I have a good friend who ‘tipped me the wink’ on Friday about a book she’d seen for sale on eBay (picture below).
Can you see why I’m cross? Yes the image on the right is mine and the original can be found for free here and has been available for the past 17 years!!! What really annoys me is that people are paying money to buy the book (which probably has more stolen work inside) when they could probably get them all for free (like mine).
I’ve ordered the book, which pains me as I’m buying my own work, and will report on the contents when it arrives.
Other action I’ve taken is to contact eBay.co.uk and eBay.com who have both removed the book although, to be honest, it might have been the seller as I contacted them too. Amazon are ‘considering my request’ as well and I’m leaving reviews on sites where I find the book but can’t find how to contact them. AbeBooks have removed it too.
There will be more on this ‘issue’ as research continues. If you see the book elsewhere could you tell the seller etc that it is using copyrighted pictures and (to yet be proved) probably patterns too. TBC.
Oh Jane, I'm so sorry to see this. The other picture is from One of Jan Stawasz's book.
ReplyDeleteThat is so pathetic and probably not a lot that can be done. Some people have no respect. I hope you prevail.
ReplyDeleteI see Mary Konor’s work on cover. I get upset by these people also. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, no shame. Not even an attempt to tat their own version of your pattern!
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable nerve!
ReplyDeleteI ordered a book for my grandkids from Amazon . It is an outdoor book for kids, written by a podcaster. The cover of the book was his, the inside was TOTALLY different. I contacted Amazon, they checked into it, removed it and refunded my money. I should have seen red flags when I could get it before the release date by the author. Also contacted the author, he had no idea this was happening. This seems to be happening everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThat’s what I thought, Lois.
ReplyDeleteI’m working on other issues on this matter, Liyarra. More tomorrow, I hope.
Could be MK’Sue-Anna or Jan’s. Not sure but certainly not theirs!
Exactly, Jane. No attempt so it makes me wonder if they can actually tat!
That’s even worse, Anonymous. I’m glad Amazon did something about it. They’re looking into my complaint at the moment. It’s such a cheek.
They should have used their own tatting on the cover and I do hope they don't include your pattern in the book. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are going through this. People have no respect. Glad your doing everything you can to stop this episode before it gets out of hand. It’s a shame other countries don’t have the same copyright rules. All we can do is spread the copyright information and report to stop further spread.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry this is happening to you Jane! You and your work have had such a big impact on the tatting community. I hope you get this sorted out!!
ReplyDeleteWow. It’s the sign of the times but still so unacceptable. I’m sorry this happened to you and the others.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of books like this on Amazon.com. From the ones I have looked at, they often contain no patterns, and the content is usually very poorly written. Even to including material about Crochet. The cover images are usually nice, and now we know why! I had suspected the images were “stolen” and used without permission, no credit is given anywhere. I suspect these books are being assembled by people trying to make a buck off the unsuspecting and may have been written with assistance from some kind of AI. Thank you Jane, for taking steps to get them removed. And yes, the titles are showing up on EBay as well. Frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI just searched the book title and it still has five listings, different companies, on eBay
ReplyDeleteThese fake instructional tatting books are self published through Amazon KDP. You can find them by going to Amazon, clicking “books” under the search category, typing in “tatting” in the search bar, and then sorting by publication date. The last time I checked, there were over 100 of them. They started popping up a few years ago and I have had to report over a dozen of them for stealing images from my blog and using them on their book covers. Amazon is quick to remove the titles if you use Amazon’s form for reporting copyright infringement. As for the content of the books, from what I can tell by reading samples on the listing pages, they are written in poorly translated English with huge font. Sometimes the instructions are taken directly from Wikihow or an instructables article about tatting. It’s all very, very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThis is so bad for you (as well as all the other designers who spent hours on designing unique patterns)!
ReplyDeleteDrága Jane! Nagyon sajnálom, hogy ez megtörtént. Más munkájával visszaélni, ellopni, eladni, nagy bűn. Bízom benne, hogy sikerül minden helyen megállítani a könyv kiadását.
ReplyDeleteÖleléssel: Jolimama
Picture next to yours, on the left, is one of Jan Stawasz's. I'm sure the stuff on the top of the cover is stolen, too, but can't see enough of it to tell whose work it really is. Seems like so many people have NO sense of right and wrong these days. It's not just that it's against the law, it's just plain *stealing someone else's work and selling it as your OWN.* ....sigh.... gets my dander up....
ReplyDeleteStephanieW
HUGS!!! I truly don't understand this WORLD today!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe one on the left I am sure from a book of patterns I have by a Polish? man. Can't find it at the moment as the house at the moment is a building site!!!
ReplyDeleteOh Jane, I'm so sorry that you have to go through this in order to get this stolen work removed. SO sad that some have NO respect for copyrighted material. For years, I have enjoyed your generous sharing of patterns (and must say they're my favorites as I love your diagrams and explanations which seem to be understood by my brain!). I never fail to give you credit for designing these (as I'd never be able to do that). I've often gifted one of your patterns, but clearly write on the card that this pattern was designed by Jane Eborall, U.K. Thanks for pursuing this issue and trying to make this thief accountable for the intellectual theft. Wish there would be a big fine for her too! (At minimum she should have to pay you for the cost of getting this book so you can pursue it more.) Grrr! Applauding your efforts from Alaska.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, alutka171 - even more copies.
ReplyDeleteThat’s interesting, Pamela. I’ve found two more!!
I will try that too, Robin. This sort of thing is never ending.
I thought it was, StephanieW.
Thanks, GoldenMom.
This is so disgusting!!! Some people!!! I could never even think of doing something like this - they must not have a conscience!!!
ReplyDeletePeople are awful
ReplyDeleteSo sad!. Sorry to hear about this.
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteThere are many of us standing beside you, cheering you on and speaking out against copyright infringement. Keep us updated please.
What is so frustrating about
ReplyDeleteUS copyright law is that an artist can use the copyright symbol © immediately and doesn't have to register it. However, if you want to file a claim you have to register and that's when things get very complicated.