This might possibly be one of the hardest blog posts I’ve had to write.  I’ve spent the past 24 hours going over how to write without just screaming and shouting.  Those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook might recall a bit of a meltdown on Tuesday evening – so without waffling around too much, I discovered that another business had taken original designs I’d hand-drawn for our wedding stationery and was selling them as their own ‘unique’ designs.

I unwittingly clicked on a Twitter link and came across this businesses website – as I began to look around at the different designs they were selling I got this sick feeling in my stomach.  Not only did one particularly wedding stationery design look unbelievably similar to what I’d designed and made for our wedding, but I began to realise that some details they were using were actually my hand-drawn images (below).

Designs by The Natural Wedding Company

I was absolutely devastated to think that someone would do that, and have the balls to claim that their work was ‘unique’.  And pretty pissed off.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming these are outstanding pieces of artwork, but they are mine, drawn by me, for something quite personal – my own wedding.

And when I say that one whole design was similar, I mean the same fonts, a similar main image and even wording in places, including an almost identical RSVP postcard and all tied up with red and white string and a tiny luggage tag.  Now I’m not trying to claim that I’m the first person to do these things, or that I have rights over tying wedding stationery with red and white string and a luggage tag, but when everything is SO similar and its being sold as ’unique’ to that business I don’t think that’s on.

I have happily and openly shared all the details on our wedding, including the handmade stationery, I have even shared details on how I made them and where to get the supplies.  I have been delighted that so many other brides-to-be have been inspired by what we made and are taking inspiration and ideas, are even recreating elements.

There is however a HUGE difference between using ideas and inspiration for personal use, and passing it off as one’s own original, ‘unique’ design and making money from it.

I could witter on for too long about how sad/angry/gutted/mad/devastated/all-of-the-above I have been the past two days, but thankfully one email to this business has resolved it, and the designs mentioned have been removed from their website.

It seems that more and more people are suffering from this sort of thing – my lovely website designers We Are Life had another client recently whose new website was almost identically copied by someone else for a competitors website.  It’s just not on. 

Image: design by The Natural Wedding Company photo by Mark Tattersall

What I am most upset by is that I work incredibly hard on both personal projects and in trying to run my little business (and I know I’m not the only one).  It’s damned frustrating that someone else is able to cherrypick what they want from my website and continue their business in the same industry as me claiming to design ‘unique’ eco-friendly products (printing on the same brown recycled card that I shared details of) .

Grr-argh!

There are two positive outcomes of this whole palaver:

1) I feel driven to pursue creating a few more of my own designs and seeing if anyone is interesting in buying them for their wedding, after all if someone else can recreate my ideas and sell them then perhaps I should too?

And 2) there are some utterly wonderful, kind, supportive people out there who left me messages when I was having my meltdown.  I may not know you in person, but you are lovely friends to have.

What are other people’s experiences of copying, plagiarism, or taking too closely of ideas/designs?

First image: design by The Natural Wedding Company photo by Mark Tattersall