Have your ideas or creativity ever been stolen from you before? How did you feel?
This brings me back to memory lane when I volunteered to help a friend who was also a fashion designer make her sister's outfit and her bridal train outfits just to show my support for her since I didn't have much on me to give her at that time.
I took it upon myself to cut the outfit from scratch to finish, and I ensured I sewed it to perfection without demanding a dime.
She was indeed very excited about my kind gesture, but what broke me to pieces was what happened a few days after the wedding.
You know, when a craft is good, people want to know the brain behind such creativity, but guess what? My friend's sister claimed that her sister made all the bridal train outfits, and when I heard it, I almost cried.
It's so painful when someone else takes credit for what you did. I wasn't telling her to tell the world that the outfits were my way of supporting the wedding, but all I wished for was for her to help me market my handiwork. Was it too much to ask? I mean, why will someone ask you who made those bridal train outfits and you take credit for what you didn't do at all?
If you've ever been in that shoe, you would know exactly how it feels.
This brings me to the importance of intellectual property rights. Did I learn from my first mistake? No way, I still made yet more silly mistakes.
I make handmade brooches that are unisex and can be rocked in different ways. After making them, I sell them on request.
There's this friend of mine who ordered two brooches that he wanted to use for his friend's wedding, one for him as the best man and one for his friend,, who was the groom.
After the wedding, he sent me pictures of the groom and him rocking the brooches, and then I posted them on my business page to advertise my handiwork.
Would you believe that the groom slid into my DM on Instagram and said that the brooch he rocked for the wedding wasn't made by me? He said he bought it in the market alongside the tie he used for his wedding, and I was so gobsmacked, like, why do people lie?
I decided to reach out to the guy who made the order to verify what the groom said, but he told me honestly that the brooch was mine.
Do you see people? (Shaking my head.)
I never knew the importance of watermarks, like adding my logo to any outfit I make, especially when posting it on social media. Yet again, I posted a beautiful outfit I made for a client, and after a while, another designer whom I didn't know reposted it like she was the designer behind the design without giving me credit for it.
My attention was called to it by my client, who came across that post, and she demanded the designer take down the post or give credit to me for making the outfit.
After those experiences, I now see the value of intellectual property rights, and I never made the mistake of posting my designs or creativity without adding my brand's logo to them.
This is why I am working so hard to create a tag that I'll be attaching to my handiwork, like outfits, brooches, and any creativity by me that will be sold or shared in the public space.
This brings me to how I love Hive so much because I know for a fact that intellectual property is taken so seriously in this space that you cannot use anybody's work (a written quote, picture, or anything) without sourcing it properly or giving credit to them. That's really a thoughtful thing to do, give credit to whom it is due.
As a Hiver, I have also seen the importance of intellectual property which is why even if the images used on my blog are mine, I do well to clearly state it so that it serves as a protection for my digital properties.
This is why I do preach Hive to content creators around me, if you want a safe space? Join Hive, nobody will steal your creativity and act like it is theirs, your digital property is safe here on Hive so long as it is properly sourced.
As a business owner, I will also advice you to get your business name registered by the government before using it to avoid digital theft, some people just like to steal from others, they don't mind stealing your brand's name as well because of how successful you have grown with the brand.
Your creativity is you, don't let anyone steal that from you without giving credit to you, you worked hard for it.
All images used are mine.
A𝖒𝖎𝖊,
ᵀʰᵉ ᵍⁱʳˡ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵃ ᵇⁱᵍ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ ❤
This post was inspired by the daily prompt on the #inleo community and this is my response to the #Aprilinleo day 26 prompt, wanna get involved too? Check this out.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
I was as shocked as you reading that the groom calmed the brooch wasn't made by you, wow. He's not even ashamed to say that when he wasn't even the one who bought it in the first place. Like what was his gain in doing that?
It's good you've learnt to watermark your designs from theft.
Yeah, I learned the hard way, thanks for reading.
Really, people get mind oo. That's why hive will remain exceptional everyday and in every way
I understand this kind of feeling sis but my happiness is that you now know the right way to go about it...when a Creativity is advertised, it helps grow the brand but instead they kept cheating on you. Keep working harder and smarter
#dreemerforlife
Yeah, I am glad I learned to do the needful, thank you so much sis for reading.
IP is such a tricky point and even I have made mistakes with my assumptions about creative work of other people. I was called out by Neil Gaiman on twitter once on my assumptions and I felt bad about the way I was thinking.
Hive, or more precisely a blockchain, is a good place to do put your work or aspects of your work. This is because a lot of creative IP can be decided by who published it first or wrote about it first. This can prove that you knew something at such and such date in the past much before anyone else. In Hive that guarantee is further enforced due to the nature of the blockchain. So if, for eg, you put the photos of your latest designs up on Liketu then it will go into blockchain on a certain date and time (the posting time) and this can be proved later to be immutable in case you need to argue about IP ownership in a legal situation.
Thanks for sharing these aspects. I am sure it will help a lot of creatives.
Cheers from a fellow #dreemerforlife
So true, Hive is such an exceptional platform and I do love it so much. Thank you dreemer for stopping by.
I think you should get a logo to attach to your product so it won't be easy for people to steal your work. I hate it when someone else takes credit for my work, it pain me so much.
Some people are just so wicked to act that way. Imagine those scenarios of yours. The best is to have your logo on your brand so protect your work and creativity.
#dreemerforlife
I have a logo already, thank you so much
The audacity people have to take what isn't theirs. I haven't really experienced that but I know how annoying it must be. Hopefully, your logo or tag will be ready soon so all these things doesn't repeat itself.
#dreemerforlife
Yeah, thanks for stooping by.
I understand how frustrating that can be. It has happened to me with my photographs.
The best thing is that these moments have led you to take action and learn.
I wish you much success #dreemerforlife 🤗
Thanks for the best wishes.
you're welcome 😉