Beware of jeweller

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Posting this with _graywolf_'s permission.

A while ago _graywolf_ designed a Celtic fox ring for a good friend of hers. Her friend took the design to this jeweller to have the actual ring made.

Some time after that _graywolf_ went to look at the site because she wanted some personal jewellery made and was shocked to find the jeweller was selling pendants of the fox head design from the ring. She had never given permission to either her friend or the jeweller for the design to be used for anything but that one ring.

Graywolf got some information from a lawyer and contacted the jackass jeweller.


The letter;

January 15, 2007

Subject: Copyright Infringement Issue – Celtic Fox ring design

Mr. Brecher,

A while ago one of my commissioners, Mr. Martin Miels, commissioned me for a one of a kind ring design that was to be realized by a jeweler of his choice. As solid contract I keep all rights to anything I create, unless copyright is bought from me. I gave Mr. Miels permission to get his commissioned design made, on a one time only contract, and derivative work isn’t allowed without written consent.

It has recently come to my attention that on your website and within your virtual company, you are using part of my design (the Celtic fox head) as pendant designs. If I gave you permission to use my design or part thereof for your own business, please provide me with my written proof. Absent such valid authorization, I demand that you immediately cease and desist from the use of any of my copyright protected works. Please confirm in writing or email no later than January 23, 2007 that you have ceased completely your unauthorized use of my work. If you fail to take the required actions by January 23, 2007, I reserve the right to protect my valuable artwork, including without limitation, seeking under U.S. Copyright Law, contained in Title 17 of the United States Code, Chapter 1, Subchapters 106-122 inclusive, state law and common law, any available profits of your organization, actual and treble damages, attorney’s fees and injunctive relief precluding further use of my artwork.

If you have any questions concerning the foregoing, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Ingrid “GrayWolf” Houwers
Artist

___________________________________________________________________________

The reply;

Hello Ingrid,

I understand the point that you are trying to make regarding copyright law.

No, you did not give me permission to use any part of the fox head designs, but
it was implicit in my contract with Martin Miels that there was no barrier to my using
the design, the fox head pendant in particular, as an item available on my web site.

Although I personally believe that the design is really pretty, there has been absolutely
no interest or orders by any of my visitors or customers in purchasing a copy of it.

I've recently come out on the winning side of a lawsuit lasting nearly 6 years. I was
awarded a monetary judgment of $286,000 + 7% interest for about 4 years. Sadly,
I have too much experience with lawyers and most suits, copyrights or otherwise are
very much a gamble for both sides. The biggest winners are always the lawyers.

I am prepared to defend myself, my business and my actions. It is just part of my nature.

Despite all of the above I WILL be removing any and all promotional materials referencing
the fox head design within the next few days; as I mentioned none have yet been sold.
Perhaps it doesn't look sufficiently Celtic, even though it really is beautiful.

Feel free to file Copyright Infringement charges against me if it might please you. You might
win or you might lose; same for me. Legal actions are exciting and can give us much to
talk about and write about. Feeding lawyers, like feeding sharks, can be very expensive and
very dangerous...but, again, very exciting.

The lawyer who helped you write the fax was very good! I hope he told you the downside
possibilities also.

Years ago I spoke with my attorneys regarding protecting my own designs with Copyrights.
The essence of his answers made it clear that for jewelry designs it was virtually impossible
to prevent "knock offs", duplications, of jewelry designs. I can effectively copyright a web site,
but not my own jewelry designs. I seriously doubt that your attorney would encourage you
to pursue such an action against ANYONE, including me, not if he is at all ethical.

Lastly, Ingrid, it was not at all necessary to send me such a threatening fax letter. I would have
been very cooperative if you had just asked for a commission or that I remove the pendant
from my site. I will do what I consider right, as I already stated above, but we would have both
felt better had you presumed me innocent and been "friendly" about it all.

I will do as I promised. You should do whatever you believe is right and smart. Regarding your
attorney; you may wish to get a 2nd opinion.

Got to go. We've got a very heavy ice storm here in Oklahoma and haven't been out of
the house since mid-day Friday...must get some shopping done now.

Sincerely, Hugh Brecher, WebMaster, CEO of My Celtic Rings, Inc


Think what you will, personally I think this guy is a filthy scumbag and I'll be discouraging everyone I know from patronizing his business.

Edit: Pardon me, I forgot to mention the site's url needs to be cut&pasted into your browser or it will forward you to the FBI site, oh irony of ironies. http://www.mycelticrings.com

Comments

[drake-anaya.livejournal.com]

The link you posted is forwarding to FBI.gov. o_o

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

It's done that before. Copy/paste that url and it will go through just fine.

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

Here's the url, just copy/paste. :)
http://www.mycelticrings.com/

[wereguitar.livejournal.com]

That link sends me to the FBI site too...weird.

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

HAH! Maybe it's an omen!

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

I'm finding both sides here to be a little not-so-nice. On the one hand, she couldn't contact the guy personally and ask why her design was being used, and nicely request it not be? It had to be a legal cease and desist demand first?

On the other hand, WOW is that guy condecending and sneering!

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think she benefitted by being tough right out of the box. If she had used a polite, hat-in-hand approach with this guy in particular, he might have tried to run roughshod over her and probably would not have pulled the ring in question. He hase a track record of copyright infringement and ripping off artists - so I think a little hardball was called for.

[crssafox.livejournal.com]

Exactly... if this guy's really dealt with lawyers before (I don't doubt it! Hah!) he will know that by issuing a C&D, she means business. ;)

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

If he had a track record like that, why go to him in the first place then?

And I suppose you may be correct, but I've seen the other side of this, where somebody was doing something without meaning any harm, and because they got attacked rather than nicely requested, got stubborn and insisted on going to court. (See The Pern Dispute (http://www.austinleatherworks.com/Lawsuit%20Q&A.htm).)

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

(edited for massive typos)
She didn't go to him. She created a fox pendant design for a friend who had the pendant as a one-time-only with this company. The crooked jeweler then swiped the foxhead design to incoporate onto Celtic rings. Hardly ethical, certainly not legal. She only discovered what he had done because she decided to create a pendant design for herself and she went back to this guy's business site - and found her design being sold on rings. She also found other designs by other artists being sold.

The guy's a scumbag and a scoundrel who uses intimidation when he gets caught. I stand by Greywolf (and Thaily!) in spreading the word about his filthy business practices.

[fiercereaper.livejournal.com]

I think you're getting it backwards, the pendant the guy was making was ripped off of the ring _graywolf_ made, not vice versa.

[fiercereaper.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that should read as the ring she designed.

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

"Tomayto-tomahto", really. He swiped her art and is trying to make a profit from it, is what it all boils down to. And I did go back to her original post, she was planning to make a ring or pendant, and had designed the fox ring for a friend, as you point out.
Still. Art theft is art theft. And this guy really takes the cake.

[kitsuken.livejournal.com]

she designed it for a friend, but it was up to the friend who actually made the ring. She (the friend) went to this guy to have the ring made, he kept a copy and started designing pendants of it.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

*nods* I see.

I think I'm just over-sensitive on the issue of lawsuits right now. I've beent threatened with one myself, and I am really not pleased at all about it. I my book legal threats should be the very last resort, when all else has failed, not the very first thing you try.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

In the professional world it -is- the first thing you do.

The jeweller is supposed to be a pro and thus up to date on copyright laws. Even if you aren't most people get that bad gut feeling when they consider making a profit off other people's hard work. But in his position it's reasonable to assume he knows what he's doing and he's acting maliciously.

[wolf-nymph.livejournal.com]

I agree with thaily, I think Gray's letter was concise and without tone, and addressed exactly what needed to be said. She probably would have been run over if she had played meek and nice the first time she contacted him. It's not like she slapped him with a lawsuit without warning, her letter is the warning. Legal action should be the last resort in my opinion, but a legal warning letter cuts through the bullshit, and with a thief like this I don't think she should try to tiptoe around his feelings. She is in the right.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

She didn't go to him, her friend did and at that time neither of them were aware of his activities. Obviously.

[crssafox.livejournal.com]

I think that a cease and desist was the appropriate first action.

Had she simply e-mailed saying "That's my design, I would like if you didn't use it" the nature of this man probably would have caused him to say something like "You're just whining, I'll use what I want." Sending a C&D to a company is like saying "I know what I'm talking about, you'd better stop."

There is NO reason any professional craftsman should take and use (and sell!) a design they don't have the permission to use. A C&D is not necessarily a nasty letter, but rather, a formal letter for use in the business world. He (the jeweler) should know better.

[tailypo.livejournal.com]

I agree. Getting legal isn't "being mean". It's professional. It's much better that she did that than whine or snarl. Now that he's removed it, she need not pursue it farther unless she wants to (he complied, even though he did it nastily). And it is entirely appropriate that others be warned about this guy, too.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

I think she was very professional.

[thornwolf.livejournal.com]

As I said elsewhere, I was considering having this guy make me some rings but certainly not anymore!

[blueroo.livejournal.com]

http://www.customceltic.com/

These guys did the rings for Sarah and myself. We were really impressed with their service, and their work is fantastic.

[rakshepsaar.livejournal.com]

I think it's fishy that the guy's contract apparently states that he has a right to further use any personal design he is given. What a money-grabber. I don't think GrayWolf was in the wrong at all - this jeweller was using her work for his own financial benefit.

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

I would love to see that contract myself. I don't believe that her friend would have knowingly signed Greywolf's art away. When it comes right down to the legalities, it wasn't the friend's art to sign away, it belongs to Greywolf - and she did NOT relinquish ownership.

[rakshepsaar.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think the friend did anything consciously at all, especially if said friend was a non-artist. It always puzzles me when people believe that art automatically becomes theirs once it's in their hands, even if there was nothing explicitly stated regarding the matter.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Quite a few commercial semi-custom jewelers seem to be charging a premium price for doing a custom design and NOT reselling it afterwards, or so it seemed to me when I was chacking out such sites. (I'm a jeweler myself.) In those cases, though, it sounds like the jeweler was doing the design, not merely fabricating another artist's work. I guess that situation is up to the people involved, as long as everyone is clear as to what might or might not be covered- even though it's not how I prefer to work myself.

It's best when all such "understandings" are explicit in the contract, certainly.

[rakshepsaar.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I'm not yet a good enough artist to have had a theft problem so far, but I'm taking notes of all the problems I see people having to construct my own very explicit TOS. X(

And this jeweler has the attitude of someone for whom jewel-work has become a job, not an art-form. It's really sad when money becomes so tied up with someone's craft that this happens.

[acrothdragon.livejournal.com]

Hmmm well he's clearly trying to act all threating knowing he/she has been caught red handed. Sadly your friend should have asked you first that he/she was getting it made then you could have drawn up a simple premission to allow only have the piece made for them and not for resale. Clearly this gentleman is just trying to scare you off, I'd hold to your guns save any letters or emails from this guy even thoughs communications to your friends, get your designs and any referance matterial contracts that showed the design is yours. Then if the guy has pulled the product aske that he show proof that the casts where destroyed, any records of sales he sold, and all pieces that are in stock either be sold off and a precentage of the sale goes to you.

His responce is quite typicial, they try to rattle your cage first making a big display even quoting they had been in such big cases. Your lawyer did well the letter was to the point, business like and professional. You are not there to be his friend its your design and you should be compensated for it. Keep an eye on the guy give the letter to your lawyer and fiollow his or her advice. dont let the bullies win.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

(Ahem, I'm not the victimized party here :P)

[acrothdragon.livejournal.com]

Sorry about that it was for your friend ^.=.^

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Linked her to it so she should read it.

[aria01.livejournal.com]

weird! I live in the same state as this guy. I have some jewelry designs I want made...I'll be sure to avoid him! :P

[theblackdragon.livejournal.com]

Lastly, Ingrid, it was not at all necessary to send me such a threatening fax letter. I would have
been very cooperative if you had just asked for a commission or that I remove the pendant
from my site.

hahaha, doubt it. good for graywolf for standing up for her art. also, am loving the whole 'nobody wanted it anyway' thing. sour grapes, much?

[chenneoue.livejournal.com]

"am loving the whole 'nobody wanted it anyway' thing. sour grapes, much?"

My thoughts exactly.

[ironbadger.livejournal.com]

Okay, some general info that folks need to know straight up.

Nearly any business you go to with original art like this is veery likely to rip it off after the fact, and trying to force them not to by legal means is damn near impossible.

Tattoo places are especially bad about this, and are nearly 100% going to tell you to take a flying leap if you get mad about it.

These people make money off of someone else's art; they see anything they can get their hands on as potential future profit.

There ARE craftsmen who will offer written guarantee that a design will never be copied; but they usually charge a corresponding amount of cash for that guarantee.
Some jewelers within fandom are more scrupulous and understanding, but even there you take a chance if your original art is appealing enough.

Bottom line, buyer beware and no deal is binding unless its in writing.
And even then, enforcing the law is hard and expensive- its usually best to deal with someone you know personally, or whom friends know personally and can vouch for.

-Badger-

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

I'll second that, some tattoo parlour once tried to get me to sell them the rights to a piece of fanart I'd done for another artists and couldn't understand why I'd refuse even though I stated the rights were not mine to sell.

[featherlady-jt.livejournal.com]

Tattoo parlors are one thing, a crafted item being sold in the manner this is is another. It can be fought. The litigation going on with Dale Chihuly (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002686721_chihuly16m.html) comes to mind. If influence can be grounds enough to take it to court, then outright theft certainly could.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

There's not much difference. They're both making money off someone elses work.

[ironbadger.livejournal.com]

A common practice is they will keep the template of the art that was made to transfer it to the skin, and use that to recreate the art after you leave.
If you specify you want the template and do not plan to leave it, they wil often make some excuse to take it out of sight long enough to photocopy or scan it.

The reason?

Well, if you went to the effort to bring it in to have it applied to yourself, it must be good enough that someone else might shell out some money to get it themselves, if its available on the walls or in their book of flashes.

The folks running these shops are usually not artists themselves, or poor ones- so they make aliving by stealing designs they run across.
(The little mall shops that have custom vinyl stickers they can make for you from your designs do it too, by the way.)

-Badger-

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Yeah I know, I wanted to purchase a wolf top for a friend and I stopped off at a T-shirt printing shop and they told me to "just print off an image or get one from the library" because their catelogue had been pinched.

It's amazing how these stores think that's okay.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Depends on the tattoo artist, but a lot are unscrupulous yes.

My advice: Find a good tattoo artist you really like and think is honest and be up front about wanting the tattoo to be unique. It's the least you could do anyway considering this person is going to craft a picture into your skin that'll last for the rest of your life.
It's worth the time and effort to research.

[abraxas.livejournal.com]

Wow Ingrid, I'm really sorry you had to deal with this asshole. I think it speaks volumes that, in spite of his assertion that he would gladly go to court over this, he chose to comply with your C&D immediately.

The FBI thing is cute, in a defiant kitten sort of way.
Bottom line, if it went to court and both parties had the time and resources to pursue it, GrayWolf would win. As for slander and libel accusations made elsewhere, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. What a putz.