andy123 Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 (edited) I am just curious to see how others would handle this situation...I have been making candle for many years and I make all kinds of bakery and grubby candles and over the last few months I picked up a "FAN" who has reproduced many of my designs shamelessly even using the same description...her bio even reads like mine...It's like having an ugly twin or something.I know we all use the same molds and the same techniques and there are only so many ways to make an apple pie candle but I am really talking duplication here...this is a new candle maker and we both sell on the same sites...she is not really selling much and I guess that she thinks that the way to be succesful is to copy someone who is...She contacted me a few months ago and told me I was copying her!!! At first I was upset and now I just think it's sad... Edited February 5, 2010 by andy123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 (edited) It's enough to make you sick, isn't it.. :rolleyes2Ignore her, or go after her legally.I had a local chandler that their packaging looked like mine, labels were almost identical, lid color, white candles, etc.. People were getting us confused!!!So I changed my label.. Best thing I could have ever done.. LOVE my new label and gave me the kick in the butt to upgrade my product packaging!Change is always good. You can also put on your website,Don't be fooled by imitators, Make sure you get a (Your biz name) candle.. I just picked up a "Fan" on FB that is trying to market a video on how to make soy candles at home. So the chick is going around making all soy chandlers her "Fans".. Like she taught us all how to make soy candles.. :rolleyes2 Edited February 5, 2010 by islandgirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrie Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 You are going to come across this no matter what you sell. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure that you make the best product you can. It will show in the end.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I have run in to a few of those over the years and you are right it is annoying. It is best just to ignore them they do not seem to last long when they figure out that candle making is a lot of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrie Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I have run in to a few of those over the years and you are right it is annoying. It is best just to ignore them they do not seem to last long when they figure out that candle making is a lot of work.I agree with you Vicki. There is a gentlemen that lives down the road from me. He started making candles because he saw how many one of my accounts were selling. He started making them and put them in a store. They aren't moving and he is ticked. It took me years to get a customer base and most imitator think it comes over night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2Scent Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 We have a whack job that opened up shop right near us. Same type of packaging, label design...the whole 9 yards. What really is creepy is that the husband shaved his head and facial hair just like my husband. Customers thought we owned both places till we started setting people straight. Fortunately they don't test their products so we get a lot of their "customers" cause their stuff is crap.My hubby has since let his hair grow back in and shaved his mustache & goatee (sp?) off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkymonkey66 Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 I have dealt with that over the years too, annoying is an understatement but you are right. eventually they fade away Pictures, meta tags and keywords, plagiarism, custom blended scents, products, packaging. If your stuff is any good people will copy it. The best is when they try to coin it as their own and turn it around like you are the copy cat isn't it? The most memorable moron that stole from my site was a few years ago copied my content word for word. I confronted her and she had the nerve to try to tell me off saying that she has help from other people writing stuff on her website. Like it was not her fault that one of her many friends that has access to her webshell copied me. She said she never even heard of my business and I need to get off my high horse because I should be flattered! Once she emailed me I had her IP, cross checked that with webstats and there she was on my site for months harvesting stuff. Over 60 visits a month for 4 months. I copied and pasted it in my response and emailed it to her and never heard from the moron again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barncat Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 i've had my entire line copied by a paretnership with my sales rep and a customer. Was copied so much i thought it was my products on the shelf. My customers know my quality and stayed with me and didnt take long to figure out there scheme. Needless to say this woman also started as a beginnner making candles then wholesaling in the course of 4 mos!!!! Take pride in your workmanship and just let it go. Just keep one uping her. Also you have what she cant duplicate...your scents and poropietary info. TO me...thats the secret of every candle manuf. rather big or small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faerywren Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 This is something that just floors me. Another thing that makes me mad is people stealing product photos off Etsy. Grrr! If you can't make a decent looking product or take a decent picture why don't you work on that FIRST instead of stealing others hard work?While I can look and admire the talent of other crafters, I am proud of what I've come up with for my own products. Half the fun to me is packaging and labeling. I'm small time and make products primarily for the fun of it (making $ is a bonus). As much as it would burn my rear to find out someone was copying me, I wouldn't worry about them being around long. Someone who can't come up with their own ideas, or bother to do their own research/learning/testing won't last. They are in this for the wrong reasons and will burn out (no pun intended) soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Sounds like a lot of these imitators are using the visual looks of products to make their 'copies'. They don't have your experience and knowledge of how your product works so of course theirs will not stand the test of time and quality.The other side of the coin is when they take advantage of your copyright in pics, text, design, and formulations or recipes. That is when you shouldn't ignore it and pursue them to cease and desist. If they turn around and announce that you are stealing or copying 'their' product and threaten to take you to court you need to demonstrate that you have the original product by your notes, negatives, length of time you have been making them, registration papers if they appy, and proof that you pursued the imitator to protect your product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2Scent Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Hubby wants to put a sign up that says "Don't be fooled by cheap imitators" but I’m not going to stoop to their level, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkymonkey66 Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 (edited) Sounds like a lot of these imitators are using the visual looks of products to make their 'copies'. They don't have your experience and knowledge of how your product works so of course theirs will not stand the test of time and quality.The other side of the coin is when they take advantage of your copyright in pics, text, design, and formulations or recipes. That is when you shouldn't ignore it and pursue them to cease and desist. If they turn around and announce that you are stealing or copying 'their' product and threaten to take you to court you need to demonstrate that you have the original product by your notes, negatives, length of time you have been making them, registration papers if they appy, and proof that you pursued the imitator to protect your product.Exactly. This is why it helps to copy your website to disk and pictures of your products and mail it to yourself and never open it. A postmark is legal. That way you can show in a court of law a time line. Web archive is useful and so are Trademarks and copyrights are public record so it's a cinch to simply direct them to the uspto.gov website. That usually stops them in their tracks. Especially when they see the penalty for infringement. Thing is even if you win, some of these "infringers" are not even worth the cost of taking them to court, if they have nothing you get nothing.I disagree, Unfortunately I have seen plenty of people make a name for themselves with other peoples hard work. Life is not fair and people do not always get what is coming to them, it is sad to say. I guess if you spend all your time worrying about what everyone else is doing you just drive yourself mad.. Just keep doing what you are doing and hopefully Karma catches up with this person.Love2ScentWhat about a sign of imitated never duplicated?.It's kind of catchy and drives a point. Edited February 6, 2010 by funkymonkey66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueH Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Years ago I worked with a girl who made the most beautiful buckwheat pillows. There was this guy who worked with us that was looking to quit his job and get into something else so he would ask a lot of questions about her pillows and my candles and we knew that he was trying to get info because he thought he could make a lot of money from it. He was really annoying!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I was plagued by this for a looonnnngggg time about 8-9 years ago. It started with a few people stealing pictures, so I watermark everything now. Then I had a "fellow candlemaker" try to befriend me on eBay, also pointing out all the other people that were stealing pics, words, designs, etc., while she was doing the same thing! Now she sells on her own website, but thru the same company I have mine with, and constantly changes her layout to match mine. Even copied half of my sloan! Can't get her off of my back. On ebay, I constantly got questions about how I did this or that, and not to worry...they didn't want to sell, just make for family or themselves. When I told them I only sell on the net and their family were potential customers, plus they were my proprietary designs, they came back and called me a bitch! In 2003, a jealous candlemaker from a voting site we were both on, somehow infected my computer and I lost everything and had to start over from scratch. And yes, I had McAfee protection at the time. The internet crimes division of my city tracked them down, there were legal proceedings, and they were fined $10,000. They are no longer in business. There are plenty more stories I could relate. I've learned alot thru the years, have hidden trackers on my site and other safeguards in place. It's disgusting that there are so many dishonest, petty people in this industry, when there are so many talented, wonderful people, each with their own talents and room for them all. Some of the bad ones you can ignore, some you cannot. But if it goes on, I'd think twice about it. You don't want to get burnt like I did. I travel very cautiously on the internet these days.:tiptoe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglyduckling Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I have had the same problem over the last couple years. I took months to develope and create 3 new lines for my candle business a few years ago and just this past year found 4 candle businesses not only duplicating my products, but using my pictures on their website to sell them also. Since we have over 50 wholesale clients that are allowed to use our product pictures, it makes it hard to find the ones that are using them illegally. But my "internet" friends email me all the time letting me know where they've found our pictures. So I sent cease and desist letters to them all and 2 immediately removed them from their websites. However, one, insisted that they were her photos and she was the original designer of that product until I pointed out our one of a kind prop that my husband made, that goes in every photo so I have proof that it's my picture. She took the photos down that day and within 2 days made her own version of my product and took her own picture. So I still couldn't stop her from making the product, but at least she's not using my photos any longer.It is very disheartening to work so hard to develope new things in this business, just to have "fly by night" people come and take it without even a second thought. I have my website documented at copyrightdeposit.com. It doesn't cost much at all and has documented everything for me incase I ever need to pursue someone legally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottster Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) Here's a few helpful suggestion that I use.(1) Watermark all your product images. Thus no one can just copy it from your website, without your watermark showing up on the image. Personally I put our website address in a corner of the image.(2) Copyscape http://www.copyscape.com/, helps you track plagiarism of your website.(3) There is a piece of javascript that you could add to your <head></head> tags of your website to prevent people from right clicking on your website.Here's a link to some of the javascript:http://www.java-scripts.net/javascripts/No-Right-Click.phtmlThere is no 100% way to prevent people from copying your stuff. But these should at least help deter 90% of those who thought about it. HTH!Sean Edited February 9, 2010 by Mottster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy123 Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 Now this lovely person has changed her candle backgrounds to look like mine...Unbelievable but the funny part is that she is still not selling anything???I know that one of my customer bought from her once on e-Bay and then came back to me and placed a large order...I guess the imitation candles just didn't cut it...:rolleyes2I can't even find it in me to be upset...I think it is just sad to act like that for money...It is so true about Karma or whatever you call it...what you put outhere you get back x 10...not just with candles but in every aspect of our lives... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Every photo on my website has my product with label showing on it. Its hard to copy that and say its yours and not mine with my company name on everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisinpa Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Yep happens all the time....I was totally shocked a few years ago to find a web site that copied every hand carved electric candle design I had on my website...only they didn't look as good. Hacked me off....but what are you gonna do?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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