Ever seen someone create selling a design that you know you created first?  Did your literally heart stop at the sight?

One of the benefits of being a designer at the Beehive is that we have an open venue to share information about the trials, travails and successes of our businesses.  Many of our designers are extraordinarily creative, and have, with hard work, time, and ingenuity, come up with innovative designs that provided a bright, wonderful new piece of clothing, jewelry, or home accessory for the marketplace to enjoy. 

In a heartbeat, that great joy of creativity can be stripped away when another creative person decides to steal the original designer’s idea, and hold it out to the public to be their own.  It is a sad fact that this happens more often than not.

In previous entries, I’ve spoken about the fact that my sister and I have a particular jewelry design that is the epicenter of our line, and is one that we have yet to see done by any other designer.   As we continue to grow, we’re told more and more by fellow designers that we’re likely to see our design created in the marketplace by other people, who will ardently take credit for the creation of the design.

In an effort to prevent this from happening, it is our goal to increase our brand awareness to the public through continuing to do festivals and shows, gaining the amount of retail accounts and relationships we have with boutiques and galleries, and gaining and maintaining relationships we with have with local and national press.

But in order to truly protect our designs, we have to go a step further to ensure the rights over our creations.  My friend and fellow Beehiver, Dana Clemons of the great baby line, plum.tree.studio, told me that I could get our woven design copyrighted very easily, and with minimal cost.  She insisted that we not take the long, arduous, expensive process of getting our design patented, when a copyright will do in the short term.

So, what does it take to get your designs protected?  New York attorney and jeweler, Sarah Feingold, wrote a wonderful article for Bead and Button Magazine regarding what steps you need to take to file your copyright.

Generally, U.S. Copyright law provides protection for “original works of authorship.”  This “authorship” includes jewelry, clothing and home furniture and article designs, as well as other designed materials.  The most interesting thing I learned from the article is that you do not need to fill out a copyright form in order to have rights over your design; registering your work, however, does allow you to prove ownership rights over your designs more easily.  You also do not need to signify that the work is copyrighted with the © symbol; your work is already copyrighted once the design, instructions to the design, or template is physically created or drawn out on paper.

Your copyright protection gives you the right to:

1.       Reproduce Designs and instructions

2.       Claim rights to similar works based on your design

3.       Distribute copies of the design’s instructions

4.       Sell copies of the design or instructions

5.       Transfer ownership of the designs or instructions

6.       Display the design or the instructions publicly

You can go to websites such as www.copyright.gov or www.legalzoom.com to download and submit your own copyright form.

My sister and I intend to copyright our design in the next week, and will report on how easy (or difficult) the process actually was.  In a future article, I’ll also discuss what you’re able to do if you do find that someone has copied your designs (be ready to get your legal brains on! Yay!). 

Until then, get to protecting your work, Creative People, and happy designing!