Copyright, again
I received an email from Sandy Snowden. She told me about a sewing list that she is on, how the conversation turned to Cafe Press and items being sold by individuals opening a store there, and asked if I knew one of my quilts was being sold on a variety of items. News to me! My “Squared” quilt was being sold on mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, mouse pads, and even doggie sweaters! I was stunned. After doing some searching, I also learned who did this and that my image was also being sold on items through Zazzle. Here are the steps I took to get the images down.
I contacted the legal department of both Cafe Press and Zazzle. I also left telephone messages in both of their legal departments. I sent them via email all of the requested information about my ownership. They each responded within hours, taking down the material. I also wrote the woman, whose information I found on the Web and which was also supplied to me. She replied to me, writing that she was sorry for any inconvenience and that she “loved” my work. Very odd. Did she think that I would be flattered? I do not know if the woman was just taking images because she thought she could or figured she’d take her chances and hope that I didn’t take legal action. They all are clearly marked copyright, so I can only conclude that she knew what she was doing. I contemplated taking the legal route because I was told I could recoup any profit she made selling the items.
The moral of this story is that if there are any items of work that is particularly valuable to you, I recommend that you register the work with the U.S. Copyright office. By registering it before publication or within three months of publication, if someone infringes and you decide to take legal action and you win, you can collect attorney’s fees and statutory damages. If you register after the three month window but before taking legal action, you can still be entitled to attorney’s fee and statutory damages, but only from the date of registration rather than the date of first publication. Since this is the fourth time something something like this has happened to me, I have decided that the next time it happens I will turn it over to an attorney. It sounds harsh, but it gets tiring.
Also, I’ve decided to add a watermark to my quilts. I’m not thrilled with how it looks, but I suspect it will stop someone from putting the image on a coffee mug. Granted someone skilled at image editing could remove those and replace those pixels, but I suspect it will stop the everyday person from taking it.
After this experience, I decided to write about it for my technology column in The Professional Quilter. It will appear in their next issue. I list various information you can do to protect your images, but the bottom line is that if you don’t want your images taken from the Web, you shouldn’t publish them on the Web. But since the benefits often far outweigh the risks, there are things you can do to protect your images. They do not include adding a clear gif over the image or disabling the right-click. Why? It’s a matter of seconds to get around this. Adding a visual watermark, as I have done, can be a deterrent. Additionally, paying for a service such as Digimarc can be helpful. But the best thing you can do if you are particularly concerned about protecting your copyright but showing off your work is to first register it with the US Copyright Office.
Look for Form VA for a Work of Visual Art which you can find here. The PDF form is created in such a way that you can complete it online, clicking into each field and typing your information. From there you print and mail it in with the required documents. The filing fee is currently $45 . Click here for general copyright information.
The quilt making world is small. Another thing we can do to help protect our work is to watch each other’s backs and alert the person if you think their work is being used without permission. I am very grateful Sandy took the time to bring the matter to my attention.