I will post a picture of the quilt itself after it's been entered into the contest. I am gun shy about putting original work out there in the public domain after what happened to me last year. Here is the condensed version of the story--doesn't quite do it justice 'cause the actual events were so unbelievable at times that I'd have to pinch myself--but you'll get the general feel of it:
I created an original quilt design and made a quilt top. Got the name of a long arm quilter in the area from a good friend and took my quilt in. Picked up my quilt some days later and was very happy with the job done--the person who did the quilting was very, very complimentary about my quilt and took a digital photo (with my permission) "for their Web site's gallery." This person and I talked about how I planned to make this design my first published pattern and about some aspects of what went into the design. Fast forward about 7 1/2 months: I have another top done, and I want to take it to this particular quilter, so I get on their Web site to get the phone number. I check the gallery to see my other quilt, but it isn't there (many other quilts are, but not mine). I think this is a bit odd--and then I notice this person has a section of patterns--I click on that to see what they have and lo and behold! the first pattern that pops up is MY design under a very similar name. Needless to say I am floored--I call the friend who recommended this quilter to me to ask if they were aware of this--they were not, but told me that only a week or two after I picked up my quilt, my friend picked up their quilt from this quilter, and that at that time, the quilter inquired of my friend what they thought I would think if the quilter produced a pattern of my design! My friend said that I would not agree to it because I was planning to publish my design at some point and that if the quilter wanted to go ahead with that idea that they definitely needed to contact me first. Of course I was never contacted.
I promptly called this person (I was so shocked and upset)--I told them all I wanted them to do was to immediately stop selling their pattern--that was it. As you might guess, they did not. The details and ins and outs of what followed are pretty epic--I was and remain so stunned that a quilter could behave as badly as this person did. (Quilters are usually such kind people!) I filed for and was granted a federal copyright on my design, hired an attorney.....not that my design was so awesome but just on principle alone this could not be walked away from. About 7 months later, after legal communications out the wazoo, this person finally stopped selling their pattern (a model quilt made by this person was also removed from a local shop), both on the Web and in local stores and from a distributorship they had it listed with. You cannot imagine all that went on with this--trust me on this one, it was an odyssey. I have a file/dossier on this like you wouldn't believe! Of course the person denied any wrong doing--heaven help them is someone ever does something like this to them--they'll know how it feels to have someone inappropriately copy from you and refuse to accept any responsibility or act decently when called on the carpet for it.
At one point I had asked this person if they would ever consider for a moment doing this to a "known" designer, and they said "no, they wouldn't." Well then why on earth was it OK to do it to me?? If something is wrong, it's wrong--doesn't matter who you do it to. Their pattern was a copy of my quilt down to some really specific design details and measurements.
Ah well. It was one of those lessons in life that you don't ever forget. It brought a lot of stress into my life and my family's lives. Glad it's history now.
I'm going to photograph the top (it doesn't have to be quilted to enter in the contest) and then see about getting it quilted before the entry deadline--if I can, I'll photograph it quilted and enter it that way. Of course I use a different long arm quilter now! A very good one whose work I really like. And one I trust!
1 comment:
Can't wait to see the design, but I certainly understand your reluctance to post it before it has been submitted.
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