Comments on: Design Plagiarism http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/ Just another WordPress.com weblog Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:07:06 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Bill Fortson-BJ's Home Accents http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-15 Bill Fortson-BJ's Home Accents Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:14:06 +0000 #comment-15 This retail store cares very much about the constant "knockoffs". We shop the markets very diligently for QUALITY furniture and accessories. We are not a store that buys deep in the same accessories, but we buy very broad. We always like to be on the cutting edge with the new introductions. What happens quite often is that we invest our time and money discovering these new treasures only to go back to market and find knockoffs sprouting up in various showrooms at a price considerably less. Granted they are not the top quality of their predecessors, but they are definitely recognizable. We do NOT buy them, but the problem we experience is that other stores (both large and small) in our area do. None of us can be too secure to think that our customer are not shopping our competitors. They see the prices of these knockoffs and think we are ripping them off with the fair prices we have placed on the originals. Yes, we usually are successful in explaining the differences when we are ask, but God only knows how often we are not asked. This retail store cares very much about the constant “knockoffs”. We shop the markets very diligently for QUALITY furniture and accessories. We are not a store that buys deep in the same accessories, but we buy very broad. We always like to be on the cutting edge with the new introductions.
What happens quite often is that we invest our time and money discovering these new treasures only to go back to market and find knockoffs sprouting up in various showrooms at a price considerably less. Granted they are not the top quality of their predecessors, but they are definitely recognizable. We do NOT buy them, but the problem we experience is that other stores (both large and small) in our area do.
None of us can be too secure to think that our customer are not shopping our competitors. They see the prices of these knockoffs and think we are ripping them off with the fair prices we have placed on the originals. Yes, we usually are successful in explaining the differences when we are ask, but God only knows how often we are not asked.

]]> By: Ridvan Tatargil http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-14 Ridvan Tatargil Wed, 28 Feb 2007 02:20:55 +0000 #comment-14 Human nature, no, human benevolence seems – at least to me – a subject the minds of these men and women committing plagiarism are ultimately void of, if not avoided. The quality of plagiarised (a word I have found, through personal experience, to be shockingly reminiscent to ‘stolen’) product, nor its price or financial success, is really a factor in the looming wrongness of plagiarism; what may be skipped over in the discussion of plagiarism is its fracture on moral conduct. Morality, however disputed, does not go hand in hand with the rules many have grown accustomed upon relying on. The laws, however important to adhere to, do not portray what is ultimately right or wrong; in fact, did our own government not legalize slavery? And wasn’t the consumption and distribution alcohol only recently prohibited? Laws come and laws go, they do not, in any case, create human goodness or good values, morals, or deeds. The irrelevance of plagiarism’s legality, therefore, is so very great that one cannot help but to be frightened over the ability of others to, like schoolchildren, use rules and the loopholes between them instead of their own thoughts and opinions to reason actions. What, precisely, is the doer of plagiarism trying to achieve, trying to do, trying to prove? There is the obvious commercial upside, always in the presence of human consciousness, the greed that lurks at the back of our minds, but, if there is really no other motive, this leaves very little room for moral consciousness. To come home to a husband, wife, son, or daughter, and not to be able to express glee over an original product, but, instead, gloat over stolen goods; this is surely such a curse upon the mind of modern businesspeople, and, therefore, mine is in the state of involuntary pity. Human nature, no, human benevolence seems – at least to me – a subject the minds of these men and women committing plagiarism are ultimately void of, if not avoided. The quality of plagiarised (a word I have found, through personal experience, to be shockingly reminiscent to ‘stolen’) product, nor its price or financial success, is really a factor in the looming wrongness of plagiarism; what may be skipped over in the discussion of plagiarism is its fracture on moral conduct.
Morality, however disputed, does not go hand in hand with the rules many have grown accustomed upon relying on. The laws, however important to adhere to, do not portray what is ultimately right or wrong; in fact, did our own government not legalize slavery? And wasn’t the consumption and distribution alcohol only recently prohibited? Laws come and laws go, they do not, in any case, create human goodness or good values, morals, or deeds. The irrelevance of plagiarism’s legality, therefore, is so very great that one cannot help but to be frightened over the ability of others to, like schoolchildren, use rules and the loopholes between them instead of their own thoughts and opinions to reason actions.
What, precisely, is the doer of plagiarism trying to achieve, trying to do, trying to prove? There is the obvious commercial upside, always in the presence of human consciousness, the greed that lurks at the back of our minds, but, if there is really no other motive, this leaves very little room for moral consciousness. To come home to a husband, wife, son, or daughter, and not to be able to express glee over an original product, but, instead, gloat over stolen goods; this is surely such a curse upon the mind of modern businesspeople, and, therefore, mine is in the state of involuntary pity.

]]> By: Thompson Lange http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-13 Thompson Lange Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:02:56 +0000 #comment-13 Retailers need to care about price as our customers are evaluating our entire product lines, comparing us to the “big boxes” and their price points which we independents can rarely match. But that doesn’t mean we don’t choose quality over knock-offs, it just means we have to be careful in our choices. To keep it fresh we have to scour the Handmade sections of Gift Shows, go to ACC shows and regional markets and try to find artisans and smaller companies before their product or design is knocked off. And remember, many of us specialty retailers design product, too, and know the problem first hand. I had a furniture line I’d designed that I was having manufactured in the Philippines and when it was delayed I flew to Manila to see what the hold up was. And the line was already being sold in the manufacturer’s showroom, which means when factoring in my time and expenses I could have bought my own product cheaper from a wholesale importer. But you live and learn. Realizing early on that I may only get a season with even my own designs keeps me on the hunt for new ideas. They can’t copy me if I’ve moved on to something fresh. Retailers need to care about price as our customers are evaluating our entire product lines, comparing us to the “big boxes” and their price points which we independents can rarely match. But that doesn’t mean we don’t choose quality over knock-offs, it just means we have to be careful in our choices.
To keep it fresh we have to scour the Handmade sections of Gift Shows, go to ACC shows and regional markets and try to find artisans and smaller companies before their product or design is knocked off.
And remember, many of us specialty retailers design product, too, and know the problem first hand. I had a furniture line I’d designed that I was having manufactured in the Philippines and when it was delayed I flew to Manila to see what the hold up was. And the line was already being sold in the manufacturer’s showroom, which means when factoring in my time and expenses I could have bought my own product cheaper from a wholesale importer.
But you live and learn. Realizing early on that I may only get a season with even my own designs keeps me on the hunt for new ideas. They can’t copy me if I’ve moved on to something fresh.

]]> By: Steve Lauterbach http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-12 Steve Lauterbach Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:39:03 +0000 #comment-12 As said by others, This is not new!!, most manufacturers in most retail copy someone. Is it right? no, however trying to regulate it would be a nother can of worms. I am amazed at what I see at one market that was copied from the market before. The trick is to improve what has been done before. As said by others, This is not new!!, most manufacturers in most retail copy someone. Is it right? no, however trying to regulate it would be a nother can of worms. I am amazed at what I see at one market that was copied from the market before. The trick is to improve what has been done before.

]]> By: Doug Sheridan http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-11 Doug Sheridan Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:34:35 +0000 #comment-11 Sorry to say they mostly care about price. I had a few distributors that admitted they wanted my line but chose not to buy, and waited for the knock-offs they knew would soon appear. Sorry to say they mostly care about price. I had a few distributors that admitted they wanted my line but chose not to buy, and waited for the knock-offs they knew would soon appear.

]]> By: Becky Boswell Smith http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-10 Becky Boswell Smith Mon, 26 Feb 2007 18:49:37 +0000 #comment-10 If consumers don't care and buy knock-offs all the time and fashion designers' Oscar gowns are being knocked off overnight (and featured on TV for how clever it is), can we expect our industry to do much. What kind of response do you hear from retailers? Do they care? If consumers don’t care and buy knock-offs all the time and fashion designers’ Oscar gowns are being knocked off overnight (and featured on TV for how clever it is), can we expect our industry to do much. What kind of response do you hear from retailers? Do they care?

]]> By: Di Overton http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-9 Di Overton Mon, 26 Feb 2007 07:55:29 +0000 #comment-9 Back in the 80s I was a knitwear designer. I trained up someone who then left the company and set up a business producing copies of my designs (not very good copies) We used to applique soft calfskin onto the knitwear and had an embroideress to do this for us. The copies were in hide and the stitching varied very slightly. I hired a barrister in London and took her to court. She was told not to produce any knitwear for 15 years and I had to pay all the costs because the copies varied very slightly from mine. I got her on passing herself off as me. Since that day I vowed never to waste my time chasing people who rip off my designs. My time would have been better spent creating new designs and saving the money to invest in the business. My business closed due to the time I spent on the case and also the massive costs in doing so. Life is too short. Back in the 80s I was a knitwear designer. I trained up someone who then left the company and set up a business producing copies of my designs (not very good copies) We used to applique soft calfskin onto the knitwear and had an embroideress to do this for us. The copies were in hide and the stitching varied very slightly. I hired a barrister in London and took her to court. She was told not to produce any knitwear for 15 years and I had to pay all the costs because the copies varied very slightly from mine. I got her on passing herself off as me.
Since that day I vowed never to waste my time chasing people who rip off my designs. My time would have been better spent creating new designs and saving the money to invest in the business. My business closed due to the time I spent on the case and also the massive costs in doing so. Life is too short.

]]> By: Doug Sheridan http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-8 Doug Sheridan Sun, 25 Feb 2007 14:57:57 +0000 #comment-8 I have had several designs knocked off over the years. I've been in many law suits, all the way to the 9th District Court of Appeals with a few big box stores. The IP laws do very little to protect the designer in most cases. However, it does protect our right to design. If the courts were able to come down harder on all infringers, there would be less room for new ideas. Where the law draws the line as to what is protected is in a good place, even though it has cost me dearly. I always settled out of court because the make up of the jury would almost always be filled with people that probably own knock off designs they purchased on the street right outside the court house in L.A. Until the public stops buying stolen designs, the courts will rarely protect the designer. The only reason I prevailed is because my designs were unique and the copies were exact. And Barclay, you are just wrong. There are plenty of original ideas not coming from history. The defendants in my cases never could find any derivitive designs. Matthew, I believe that the knock offs have become so good that the public has a harder time seeing the difference. The copies of my designs were almost impossible to tell from the ones I manufactured. I won most of the cases, but ultimately I lost my manufacturing business and the 10k stores I sold to due to knock offs. Organized efforts in the U.S. to curb this trend would do very little. Change would only come if the knock offs cost more than the original. I have had several designs knocked off over the years. I’ve been in many law suits, all the way to the 9th District Court of Appeals with a few big box stores. The IP laws do very little to protect the designer in most cases. However, it does protect our right to design. If the courts were able to come down harder on all infringers, there would be less room for new ideas. Where the law draws the line as to what is protected is in a good place, even though it has cost me dearly. I always settled out of court because the make up of the jury would almost always be filled with people that probably own knock off designs they purchased on the street right outside the court house in L.A. Until the public stops buying stolen designs, the courts will rarely protect the designer. The only reason I prevailed is because my designs were unique and the copies were exact.

And Barclay, you are just wrong. There are plenty of original ideas not coming from history. The defendants in my cases never could find any derivitive designs.

Matthew, I believe that the knock offs have become so good that the public has a harder time seeing the difference. The copies of my designs were almost impossible to tell from the ones I manufactured.

I won most of the cases, but ultimately I lost my manufacturing business and the 10k stores I sold to due to knock offs. Organized efforts in the U.S. to curb this trend would do very little. Change would only come if the knock offs cost more than the original.

]]> By: Becky Boswell Smith http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-7 Becky Boswell Smith Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:26:57 +0000 #comment-7 Thanks, Paul. We published information on this some time back. Like you, I don't think there is any organized effort in the US to curb this problem. Thanks, Paul. We published information on this some time back. Like you, I don’t think there is any organized effort in the US to curb this problem.

]]> By: paul thompson http://homeaccentstoday.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/hello-world/#comment-6 paul thompson Sun, 18 Feb 2007 17:43:23 +0000 #comment-6 Susan, Back from Frankfurt and glad to see your posting. I think that ART, Dallas Market Center, High Point or other organizations might look at this German direction to help support the fine artist and companies here in the U.S. that work with integrety to create products that inspire and grow business. Perhaps these exist, but I am personally not aware of such. Susan,

Back from Frankfurt and glad to see your posting. I think that ART, Dallas Market Center, High Point or other organizations might look at this German direction to help support the fine artist and companies here in the U.S. that work with integrety to create products that inspire and grow business. Perhaps these exist, but I am personally not aware of such.

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