Monday, April 16, 2012

PATTERN SHARING UPDATE!!!!!

ok, so you can guess by now how *ticked* off I am about this...
but hold on to your hats!!!
I've found out that www.chcrossstitch.com actually is a patterns sharing website...
how it works is:
you join for free...then you take a pattern from your personal collection and scan it to their website...that allows you to get a 'gold coin' (points) once you have scanned a bunch of your patterns, you can then search their website for OTHER people's scanned patterns and 'buy' them with your 'gold coin'...
I'm finding more & more designers' patterns being 'traded' for 'gold coins' on this website...
www.chcrossstitch.com
LIKE:
Stacy Nash
Blackbird Designs
Homespun Elegance
Prairie Schooler
Primitive Needle
(for God's sake, Lisa is NO LONGER with us and these people are STILL doing this to her & her family...now you understand what we're dealing with??)
Carriage House Samplings
Good Huswif
Little by Little
and MANY MANY MANY more.....

so here's what we can ALL do to let these folks know how very WRONG it is to do this;
PLEASE visit this website, and join it...it's FREE to join...but, then you have the ability to post on their FORUM and let them know how you feel about this...
and look...I know that there are those out there that really,
truly don't understamd the copyright laws and weren't aware that they were doing something illegal...maybe it was you, or you...or you?
...but
now YOU know.
it hurts the needlearts industry, the brick and mortar shops, and of course
it surely hurts us as designers who try to do nice things for good people...
so...be a good person and do the right thing.
IF you are a member of that website, and have 'shared' patterns before,
please stop...every pattern that you share takes food from our tables...
if you have purchased a pattern from ebay or etsy,
and the pattern looks like it was photocopied, it probably was...
and IF you really are still unsure, contact the actual designer, as I've said before.
I'm thrilled at the response I've been getting and the positive feedback for all of this...
and I know in my heart that we all really want to do the right thing...
ok, 'nuff said for tonight...
thanks for putting up with me!
Blessings from the Farm!
Lori

27 comments:

Ronda said...

Never heard of that site...how awful...always has to be people like this out there....how shameful. Thanks for sharing..

prims by olde lady morgan said...

my mouth is open, in disbelief!!! Shame, how can this even happen.... There are just no morals...shameful! OLM

Three Cat Farm said...

It IS shameful! I'm going there right now to sign up

Jan - Life on Buttermilk Hill said...

Not just amoral...it's virtually criminal!And who was the disgusting person who HAD this brilliant idea?Shame!!--Jan

Cherry's Prairie Primitives said...

Thats terrible!! I can't believe they are doing this!! I feel bad for all involved!!

Farm Girl said...

Thanks for posting the name. I have never heard of these places so I didn't know if maybe I had gone to one and didn't know it.
I will go check it out. Really, these sound like Gold Farmers from China that my sons deal with that do the same thing all of the time.

nathalie-poppy said...

It is shameful! I agree with all of you ... I have been designing patterns for a few weeks and I know how it is difficult for designers to earn a living doing that kind of activity !
Unfortunately, in our consumption society, people are ready to spend money on mobile phones or stuff like that ... but a $10 chart ... no, it is too expensive !!! I feel angry with that kind of behaviour !
Two days ago, I read an interesting article on Diane Williams'blog (Little House Needlework) ... Well,
I'm going there right now to sign up!
Have a nice day everybody and ... happy stitching !!!
Warm smiles
Nat

denise said...

which websites are reputable? i order from Pattern Mart and 1 2 3 stitch. i have gotten one of your patterns from one of those sights. are they legit? denise

Unknown said...

AMEN!

http://www.loganmakesamess.com

Maria said...

You go girl! : )

Yes, this site is horrible... my designs are there as well.

It's not "virtually" criminal. It IS criminal. It is against the law - plain & simple.

If you do accidentally purchase a photocopy of a pattern through Ebay or Etsy - please report the seller as this is absolutely illegal not only to our laws but they do not allow such illegal material to be sold on their sites.

Sad for us all.

primitivebettys said...

This is terrible!! I see some of my patterns up there too. :-( I read on the agreement that you have to delete patterns after 24 hours. It is bad enough that they are there, of course! But then even the members of the site are messing it up even more!!!!!

NIKY said...

I know that I discoverd so many nikyscreations patterns there, it's terrible, i'll join that site if i can and try to tell something to them!

Nicole A said...

I wrote to JoAnn's Fabric thru their FB page because they are shown as a sponsor! I told them the site is an illegal downloading/sharing site and they need to think LONG AND HARD about the decision to sponsor such a thing. Happily, I got a response, they asked for a screenshot, and I sent it to them just now via email.

To see all my favorite designers who I LEGALLY buy charts from violated in this way makes me sick to my stomach.

I will be keeping an eye on this as it unfolds.

Nicole
http://justkeepstitching.blogspot.com

Primitives By The Light of The Moon said...

I went over to that site today and looked and it is a downright shame that so many folks are taking part in this. I clicked on one to see what would happen and the pattern popped up. They truly do need to be stopped. Hoping for all you designers that it is taken care of and soon.

Amy said...

Lori,

The sharing site is just horrible. I just joined and posted on their "Free Talk Forum." I hope this educates some of the people who use the sharing site.

Amy

Julia said...

This is a cause that we rug hookers can all do our part to put a stop to this pirating.

I love designing my own patterns for my personal use and I know that's it's a lot of work and research that goes into designing a pattern.
I sincerely hope that you succeed in your quest to crush this growing trend.
JB

Amy said...

I just looked for my post about copyright infringement on the sharing site. The post was removed, and I am now banned from posting. They are very aware of what they are doing is illegal and are hiding it from their members. Wish there was more I could do.

Donna said...

I have seen the stealing of patterns myself, a class being taught at a well known quilt shop. I recognized the pattern which was older, and changed a tiny bit. I followed through and let the major designer know, the store and finally talked to the teacher and told her the pattern was still being sold in a book. One should always credit the designer. Good work and I hope the site it shut down!

Florence said...

this place should be shut down immediately and the owners and downloaders held responsible,,,,,,

just horrible,,,,filthy thieves they all are,,,,,,sorry for the language, just saying,,,,

Pam in IL said...

I often see a design that I fall in love with and go searching online for the design only to find the site you mention as the first or second result in my search.

Out of curiosity, I looked at the site and my mouth dropped open! I literally could not believe that the site was so "visible" and openly promoting illegal sharing.

I wish the designers had the resources to prosecute like the music and video companies do.

Mrs Pretzel said...

I think the correct way to get something done is for people to send Cease and Desist letters. Here is a good site about having infringing content removed. http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/stopping-internet-plagiarism/4-contacting-the-host/

Barefoot Primitives said...

Oh man! I just went to this site, plugged in my biz name in the search and up pops some of my patterns! Really! grrrrr --
Recently did a "cease and desist" on an ebay seller who was photocopying my patterns and selling them over and over - Plus - she had the nerve to copy my designs and call them hers. Seriously infuriating. :o(
Blessings
Debbie
Barefoot Primitives

woolies said...

I am so appalled. One of my dear friends, Mamma4Earth, who has the most wonderful toy knitting patterns, is being exploited, violated, as well. The site is terrible, there is no way to contact a site administrator. It's just disgusting, the ways that people in this world find to STEAL. Furious.

Anonymous said...

Hi there: I joined and am now banned from chcrossstitch - because I left a comment that was not 'liked much'.

After researching the web I found confirmations that the owner of these pages are located in China, and YES they do reproduce the patterns that are posted and sell them mostly in the Asian and European market - but also through ebay and at times amazon.

So I like to ask to please go one step further and if you want to purchase a pattern - pay attention from where it is being shipped.'If everyone boycott China, Taiwan, India and some African countries and don't purchase 'American Patterns" from overseas accounts - it may help as well.

We need to keep our jobs and money within the U.S.!

KC

snappy heidi said...

Thank you for this post. I am a crochet and knit designer and almost 70 of my patterns are there, with more loaded daily! It is horrifying.

Anonymous said...

Several of my patterns are on the site also. They have site moderators and if any comment uses the words illegal or copyright or a few other choice words, the moderator will remove the comment. If you do it more than once, they will ban you - but it's only the email address you signed up with that is banned. you can still create an account with another email address.

Malcolm Bird said...

I work with Alan Dart in protecting his copyright and, with sites like this, it can be an uphill job. I, too, joined and have been banned (a badge we can be proud to wear!) for making comments about copyright and explaining to them that 'sharing' is really theft. There are two of Alan's charity patterns there that are meant to support a bullying charity, and the street children of Madagascar, so they don't have any morals. The main uploaders to look out for are alekos65, sunbeamyork and CrochetMama and the knitting moderator is jazzi. We should all continue to harass them as one day it'll get stopped.
Malcolm Bird
www.alandart.co.uk