End of the Saga, and on to Better Things!

So, after a week or so, I have some clarity regarding the stolen pic issue. (read the last two posts for more info.)

As it turns out, Tartsie, the Etsy member who used my bead pics in her banners for sale, replied to my inquiries about what was up with that.

She claims to be very young - right out of high school. She also let me know she got my pics from something called Flickr Creative Commons.

Now, the high school thing - well, first off, I am not sure I believe that it should be a good excuse, but I can let that go, I think.

However, the Flickr Creative Commons thing is just strange. I did at one time have a Flickr account, but I never uploaded anything to Flickr Creative Commons. From what I understand, Flickr Creative Commons is an area of Flickr where people can grant licenses giving permission for use of their artwork. However, none of the license agreements I read there grant permission to sell the artwork to others.

It's confusing, I know. At any rate, Tartsie claims that someone else must have put my pictures there if I didn't, because that's where she got them. She was unaware that she did anything wrong. I am not sure if I believe and/or agree with that, but there's not much I can do other than what I have already done.

The person who bought the banners has graciously taken them down and replaced them with something else, for which I am very grateful. Tartsie's shop on Etsy has been closed for a long time, so I am hoping this won't happen again with her.

However, this is a common thing, and I am sure it is happening elsewhere as we speak. All I can do as an artist is hope that people will listen to me and use their own images in their marketing. I also fervently hope that people who make and sell banner ads, avatars and web graphics will consider purchasing images legally and not resort to lifting them from the web, even from a place called Flickr Creative Commons. Obviously, it's easy to illegally post images there.

Aaaaanyway, I am moving on from this. I made some pretty beads yesterday, so if you read this far, thank you - here are some pics! :)

A Heartfelt Plea

This plea goes out to anyone who creates and sells handmade items online.

It's simple, really. Please use your own images to represent your work. Don't lift images from other artists, unless you have their express permission. If you do, you're hurting them and misrepresenting yourself!

Case in point - something that happens to me all too often - I was informed by a very nice person who is a member of Etsy that another Etsy seller is using my images in her banner and avatar for her shop. The image is of a bead set that I made and sold years ago to someone other than the seller who is using the image. The seller, whose Etsy page is here, appears to be a jewelry designer. Her shop looks relatively new, as she doesn't have many sales or any feedback from buyers.

Those beads were very special to me - as all my beads are. They are pieces of my soul.
It might be different if this were a customer of mine who made jewelry out of beads she bought from me, and had asked to use the image, but this is not the case. She is using my work to represent herself and her own work. This is misrepresentation and copyright infringement.

Here are the beads as I photographed them. You can see that her image is directly lifted from my own. The set is called Moonlit Magenta.

Please, people, when you do this it hurts. Take the time to learn how to take good pics of your own work. Don't steal images from someone else who has already put in that time and effort.

Also, please don't comment and tell me I need to watermark my images. I have done that and it doesn't deter the thieves - it just makes my pics look bad. They can find a way around it - believe me.

Anyway - there you have it again. Just another installment of Kandice's Seemingly Weekly Copyright Infringement Notification Service and subsequent gnashing of teeth.