Copyright Theft and The Army of Artists and Sewistas

Copyright Theft and The Army of Artists and Sewistas

Hi all. I just want to formally thank so many of you who came to my aid this weekend when you saw a design of mine was being copied. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I am so moved and touched that you all spoke up and did something.

Below are dresses made in the REAL LillyBelle fabric I created. This is a dress that is legitmately made in fabric designed by me and sold to this company by Art Gallery Fabrics. It's by the lovely Ava Addison company. They currently have lots of great dresses made in my Bijoux fabric.

 

Here's another gorgeous dress in he real deal fabric by Sugar Creek. This awesome dress is still available. 

 

 

Again, the two dresses above are the Real Deal. And I owe tons of thanks to companies like these two. I am so grateful to you and to all of our local quilt shops for supporting me over the years.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the short (long) story is an Instagram follower alerted to me to an organization that was copying one of my designs and having their own fabric printed and selling it on dresses. Their premise was that these dresses were "cheaper" than their competition. And of course they were. They didn't buy the fabric from the source. The real LillyBelle by Bari J. fabric is still being printed by Art Gallery Fabrics and is used legitately by many many manufacturers on very similar girls dresses like the ones above and being sold in quilt shops all over the world and online. 

When I found out what was going on, people were already commenting on the offending Facebook page telling them this was wrong. By the end of the day, the page on FB was removed and the site was down. 

For now, I'll not mention any names because they have apparently pulled the offending material. And I GREATLY appreciate that they did so. However, it should be mentioned that I was not the only designer that was being ripped off and there was a clear, established pattern of intent to copy being that I wasn't alone. 

I cannot tell you how moved and thankful I am to those of you who made sure that these people knew how very very wrong and at the very least, unethical, what they did was. It really does take a village. I love you guys! I am ever grateful! What a strong and beautiful army you are!

 

Edit: Dear friends, I greatly appreciate that the woman owned business that I'm referring to took down the offending images and are no longer selling the garments. They, like me and you, want to make a living which I understand and appreciate. I would like to ask you if you do know who they are to leave the subject alone. I am considering the situation rectified unless anything changes with the sale of these designs. Thank you again.

 

Comments

[Belinda]

1.

We love you too honey, and we play with sharp things. 😜✂️

[Wendy]

2.

I missed all of this - but I am so glad you were alerted and the site was closed down. I don't understand why people do this kind of thing. That said - your fabric and Art Gallery fabrics in general are so amazing and I doubt very much that anyone who knows anything about fabric could confuse your beautiful fabric with the "fake" or copied stuff. By the way, those dresses on this post are SO cute!!! Wish I had a little girl I could make one for :)

[Wendy]

3.

LOL - we sure do!!!!

[Mary Ann]

4.

It has to be incredibly frustrating for you and all the talented designers in the industry to see businesses steal your intellectual property. glad we could all jump in and shout "Foul" too! I am still fondling my stack of fabrics, I need to sew with them and enjoy them! Hugs!

[Rene']

5.

These dresses made with YOUR fabric are so much prettier than the fake versions (which I saw before the page was taken down)! Thank goodness for those who alerted you to the situation. What a mess! Glad the offending sites have been removed.

[Sandy]

6.

I've come across 4 different people copying the quilt on the cover of my 1st book as a pattern & selling it as their own on Etsy over the years. It is terribly upsetting. I think it's stopped for the time being.