. Pretty cool right. The whole process will take you less than an hour once you get the hang of their online uploading system. Run to copyright.gov today and make it official! You will sleep easier tonight - promise!Anyone outside of the US have any tips on how things work in your neck of the woods? Let's hear it!
9 comments:
Thank you for your support & raising awareness on this issue.
It's happening way too much now, designers should respect each others work, we all take inspiration from other peoples designs, but it's completely unacceptable to blatantly copy a piece & claim it as your own original idea!
I hope my situation has raised awareness & hopefully it will prevent this happening again to anyone else.
Thanks for all the support guys x
Shutterstock are currently investigating designer Sasha Yezik. She claims she created the work independently.....
The designers online portfolio has been suspended, I'll keep you updated.
I just wanted to share this useful link: http://acid.eu.com/
If you have any copyright concerns of your own you can contact ACID (Anti copying in design)
Thanks
Rachael
awesome Rachael! Thanks for keeping up posted and for the tip.
An update from Shutterstock...
As mentioned previously the design has been removed & pulled back & I've also been recently told that the artist in question 'Sasha Yesik' has been banned from the Shutterstock site completely.
Shutterstock have been emailing me & have advised that they are still currently investigating where the design has been used from the clients who downloaded it.
However at this moment in time, I still do not know if my design is out there on any products & for how long... This is the main concern for my my business. I hope to find this out soon as this is what I'm am still finding distressing.
I will keep the blog updated with the outcome which I hope will be resolved quickly.
It has been a stressful week, thank you for all your honest comments & support.
Rachael:)
Thanks for the update Rachael. Yes, do keep us posted!
Awesome. Thanks for the reminder. Lot of stuff on that copyright site. Now to try an figure out how it works, lol.
I'm totally lost on the copyright site so I'm going to have to wait until someone can help me figure out what to do there.
Doug. I am walking through the process today on the blog. I know it is not the most user-friendly interface, but you'll get the hang of it! :) http://www.khristianahowell.com/navigating-the-copyright-website/
Post a Comment