New Industry Drama - What do the Peas Think?

Thank you, wendifful , for your excellent summary. You nailed it.

I would add one additional bit of info. Basic shapes cannot be copyrighted or patented, so making a hot foil plate that is a simple rectangle is not unique enough to get a copyright or patent, even if she had gone to the expense and effort of trying to do so. If it is a unique artistic design that is confined within a rectangle shape, it could be protected by law for having a unique, artistic design, but not just for the rectangle shape.

I am delighted to buy from smaller companies. I have found many of my favorite companies at scrapbook/stamp conventions, when they were smaller companies. Most have since grown considerably since I first started buying from them. They got to be bigger companies by offering unique designs/products that I and other consumers wanted, for a price that I (and others) were willing to pay.

It’s not always easy, but that is the key to gaining customers. Not an open letter like the one in the OP.

Quick hijack-I bought the regular T ruler and had dh cut it to 6". Nothing fancy about that!

I am following this because I was puzzled it too. Gosh, everyone now has gnome stamps, but no one is suing. When is it gonna stop? Let the buying public decide who they want to patronize.

Here are a couple resources on the different types hot foiling:

#1 - sb.com
#2 - Ellen Hudson

Ooh, and don't forget Spellbinders suing Lifestyle Crafts (now We R Memory Keepers) for violating their patent on open dies - the result of that lawsuit was that Spellbinders should never have been granted the patent in the first place It took a long time before I was willing to purchase from Spellbinders again.

As far as the solid foiling plate, I don't think it could be patented as the shape; if anything it maybe would be a tool - but getting a patent is quite expensive, and then it is up to the patent holder to go after people that they think are infringing on it. Gets to be pretty pricey, legal-wise, and according to someone I know who had an invention that he considered patenting, it wasn't worth the expense and hassle. Usually a small company, even with a patent, can't afford to defend it.

As for the drama - I've seen fans of a company get bent out of shape because another company released stamps with a similar design (think: flamingos, otters, owls - not anything amazing). A big part of marketing in this craft is getting people to feel like they are your friend, and some people take it a little to seriously.

...which was bought by American Crafts in 2014. I miss the original Quickutz (before becoming Lifestyle Crafts, WRMK, & AC).  

I can sympathise with small businesses …but living in Australia I cannot afford to purchase shiny new supplies AND pay more than the cost of said supplies in shipping.I realise this is not under the control of the small businesses but it is certainly my reason for not supporting them

So along these same lines - Rabbit Hole Designs created a post yesterday about their embossing powder brush tool. They said that unless you buy the one that has the "patent pending" logo on it you are supporting theft.

So the top comment says "So you are saying that the one I purchased 15 years ago was stolen? I'm sorry but your post is vague and misleading. I do NOT support theft of designs, but this is a bit much".

They replied: "If you purchased this type of applicator you purchased it for use in the makeup industry. Our pending patent is for use in the crafting industry. If you would like further information please feel free to email us at..."

I need to know: am I allowed to buy a cheap knockoff from the makeup department but then decide I want to use it for cornstarch for embossing instead? I need to know the legalities here lol.

Then someone says they have a similar one from EK Success that they bought years ago, and asks if that's excluded lol.

Then I looked over at Erin Lee Creative's Instagram, and now all of the comments are about her being the moral compass of the industry. Of course Rabbit Hole Designs commented saying that they wished more companies had a moral compass. There is a good comment on there about where do you draw the line? This commenter pointed out that the blending brushes that Erin Lee sells were brought to the craft market by Picket Fence but they are makeup brushes and Picket Fence didn't invent them.

She goes on to say that Erin Lee didn't invent holographic paper, and while glossy card stock may be unique to her store can one claim paper? A very long comment but asks some really good questions.

Erin Lee commented and said that even though she didn't invent gloss cardstock its not right for another (much larger) company to rip it off. She said she sourced it for months and it's a lot of work to source thousands vs buying off of Amazon. Then she says she did in fact have it created by her manufacturer. (So which is it, did you source it by going through thousands or did you "invent" it?). However, Erin Lee did not comment on the blending brushes lol.

I have white glossy cardstock from Stampin' Up! that I bought at least 15 years ago. I'd love to compare it to Erin Lee's white glossy cardstock. SU's is gorgeous.

This is a slippery slope. I understand the frustration but man, publicly calling yourself moral and patting yourself on the back ain't it (to quote the young people).

My parents owned a small business. It truly was a family business, we all grew up working in it. My brothers each have their own business. Myself and my husband owned our own business for 10 years before selling it. It's hard. There isn't a ton of stability, some years are great and some years you barely scrape by. So I sympathize. I love Small Business Saturday and other small business marketing efforts. I think small business is vital to a healthy economy and even necessary for the safety and security of the country (whatever it's home country may be). But this is just not a good look. And to have commenters say "I stand with Erin Lee Creative!" is just a bit much, this isn't the Ukraine lol.

One final thought - a few commenters and Erin Lee herself are starting to call out "the big names" who say they support small business but then continue to work for these "big conglomerates" that steal designs. So are they trying to force Jennifer McGuire and others who work with Simon Says Stamps (one of the large companies they say is ripping off ideas like the ink stand thing) to comment or denounce SSS or Scrapbook.com or whoever? This could get juicy.

I still consider SSS and Scrapbook.com to be small business, too, in any case. They're hardly Amazon or Ali Express.

Totally agree with this.

If Rabbit Hole gets a patent for that brush . . . well, I haven't purchased much from them in the past, so they won't miss the future business they won't be getting. And I have that brush. I looked to see if I could get it for less from a makeup place (partly because at the time, it was sold out everywhere). There's a lot about it that I like better than the EK Success brush and the "dustbag" buddies, but it is not a new invention. You can't really get a patent because you're applying powder to a piece of cardstock instead of your face (and that's the only difference), can you?

Good lord, you are selling to a group of people who, by their very nature, lean to the DIY side. If they didn't, they wouldn't be involved in this hobby to begin with!


Oh, and don't mess with JM. I was put in the naughty chair on Splitcoast back in the day, and another member was perma-banned because we suggested that she was not as forthcoming as she should have been about how much involvement she had in bringing the pink machine to market.

Interestingly, a youtube video popped up last night about something similar to this. If any of you follow her (Christy's Beautiful Life) she got on a rant about how using someone's sketch or scraplifting with out credit is A-OK in her book. She must have been called out by someone and now feels the need to defend herself. IDK.

I’ve been stamping a long, long time. Erin did not come up with the concept of white glossy paper. I have some in my stash that is at least 20 to 30 years old, and the white glossy card stock is surprisingly still relatively white and not even yellowed much.

I’ve supported some companies since they were very small. I am not going to switch to buying only from new, small companies, just because the companies that I love have gotten to be a bigger small company than hers. They earned my money over time by offering products that I wanted for a price that I was willing to pay.

It might help Erin to look at the example of companies that used to be small and have grown. One example that I admire is Heartfelt Creations. They started out as an Amish family who designed and made stamps. They ran their business from their home. They are honest, hard working, and customer oriented. I recently received the wrong order from them by accident. They were very prompt about correcting the problem. A few years ago, they called to see if I was interested in helping with a convention in my area, and I told them I couldn’t because I had pneumonia. They sent me a get well card. I don’t know any of them personally, although I briefly met a couple of their employees when I took a couple of their classes. The way they treat their customers shows they value their customers, and their customers love their products. Their booth at convention is always mobbed. Their classes at convention fill up fast. They are creative and hard working, but they didn’t achieve success overnight. It has taken them years to grow as large as they are.

I will keep right on buying from them and from other companies that have earned my business and my respect.

I don’t know if it’s related, but there’s a graphic making it’s way around paper crafting IG accounts that says “I Create to Inspire - please feel free to scraplift anything I share”. I don’t know who started it or what it’s in response to, but clearly there’s some drama going on with that.

I have 2 of those brushes I got with makeup powder in it. Than when it got emptyI put cornstarchin it. It was very hard to replace the makeup with cornstarch, maybe I should have gotten a patent on my pouring style.
At least she does confess that she stole the idea from the beauty department.

I am confused. I went back and tried to follow her car chat video, then re read her post from a couple days ago.

Is she not saying that SHE is apologizing for copying the foil plate from someone else? Then she says she knows how this feels b/c she has had her cs designs copied and marketed by someone else?