Friday, April 9, 2010

A [Camera] Case of Mistaken Identity?

I was reading an Etsy blog post today: "Clever Renewal" and as with most times that I stop to actually read a blog post, I browse the staff picks that they choose to run with the article. There were some great items, original designs with purpose and clever re-use of materials. Then I saw this:

THE ECO BOXY FELT CAMERA CASE (your choice) - shop opened 9/3/09 
First camera case listing sold: 1/25/10

It really confused me because I already knew about the following Etsy seller who I hearted back in 2008 and was just recently published in Kristen Rask's awesome new book, "Button And Stitch" (published 1/12/10) -- with a tutorial (page 72) of her totally cute camera cases:

 Camera Camera Case -Degicame No.2 (eggplant/orange) - shop opened 4/14/07
First camera case (of this style) sold 2/09/08

What the..WHAT?

I didn't know what to do about it, so I figured -- I'll just blog about my thoughts - a la "free speech".

This kind of thing really gets under my skin. But then again -- What do I know? Maybe they now each other and it's totally cool. Maybe the original artist has moved on / doesn't care. Maybe the pattern was sold to the new seller. Maybe it's even the same person! I didn't (and won't) do enough research and question-asking to know for sure.

The thing that really got me upset enough to actually post about such a controversial subject (I promise to get back to the NOMs soon ;) was the fact that the (IMO) copycat has some very cute, very original listings and in one of the descriptions [and in their profile] asks, "...please be respectful. Do not copy." -- but does not have that line included in the camera listings. *sigh* Obvious, much?

I know. I know...Copying happens. Creative people should be moving forward. If the artist shared a tutorial in a *book* then it was inevitable that it would be copied. It's none of my business. Blah Blah Blah. 


That still doesn't make it right.
::: stepping down from soapbox :::

1 comments:

  1. I agree with you completely. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. Part of me wants to call them out, but then I think it's more important to just move past it and keep making creative and original items.

    ReplyDelete

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