My Designs were Stolen
Recently I discovered that my designs had been stolen and were being sold without my knowledge or permission. It started off with one design, the Alpacalypse, which I discovered first on AliExpress, then on several more print-on-demand t-shirt sites. As I dug deeper, I discovered more and more of my designs being sold without permission, and ended up with a total of 25 cases on different stores online.
Most of them were print on demand t-shirt shops, where users can upload any design and sell it, without the risk of investing in stock themselves.
I reported each and every case – a time-consuming process – and I’m glad to say they’ve now all been taken down. To their credit, the third party stores involved were very good, and all the copyright-infringing products were removed within 48 hours.
Sadly it’s not unusual for a designer to be a victim of design theft. It’s so easy to do when your designs are online. It’s a horrible feeling, and it was just as horrible to see my designs, which I work so hard over, reproduced in such careless ways.
Read the Full Story on Digital Arts
Digital Arts magazine have published my story on their website – the article includes the law on copyright and what to do if your work’s been stolen. Thank you to Digital Arts for sharing my story – I hope it helps other designers who find themselves in this position.
I didn’t want to repeat everything here – there’s a lot more detail in the article about what happened, and how I reported the stolen designs:
Thanks for your Support
I really am overwhelmed by all your comments and messages. The response, especially on Facebook, was unbelievable. It makes me feel so much better to know that you’re supporting Cakes with Faces.
Finding out that so many people had stolen my artwork made me stop believing that people are good, but seeing your response has made me remember that there are so many more lovely people in the world than people who think it’s ok to steal designs and profit from work that’s not theirs.
So now I really just want to put this behind me and move on to something more positive, which is what Cakes with Faces is really all about.
