Welcome to the GuiltTrips podcast. I'm your host, Kendra Lockhart. As a goldsmith and
gemologist, I'll be speaking 24 carat on all things jewelry, metals, and gems. Join
me plus a few friends to demystify both materials and designs as your private jeweler. Let's
tune in on these topics and get golden. Today's topic is a little bit tricky because it's
the one that we're all trying to avoid but also skate a fine line of not necessarily
defining. What I mean when I titled this seeing double is the circumstance of being copied.
While the jewelry industry deals with this a lot, I definitely have to handle it on a
daily basis, the counterfeiting and the knocking off of recognizable designs. What do you do
when you're an independent artist? Now we've seen people get poached on places like Etsy
or when at an art show, especially a well-publicized one, there are certainly quote-unquote scouts
going to see somebody else's up-and-coming or big idea or next collection so that they're
doing the heavy lifting and that person doesn't really have to be at the drawing board or in
the idea factory or concepting. So I'll be covering when using a well-known idea work
in jewelry, what we're dealing with as far as the inspiration versus imitation, how manufacturing
tackles this topic, the legality that may or may not be exactly what you need to know.
And then lastly, the great lawsuits. So here we go.
Being copied is something that I personally dealt with as a creative since I was probably
five or six years old. I remember losing a friendship because somebody had profound
envy and jealousy over my project being better than theirs. Her reaction was so over the top
that I should have known the lengths that people are willing to go to to protect an ego that
is uncreative or has poor execution around their artistry or simply can't stand when
someone else gets the attention they so desperately crave. Now there's a time and place to be
flattered. School or the formative years wasn't necessarily my zone. I was madly in love with
the art of when genius hits, refining my skills and abilities and having a finished product
or demonstration or proof of what was in my imagination that came out of me. Once I stepped
into the professional arena, it got a little clearer for me. For example, my first design
job I was asked to come up with sketches for a three stone engagement ring, something modern,
but it had to have an innovative element to it. The client was confidential or so my
boss told me who happened to also be the owner. Little did I know that I would be designing
his fiance's ring and probably didn't get any credit for it, but it certainly said
plenty for my confidence, my self esteem and my portfolio to be able to say I designed
the owner's engagement ring. No extra credit was needed nor was it being actively sought
by me. Later on in my apprenticeship, we were asked to come up with sketches. It was supposed
to be part of the quote unquote exercise assigned by the owner. There were three of us that
were actively on the workbench. I distinctly remember one assignment where there was an
odd cut stone and we all had to come up with 20 ideas for it. The owner didn't care for
any of our works, which was interesting because wasn't this just to make sure that we stayed
loose and fluid and able around concepting or was there an agenda called Hey Minions?
I need you to figure something out for me so I can take credit for it because I've got
a client asking me for sketches and ideas and I'm drawing blanks here. I'm going to
guess that it was probably the latter, but again, it wasn't that big of a deal. When
it becomes a big deal, when somebody deliberately takes your idea and either claims it as their
own or gives you no credit and both pathways end up to monetization for that party, then
you have to start using bigger words like plagiarism. But first, where using a copyrighted
design did come in useful was in my early years in my career, especially with my Goldsmithing
apprenticeship, something like Cartier's Trinity Ring. While a three ring interlocking
rolling design isn't necessarily their original concept, they did end up interpreting it originally.
They picked three different shades of gold, yellow gold, rose gold, and white gold. They
assigned different meanings to it so it became very personalized or had sentimentality and
ran with it because of course they stamped their name on it and had the whole campaign
to back it up. On the bench, I was instructed to make rolling rings. It was an exercise
to not only train my hands, but also train my mind. Am I copyright infringing? Am I counter
fitting? Am I claiming that this is a Cartier? No, none of the above. It's an exercise based
on an iconic product and seeing how close I can get to the standard that we're all familiar
with, not just visually, but in the demonstration and craftsmanship as well. It also helps to
try and sketch branded pieces. Why? Because a client is going to come in and speak from
certain levels of familiarity. Hey, I really like the way Tiffany's did this. I definitely
want an element in my design that looks like the XYZ pattern from So-and-So's design
house or brand. Those are normal conversations and to a degree pretty valid requests. So
let's discuss what manufacturing has to say about when you're straight up copying. In
manufacturing, there was a verbal policy handed down to us that I had to have 10% deviation
from the original design. 10% isn't going to be enough on certain aesthetics that are
branded. For example, I can't just make the Nike swoosh 10% smaller or wider. I can't
change the colors of the Target bullseye and say, ah, see, 10% difference. I didn't copy.
So it gets tough when it comes down to product versus graphic designer logo. The big brand
that was most quote unquote emulated or homage in my days in manufacturing at that time was
to Corey, which was known for a very European architectural vintage replica aesthetic. Before
long, everybody in their brother was ripping them off for half of the price, which is usually
one of the motivations to become a copycat. Obviously, you're not going to do things such
as their quote unquote signature. For example, Roberto coin is a brand that puts a tiny ruby
on the inside of its designs. So while we were staying away from certain elements like
that, there were pieces that were made that were almost impossible to tell apart from
to Corey's original design versus how we created it, mostly because somebody usually gave us
a to Corey piece, or the design was so prevalent on the internet. And CAD designing was already
a critical element of the manufacturing process, that it wasn't that challenging to reproduce
something in its likeness. Did to Corey ever say, Hey, stop? No, not because we were too
small, but probably because it never became known that either where I worked was doing
this with frequency or volume or large profit. On the other hand, a smaller designer, Etienne
Parais, who made a very signature style of setting a solitaire, I don't totally remember
what he called it, but it was a floating bezel kind of halo up on two posts. It was very,
very postmodern. It was very avant garde for solitaire. And when I had my first design
job, a cease and desist letter showed up at our location from that designer. Somebody had
said something and it traveled through the channels and got to that company. And the
company must have done their homework. You are definitely creating our rings and not
giving us credit, not giving us payment, not asking us for any sort of permission. We're
coming for you. That letter said cease and desist or pay a fine of $10,000 per every
item copied. That was some pretty good incentive to figure out a different way.
So here you are up against plagiarism. And that means that somebody is selling something
as their own. The legal pathway starts with a cease and desist. You're going to want
to either have in a certified letter delivered and signed for that the people or company
or artist or laborer is stopping what they're engaging in as far as infringing on your original
ideas and products or proposing some type of licensing for your work. The next step would
be if cease and desist doesn't work or some arrangement isn't made or agreed upon, then
it would go to the collecting evidence phase. It is case by case. We have no idea how many
pieces need to be made that are copies or how much profit is involved. Perhaps it becomes
a big deal once it's over a certain amount because it falls into a different tier of
offense. After that, there's going to be some form of legal action. If that's the route
that seems to be the best solution for this. Things that will have to be discussed is was
this appropriation? Was this imitation? Is it simply being done in the style of are you
simply an inspiration source that they're using? Hopefully you've done enough of your
pre-work so that if you're going to lawyer up, you have reason and readiness. Obviously,
I'm not an attorney and the days of working for one are long behind me. But when I was
put in a situation over creative material, I had come up with some songs for a children's
charity and I brought the album concept. I brought the lyrics and I brought the style
that we'd be adding music to. I asked somebody to write music for these lyrics. I said, there's
no compensation. There is publication, a copy, and I will include and print whatever dedication
you want on the inside. That was the deal I paid for all of the studio time, all of
the recording, all of the mastering, all the post production, all the artwork and all of
the press. This guy says, I'm going to run off and re-record them my way. I had a friend
in the music industry, Dylan, if you're listening, I'll never stop thanking you who said file
a US copyright on this. And so for a jewelry design, the most current quote I can get is
$65 to $125 per idea for record of ownership. That's something to consider if you want
to proactively protect your intellectual property.
So when you hold copyright registration, the best part about that is it gives you the exclusive
right to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display your own jewelry designs. So when
you're the creator and you do something new, you are protected. However, that doesn't stop
all of us, does it? So let's talk about the top 10 key copyright cases and the awarded
amounts are not small. Swarovski versus David Ehrman. Swarovski sued David Ehrman for infringement
of its oral and twirl design. The courts found in favor of Swarovski and awarded $11.2 million
in damages. Cartier sued Costco because they were selling counterfeit versions of its love
bracelet. The court found against Costco, Cartier received $25.2 million in damages.
Another big branded house, Tiffany versus Costco. Again, Tiffany sued Costco for infringement
of its Tiffany setting design, especially if one, you make it to look like Tiffany and
two, you say Tiffany setting. Two bad ideas for the price of one. Tiffany walked away
with $19.4 million. Oh look, it's Omega versus Costco. Omega sued Costco for selling counterfeit
versions of its Seamaster watch. Omega took away $5.5 million. Maybe Costco is starting
to see a pattern and learn a lesson. Louis Vuitton sued Duny and Burke for infringement
of its checkerboard monogram pattern. Louis Vuitton received $3 million. Chanel, another
design house in fashion, sued WMS for infringement of its iconic Camilla design. Chanel also
received $5.5 million. Christian Dior sued Napoleon Paradis Cosmetics for infringement
of its Miss Dior design. Christian Dior received $2 million. Bulgari sued Costa for infringement
of using its Bulgari Hallmark. The cart awarded Bulgari $6.7 million in damages. Christian
Laboutin sued Yves Saint Laurent for infringement of the Red Soul design. Christian Laboutin,
$4.5 million. Lastly, Tiffany versus eBay. Now, if you've listened to my episode before
in season one, I mentioned that the first time Tiffany went against eBay, it was not
in favor of Tiffany. However, Tiffany did not give up and sued eBay for contributory
infringement of its trademark. The court awarded Tiffany and company $61 million in damages.
You can see that this is considered a serious crime and there are hefty fines with potential
jail time if you're convicted. You have civil penalties, you have criminal penalties. Think
twice before committing. That said, there is the honest mistake and I do believe that
there is liminal mind that somewhere what I thought was an original idea was being mused
upon half a world away in Japan by another artist. Or what I'm busy thinking of bringing
to life and to fruition is being dreamed up down in South America when it's simply a
great idea that is received by multiple artists and there's a level of unawareness to it.
That's it can be resolved in the art of a truthful and excellent conversation. I'll
be looking into any of those cases to see if things ended amicably as a win-win for
both parties.
Thank you for listening and learning with me. I would love you to share this project
with people finding rare beauty in today's world and throughout our times. Until the
next episode, keep your own stories sparkling.