I had a mammogram this week. You think I ought to ask for half off on the charges? Long time readers will get it.
Why are so many people so blatant in their thievery? I have discovered some fellow CafePress shop owners like my Believe design so much that they have lifted the design. One, copied my language word for word. That takes balls. Another took the image, which I had painted before digitizing, and plopped it down, changing only the ends of the ribbon.
While China “poisons” us with shoddy products, have you stopped to notice where the items in your shopping cart are made? Ever since I bought those pickles from India at the Dollar Tree and worried about eating them (I did), I’ve made it a policy to buy as local or regional as possible, with one exception—Italy is still high on my list of acceptable, and if you have a hunk of Parma ham or Parmigiano-Reggiano I’ll gladly take it off of you.
And yesterday while at the Dollar Tree, I found I could buy greeting cards, 2 for $1, that were nicely designed in this designer’s opinion. So, how come Hallmark and Carlton charge me $3.99 (I paid this for a new baby card before discovering the ones at DT)? In line with my new anti-China policy, the cards at DT are from a Canadian company and are MADE IN THE U.S.A. Woo Hoo!
11 comments:
You know what we are feeling, thanks for your kind comments about Miss Bee.
Sarge,
With you by her side, Miss Bee will come through this and before you know it, y'all be off on that cruise. Hang in there!
we sure hope so honey! things are still a bit uncertain right now though. sigh...
smiles, bee
Sheila-
Thanks for sharing this. As a side note we're all pulling for Bee.
I'm with you on the anti- china thing. I think I need to post about that next week sometime.
Miss Bee,
You are receiving a big ole cyber-hug from all of your fans.
PSS,
I hate to seem anti-global but cheap comes at a price in jobs and health or so it seems. Look forward to your take on the matter.
Scary how our countries continue to import Chinese goods knowing they are tainted. Our pineapple farmers whole crop was banned from Europe due to the Chinese fertilizer causing the pineapples to be inedible. Thank goodness it was picked up before someone died.
Yes you should get a discount...blood donors do when they receive blood so your promotions should do the same.
Jackie, I hadn't heard about the pineapple crop. Think of the profits lost and potential health issues.
Sheila, I am bummed to hear about your design being lifted. that is such a problem in the creative world. When I go to trade shows, I've found there are a lot of people who go with the intent of stealing new product ideas before they hit the shelves. The poor inventors have to be careful to screen potential buyers to make sure they are not just trying to knock-off the recipe or packaging. That's really sad. I've heard that in Europe the problem is so bad that they have awards at the trade shows for best "knock-off." It isn't truly an award, but a way to poke fun of the knock-off and tell the buyers that these people didn't originate the idea. It's that wacky sense of European humor, I guess.
Have you thought about sending a note to the other artists and asking them to desist on the design? I don't know if that is a reasonable option -- you would know better about the law.
Natalie,
That's interesting about the new products and trade shows. Ideas are not so easy to protect. Anyway, I wrote CafePress with my concerns, and the most offensive one at least has removed my descriptive language. I suppose I could trademark the mark with the ribbon but words like "believe" are not subject to the copyright law and the pink ribbon is like the smiley face. Acquiring a trademark costs $375 and is a bit of a process. I am still waiting to get the contact info on the one shop that ripped off my artwork directly for I do intend to write them a lawyerly letter.
Everything ok with the mammogram?
Marion,
I suppose so. I miss my old breast center in Alabama which gave instant feedback on mammograms before I walked out of the door. Here, I was told I would get a letter in 2-3 weeks. Then the tech remembered women who had had breast cancer could call in 5 days and get the results. She also said she thought I'd be getting the letter and I assumed that meant things looked good. If I can find the number I might call, but at this point I figure they'd call me if there were questions. I hate being new.
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