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I recently was informed that someone I know (who also makes cards) is cutting the fronts off the cards I make and putting them on another cards base, then is stamping the back with her name. I am not sure how to feel about this.
I haven't seen one yet but she told me she is doing this with the cards other people give her. She said she is cutting the front off (trimming) and placing on a card base.
oh wow.......I guess it depends on how she is using them. Is she selling them? Using them for any classes? Just giving them to friends? I mean on one hand, it is recycling them and not just throwing them out, which makes me happy. But on the other hand, is she passing off your work as hers? Hmmmmmmm......
Edited to add:
If it were me, I might rethink giving her anymore cards.
Yikes! Somebody must not feel very good about the cards she makes to be poaching yours as her own!
My SU demo sends thank you cards, etc with a post-it note inside so that the recipient can reuse the card and I love this idea (although I have never resent one of her beautiful cards, I keep them all) but I would never think of stamping my name on the back, like I had made it.
I guess it's the same with everything, once we give it to someone, it is theirs to do with what they please, regardless of what we want them to do with it. If you can prove it though, you might say to her "I heard you are recycling my cards and using the fronts of them for cards you are sending to others. I am so glad you liked my card, and I think recycling is so great! Thanks for paying my beautiful cards forward!" See what her reaction is to this statement.
I understand your feelings. I would be having conflicting thoughts about something like that, too.
But when you think about it, once you give someone anything, it is theirs, to do with what they will. I know people have written about being upset when they gave someone a card that took hours to make, and then saw that the recipient had tossed it in the trash after reading it!
If what she's doing really bothers you, you should probably not give anymore of your cards to this person.
I remember reading a thread about a beautiful, handmade quilt that someone made and hoped would be a treasured heirloom. She visited a few months later, and saw that it was being used in the dog's bed! You just can't imagine or control what other people might do.
I have a grown step-daughter that I was always on pretty good terms with. When she had her first baby, I made a lovely quilt with the baby's name monogrammed on it. When she visited, I gave her the quilt, and she appeared to like it, and said thank you. When she left, she didn't take the quilt, and never mentioned it again! It took me a few years to get over that one, and years later, I still have a bad feeling about it.
I've had to come to terms with the idea that we do not have much control over what other people do, in many, many situations in our lives.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
Last edited by buggainok; 04-29-2015 at 09:12 AM..
Thank you for all the responses. I do appreciate that my hard work is passed on, just wasn't sure how to feel about it being passed on as her work. I just wanted to see how others would feel about this. I have never mentioned this to her. I also receive sample cards from my rep. I do use some of those but she stamps the back. I do not try to pass her beautiful cards off as something that I made.
Recycling by "regifting" or reusing the card is one thing. Cutting it off the card base so you can put the front on your own base and pass the card off as your own is intellectual property theft, plain and simple, and I would not be pleased.
However, my level of outrage would depend on whether she's just regifting the cards (I'd be annoyed and stop giving her cards, but not otherwise make a big deal out of it) or whether she is selling them/posting them on her blog as hers/entering them in contests/submitting them for publication (I'd be mad and stop giving her cards, and maybe have words with her about it).
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On a lighter note, now you know who to give the cards with those little imperfections to. She can pass those goofs off as hers. Sorry, silly I know but it was the first thought that came to mind.
Ok, I'm going to be the grouch, but that would tick me off big time. I dont mind the re-use. My cousin did that. I found out when she sent me one I really liked and wanted the stamp! :lol: She usually sends me one she made. I should have guessed. She never stamps!
But to put her name it to take credit for it-regardless of to whom....is really really wrong to me. That's a real lack of character there imho. Even if she is stone broke, so she is trying to use something pretty-you just dont do that.
This is worse b/c she makes cards herself. She should know how much work goes into them. I'm mad for you!
I would stop sending her handmade cards this second. Send her 99 cent cards. Might be interesting to see if she says anything. People can do with it what they want, and we can choose not to create that choice for them.
I dont know what your relationship with this person is. If she brings it up, I'd tell her honestly why. She might learn something. You dont have to rip her a new ear, but dont back off either. If you can get someone to give you one of them to have in reserve for that conversation, I would. What you dont need is her denying it too. If you dont want to get into it with her, then just say you could not afford to make them anymore. I'd be curious to hear what her reaction to that is.
Buggainok-I am broken hearted for you with that quilt. That's terrible. I wish it didnt have the name on it so you could give to someone else who would love it as it should be. ((hugs))
Oh, no way would I be OK with that, whether she was selling them or giving them away. It's one thing to re-use a card, but quite another to try to pass the card off as your own work. I definitely would not send her any more cards, and I would also tell her that I didn't appreciate what she was doing. How dare she! I'm outraged for you.
I'd feel very conflicted. Pleased that my cards were worthy in her eyes to pass on, but not too happy she's putting her name on them. I'd be inclibed to not sent anymore handmade cards to her.
bugga, that's terrible. I can't believe someone would be that ungrateful and unappreciative.
That goes in my category of girlfriend doesn't even get a Dollar Tree card. If she is doing this in ignorance then yes it's forgivable. One of my favorite quotes is it's not a mistake if you repeat it then it's a habit.
I think you should say something kindly too her to see what is going on. Honestly if she is doing this to you she is probably doing something else to another friend that could even be more hurtful.
I do make my cards to reuse. I am a green girl so I do understand if my card visits the trash can but I do hope it will be recycled. I also sign the front of my cards.
When I got back into stamping I was really surprised not to see signatures on a lot of the beautiful work here. I am an artist so by habit I always sign. I even sign my needlework. A lot of the ladies here I feel like have gallery pieces especially the Stampscape artists. I always think where is your signature on the front of the card?
I hope I didn't open a can of worms by voicing this. I just get protective of artists.
Honestly?
I would feel sooooooooooo proud!
When i read this thread, I started to smile instantly somehow it is very strange, but if your work is worth to steal it - be proud of it!
And you do three good things with one card:
1. you make someone happy with your card.
2. you make her happy because she can make someone else happy.
3. you make the person happy who get the "recycled" card
Every year I silk-paint some scarfs for my sister, my mom and other people I like and every one of my scrafs get stolen. Earlier or later someone steals it.
The owner are allways sad (good for me, they really liked it^^) and angry maybe but I just feel proud.
If it's good enough to steal - well done!
(Why shall I feel bad about something I can't change anyway? I prefer to choose the positive emotions).
I think lylacfey has the perfect solution for you, if you still want to give her cards, and not make a fuss. Putting your signature on the front, where it can't be removed, should make it impossible for her to pass it off as her own.
Maybe she genuinely doesn't realise what she is doing is wrong, it may be an extension of the idea people have about cutting images from store bought cards they have been sent, and using them to create new cards- still wrong, but many people do it. The fact she told you she does it with other peoples cards makes me think she doesn't realise this isn't acceptable, rather than being deliberate. Or maybe she told you that to see what your response would be? You could always allude to that question when you speak to her- saying something like' what you said to me a while ago about using other peoples cards? I've been thinking about it, and realised it's something I wouldn't be happy about, as you are putting your name on the back. If you simply put 'handmade card' that would be better, but 'handmade by... and the original makers name, would be the correct way to do it.'
I am in agreement thaT I AM HAPPY ON THE ONE HAND THAT YOUR CARDS ARE BEING RECYCLED BUT UNHAPPY THAT SHE IS PUTTING HERname on them. I think signing the front is a perfect solution like Birgit in the dirty dozen does.
I would be ticked off in a major way, she is stealing your creative efforts. There is no excuse she could that would make it okay. I sure wouldn't buy into the 'didn't know better' line.
If someone writes a story, play, song, etc that is just like someone else's they can get sued for plagiarism.
If a burglar breaks into your house and steal from you, no one calls it a compliment because "they must have liked your stuff".
If you try to pass off and sell a famous painting as your own work, you could be put in jail.
Value yourself and the gift you have for creativity. We all need to do that more.
Tell her to stop & that it is wrong to steal from you and others. Let her know she will no longer be getting cards from you and that you are going to tell everyone else what she is doing as well because they deserve to know they are also being disrespected. It would be up to you whether you actually tell others but she needs to understand the seriousness of what she is doing.
So sorry you are going this, it just plain stinks to get betrayed like this.
I'm not one to try to be mean, or vindictive, or any of those actions...even if I think in my mind, "they have a lot of nerve".
I think I would start doing what DeeAnn does (in post 16) and sign my card fronts. It need not be obtrusive. I use a tiny .005 micron pen to sign my zentangle works, and let me say I can make a really small signature with it! It would be a guaranteed way to indicate the maker of the artwork...that, in reality, is on the card that she "assembled". She could never use that artwork in any way other than what you mention, because the signature would condemn her. And an observant recipient would notice. And she would notice if her intentions are not good.
I have a neighbor who re-uses Christmas card fronts and makes cards to send to others. She doesn't sign the backs at all, though. Would it really be any different for someone to use a commercial card to make a new card front? That's even copyrighted material. A funny about this one...she sent me a Christmas card one year that was one of my own card fronts. I don't think she realized what she did.
I'm curious. When she told you that she was doing this with other people's cards, did she say that she was putting her name on the backs of them? That would have been a good time to tell her that it was wrong to do that. If she's doing it to others, then maybe you should all say something to her. I don't necessarily mean all at the same time. What she's doing is stealing your creations. Even if you assume she is ignorant of this, and not intentionally doing something wrong, you can still tell her nicely that she shouldn't do it.
In your OP, you said that you didn't know how to feel about it. No one can really tell you how you should feel. I think we can only advise you on what you could (and what we think you should) do. Only you can make the ultimate decision about how you feel and what you will do. I hope you find a way to handle the situation that works for you. Please let us know what happens. Good luck.
If she is a good friend, I wouldn't worry about it. Good friends are really hard to come by. Card ideas, paper, stamps, glue, on the other hand, is in steady supply.
I'm with Scrapjanny on this one. I think it's wrong to take credit for what someone else has done. Maybe she's just resending these to other friends, and it's fine to reuse, but don't claim credit. How could a person not feel like a fraud doing that?
I missed the part where she admitted to you she was doing it. Now that's nerve. Holy moly.
In the scheme of the world it's not the worst thing that can happen to a person but I still say it isnt right after sleeping on it. She may think b/c you didnt say anything at the time you are ok with it. Doesnt mean you cant do what was suggested above and say "I was thinking about what you said, and you know what? I am flattered you like my work but I am not ok with it. Please stop."
You do have the ability to complain because you moral rights to your card are being given violated. As so as your card idea is put into tangible form, it has been copyright. Therefor also have moral rights associated with it. An artist once told the Bay (a department store) that they could not put scarves on a statue that he had created as it goes against his moral rights. The store had paid for the statue, they owned it, it wasn't on loan from the artist. So you do have a right to your cards, and if you don't like the way she is using them, as it changes your original intent, to should tell her.
In Canada:
Moral rights
There is a provision in the Copyright Act (R.S.C., Chapter C-42, Section 14), which sets out the moral rights of an author/creator. Moral rights are personal to an author/creator regardless of who owns copyright. Unless an author/creator waives his moral rights, these rights cannot be assigned.
Moral rights exist for the same period of time as the copyright in a work.
An author/creator may exercise the following moral rights as provided for in the Copyright Act:
Right of Paternity
This right includes the right to claim authorship, the right to remain anonymous, or the right to use a pseudonym or pen name.
Right of Integrity
In the case of a work being adapted, modified or translated, the author/creator's right of integrity must be respected. As stipulated in the Copyright Act, an author/creator's right to the integrity of his work is violated if the work is a distortion, mutilation or modification of the work that is prejudicial to the honor or reputation of the author/creator.
Right of Association
Part of the Right of Integrity is an author's/creator's Right of Association. This means that an author/creator has the right to prevent anyone from using his work in association with a product, service, cause, or institution
Read more at: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/07415.html#p5
WOW I really appreciate all the responses. She is not a good friend of mine at all. She works at the same place I do. I could go on and on about things that she has done but I won't. I love the idea of signing the front, in fact that came to my mind but I wasn't sure if that was proper. Now I am going to, at least the one I give her. I always here from people that I make beautiful cards, and from other that see them(I am not tooting my own horn at all.) and this has been mentioned while she was present.
Thank you to everyone on your input.
WOW I really appreciate all the responses. She is not a good friend of mine at all. She works at the same place I do. I could go on and on about things that she has done but I won't. I love the idea of signing the front, in fact that came to my mind but I wasn't sure if that was proper. Now I am going to, at least the one I give her. I always here from people that I make beautiful cards, and from other that see them(I am not tooting my own horn at all.) and this has been mentioned while she was present.
Thank you to everyone on your input.
Now that I know she is not a good friend, but that she works at the same place... I think the less you say, the better. Work politics can be very tricky, and you don't want tension and backbiting and gossip at your workplace.
I think signing the front of her card and not mentioning it is the best course of action.
But, and I just had this thought - she may just cover up your name with an embellishment and keep doing her dirty tricks.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
Wow - some people have a lot of nerve. I agree with all the posts here but since she works with you - then just giving her any would be the best thing to do
__________________ Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein
Just had to chime in. Recycling a card front and passing it on....great. But DO NOT stamp your name on it and pass it off as your own work! I don't care what the end use is. That's just wrong.
Since she is not a good friend, and you work with her, I agree you might want to avoid the workplace drama. But if you continue giving handmade cards to others and simply stop giving them to HER, the drama may come anyway.
You could try adding your signature to the front but since she's taking them apart anyway I think she will just trim down the image if your name is somewhere along an edge. So can you work it into the middle of the design without ruining it? This seems like way too much work and "futzing" and waste of your time and energy just to avoid drama.
I guess since you have already had a conversation with her in which she admitted that she does this with others cards; you could go back to her and say "remember when you told me..."? And then just say you're happy she thinks your work is nice enough to pass on to others, but please stop adding your name to the back of the "new" card and taking credit for your work. This would be helped if you had an example of her "theft" in your hands at the time. This is the most direct approach and not an ongoing effort for you in trying to add your name to the front. If she has a snit-fit over it you are free to stop giving her handmade cards with a clear conscious.
oops, there was a typo in my earlier message, i meant to say "just stop giving the cards..." oooh, i hope everyone realized that's what i probably had meant. so sorry.
__________________ Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein
I send cards to my sister-in-law for all holidays. She ask me not to sign them so she can pass them along. She said they were too pretty to throw away or stuffed in a drawer. I put a post-it with my name on inside the card. I feel honored that it is not just looked at and discarded. I do get credit for card.
In your case, I would put the label a bit more towards the centre of the card front to make it more difficult to cut it away.
And inside your card, you could write a note on the left side like: I would love if my card is passed to someone else rather than thrown away. But please be fair and just leave my copyright where it is.
No, we don't have control over what others do with the gift that we have given, but we can certainly observe and acknowledge the red flag that flaps in the breeze afterword! Women are often terrible at honoring feelings, and we need to get better at it — men wouldn't hesitate to cut this person out after something like that (warning: gender studies major doing massive generalizations here :-))
We learned in kindergarten that we don't steal someone else's finger painting or homework and sign our name to it. And I believe that Perry Mason would point out the fact that she acknowledged what she was doing and maybe even implied that she was being clever, implicates her :-) That nagging suspicion or feeling is usually 110% correct. I would cut her out of the card pool immediately.
Recycling by "regifting" or reusing the card is one thing. Cutting it off the card base so you can put the front on your own base and pass the card off as your own is intellectual property theft, plain and simple, and I would not be pleased.
However, my level of outrage would depend on whether she's just regifting the cards (I'd be annoyed and stop giving her cards, but not otherwise make a big deal out of it) or whether she is selling them/posting them on her blog as hers/entering them in contests/submitting them for publication (I'd be mad and stop giving her cards, and maybe have words with her about it).
And from Dee
Quote:
On a lighter note, now you know who to give the cards with those little imperfections to. She can pass those goofs off as hers.
I agree with SkyNacho's sentiments. However I think Dee's suggestion about giving her only the cards with the smudges and booboos is actually a pretty good idea. That way you don't get into the drama of why you stopped giving this one person cards. And I would have no trouble doing cards with booboos! LoL. Dea
I'm not one to try to be mean, or vindictive, or any of those actions...even if I think in my mind, "they have a lot of nerve".
I think I would start doing what DeeAnn does (in post 16) and sign my card fronts. It need not be obtrusive. I use a tiny .005 micron pen to sign my zentangle works, and let me say I can make a really small signature with it! It would be a guaranteed way to indicate the maker of the artwork...that, in reality, is on the card that she "assembled". She could never use that artwork in any way other than what you mention, because the signature would condemn her. And an observant recipient would notice. And she would notice if her intentions are not good.
I have a neighbor who re-uses Christmas card fronts and makes cards to send to others. She doesn't sign the backs at all, though. Would it really be any different for someone to use a commercial card to make a new card front? That's even copyrighted material. A funny about this one...she sent me a Christmas card one year that was one of my own card fronts. I don't think she realized what she did.
That made me think about a girlfriend of mine. Before I got into card making we were always stirring each other up over different things. One year I sent her back my christmas card from her from the previous year with the writing of names crossed out and reversed. She laughed so much couldnt wait to do the same to me. Another year I cut the front off and stuck on a piece of paper and sent to her and she reciprocated. We have cut pictures up and sent them as Christmas puzzle cards.
How would you feel?
