Cheeky cow!

Hacker

Hacker

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Colin
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I was covering an equestrian event a few weeks ago and this woman started talking to me about the services I offer, in particular the portrait deal I am currently running whereby the customer gets a montage print of them and their horse like this:

Zeus-Montage2.jpg


Anyway, she was asking a few questions and enquiring about my website. I remember at the time thinking the questions were a bit more in depth than usual but I didn't think anymore about it - until today!

She has set up a website using the exact same template, colours and fonts as mine and is offering portraits to horse owners using an almost identical image to the one above.

I don't mind healthy competition but to me this is blatant plagiarism, plus the fact that she is local doesn't help. I know imitation is supposed to be flattering but I'm still a bit p***ed off, why can't people come up with their own ideas?

Rant NOT over! :bang:
 
You can sue her. :) Copyright.
 
Copying is against the law surely? Specially as its a business she's copying. stick a big yellow m on your site and call yourself mc donulds (you get the point) to find out just how to go about getting a site removed ;)
 
Back in my manufacturing days we used to get competitors copying our products and offering them to our clients at similar prices. The designs were not copyrighted or anything and we did not seek protection. We sometimes lost out short term but the business always came back as our quality standards were high and stayed high.

You are good at what you do so be annoyed but don't worry about it :)

My business lived on word of mouth recommendations and I guess yours will to a large part also.
 
Hacker said:
I don't mind healthy competition but to me this is blatant plagiarism, plus the fact that she is local doesn't help. I know imitation is supposed to be flattering but I'm still a bit p***ed off, why can't people come up with their own ideas?
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And I'll just bet she's undercut your price as well :annoyed: :thumbsdown: :bat: Not sure if there's much you can do about it to be honest, just remember that although she may be able to copy the idea she won't be able to consisently match the quality.
 
I'd send her an email telling her in polite but firm terms that if you see her again you'll kick her ass :boxer: . Just kidding - but an email telling her that you will seek legal advice due to her obvious plagiarism if she does not remove such obvious copies of your work wouldn't go amiss.
People steal others ideas all of the time - what people don't seem to realise though is the penalties can be severe if this can be proven.
Your work really is very, very good, so I can't imagine you'd have quality issues with this woman but I'm guessing she's going to offer lower prices to compensate. Don't let this go as she is blatantly stealing from you - both customers & ideas. :bat:
 
whats her site so we can have a look
 
think of it like this, if she can't come up with her own orginal ideas in what is basicaly an artistic business she probably won't survive long!
ca well understand your anger though
 
find out who hosts her website, send them an email to tell them that she has copied work from your site and you will take legal action against them for hosting it - I guaruntee you that her site will be gone in a matter of hours if they are one of the proper companies :)
 
pandabighead said:
think of it like this, if she can't come up with her own orginal ideas in what is basicaly an artistic business she probably won't survive long!
ca well understand your anger though
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That is SO true. :thumbs:

Good luck with the business. I guess you just have to keep innovating to keep ahead of the competition - either that or do what Microsoft or Electronic Arts do - buy them out :D .

p.s. that montage is a great idea / picture :clap: :clap:
 
The barefaced cheek of some people is hard to believe sometimes. In this case I doubt there's anything she's done that is 'illegal' so it's up to you to be better than her at what you are doing. If she turns up at the same event as you get in there first every time, be ruthless even to the point of standing in front of her if the situation arises. Get your kids to go and be a nuisance where she's working, that kind of thing.
 
There are no copyright issues, I just came up with my take on equine portraits but I'm sure it's been done before and you cannot copyright an idea, otherwise almost every photograph in existence would be breaching someone else's copyright.

With regard to her pricing she is much more expensive than me (£20 for a 7x5:eek: ) and her work does not appear to be that good, I hope that doesn't sound too big headed or like sour grapes! Knowing the equestrian world I doubt people will pay over the odds for images, her prints are almost studio prices and I don't think you can charge that until you have made your name and built your reputation.

I'm not going to post the URL on here as I do not want this to escalate, I just needed to vent. As others have stated, hopefully my quality will show through in the long term.
 
Steep said:
If she turns up at the same event as you get in there first every time, be ruthless even to the point of standing in front of her if the situation arises.
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The only events I go to are the ones where I am the official photographer so if she does turn up and tries to take business away that will be another matter as I have worked hard over the last few months to build my contacts and reputation.
 
How very annoying....but quite flattering though. :thumbs:

It’s quite normal for businesses to copy each others ideas...but the point of the exercise is to do it so your competitors can't tell. :lol:

....Get your solicitor on the phone mate.

Thinking of a silver lining...Could you not also add a warning sentence to your site? Stating something like;

This site was established August 2005...?? Copyright 2005-2006
Because of the quality work of this photographer this site has been copied or duplicated elsewhere on the internet with only small changes to the design.
Please ensure you are at ...etc. ??
 
i admire your restraint.

there isnt anything you can do, the company i work for own patents and copyrights and trademarks on a lot of our products, but cheeky ******s always try and copy them, its a fact of life, it happens everywhere, your good ideas will get picked up by people with no imagination or ideas of their own, sometimes you can take it as a nod of admiration, but mostly its just blatant.
 
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