This post has been designed to be helpful to both readers planning a wedding and using Love My Dress as a resource to discover new suppliers, as well as designers and photographers working in the wedding industry.
I have previously blogged about copyright and design imitation in the wedding industry, but today want to share a post that has been written by a long standing colleague and supporter of Love My Dress, Helena Talbot of HT Headwear. We'd love your comment at the end of this feature…
I know there have been several mentions lately about work being copied and we all know it goes on and sadly always will.
I was furious when I discovered recently that someone had copied one of our designs but as my Dad said "at least you know you're doing something right when people are copying you". Well yes Dad, I suppose there is that and in a way it is quite flattering but it still doesn't ease the annoyance of having your work ripped off and actually, I can't help feeling sorry for the people that do this because aren't they just kidding themselves they're any good at 'designing'?!
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Katherine Newman for HT Headwear
View the full 'Decadence and Attitude – A French Revoluation Inspired Photoshoot' feature here.
This latest discovery though wasn't copying but blatantly stealing and the websites in question had lifted our image and were selling the headpieces as their own.
A photographer I work with, the lovely Heline Bekker, had discovered this and had contacted me to inform me she had found an image from one of our shoots on several websites – selling the headpiece as their own! We both felt sick and unsure of what to do?!
Funnily enough, I had looked into becoming a member of ACID {Anti Copying In Design} the week before and this pushed me to pick up the phone. As a small one woman business I didn't have a clue what to do. Not only were the offending websites selling to consumers, another was selling on a wholesale basis too…
I was conscious of the fact that some shops maybe buying from this site thinking they would receive a product exactly as illustrated in the stolen imagery, when in fact, they would more than likely receive some tat - or worse, may recognise the image and think that I buy my headpieces directly from them! {just for the record all HT Headwear pieces are designed and handmade by myself in London from scratch, we don't buy the flowers in to trim the headpieces they're all handmade and all headpieces are hand-blocked by my own fair hands not brought ready-made from a millinery supplier hence the word 'bespoke').
After some helpful advice from ACID we contacted the websites in question and they removed the images within 10 minutes of our email hitting them – RESULT!
Since then however, we have found the image on an Australian wholesale website which we're struggling to get removed. I have been advised there are more steps I can take, but it would cost quite a lot of money and I refuse to spend money on chasing people that have stolen my work when the end result may not even go our way…
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Elizabeth Lois
I just want to warn Brides out there that there are bogus websites which end with '.co.uk' and look like UK suppliers but are actually shipping copies out of China. Be careful when buying online that you actually get what you're paying for and perhaps ask the supplier for their UK shipping address or phone number so you can ensure they are where they say they are.
To designers and photographers out there I would urge you to search the web in a simple image search to track anyone else doing the same with your work online. Maybe i am naive and people already do this, but i was unaware that someone would have the nerve to actually just copy our photo and add it to their own website as if it were their own. We have now joined ACID as a deterrent and support to protect our designs and check the web on a monthly basis of any other offenders.
If you are a designer or photographer working in the wedding industry, have you had your work copied in the past and if so, how did you deal with the situation?
What methods do you take to protect your designs and imagery online?
We'd love to hear from you.
Helena
HT Headwear design bespoke headpieces for brides and special occasions. If you would like to know more, please visit the HT Headwear website.
ACID (Anti Copying in Design) is a membership organisation committed to raising awareness & encouraging respect for IP (intellectual property). ACID can also be found on Twitter.
You might always want to read this feature on Love My Dress, written by a professional Solicitor, and which addresses the issue of copyright and design imitation in the wedding industry.
You might also wish to read 'The Ethics of Wedding Dress Manufacture'.
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
