what to do if someone copies your pattern?
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MaeveMakes
Bracelet King
MaeveMakes
1ย year, 1ย month ago by MaeveMakes
Recently I posted a pattern and a few hours later an almost exact copy was posted. Iโ€™m pretty made about this! What should I do. I was planning on making my pattern a series but because of this person popularity it may be impossible. PLEASE HELP. My pattern is #144287 and the copy is #144295. You can see just by the pattern number that mine was up first!!!
halokiwi
Super Moderator
halokiwi
1ย year, 1ย month ago by halokiwi
I'm really sorry for upsetting you. I did not think you would be upset about it, because it is quite common that there are pattern concepts that many users make patterns for.

An example for this would be shaped frogs. My pattern #89623 was the first, but other users including myself made shaped frog patterns as well, for example #97610 #109665 or #126227. They all have the same concept, but the size and art style all vary.

A popular concept that has lots of patterns are cow patterns. @sodapop started the hype around it with her pattern #79421 and has since posted a series of patterns with these cows. There are now cow patterns with the same concept but with minecraft cows instead, for example #94191, a strawberry cow #124287 and watermelon cows #128871 #128939 #129588 by different users. These all never stopped the popularity of @sodapop's patterns. Just because someone else also makes patterns of the same concept, that does not mean your pattern or a series of patterns will be less popular for that reason. What matters is the pattern itself.
sodapop
Bracelet King
sodapop
1ย year, 1ย month ago by sodapop
I understand how frustrating it can be when you think you have an original idea for a design, then someone comes along and also makes something very similar. But unfortunately there's nothing you can do to protect your idea alone, there are no copyrights for basic themes and concepts. And in the whole wide world, all our personal "original" ideas have probably already been thought of by someone else who-knows-where, maybe even years ago, and we're not actually as creative as we think we are lol ๐Ÿ˜… Trends come and go, and people are inspired by what they see and expand on those ideas. So it's really ok if your work inspires others to create! ๐ŸŽ‰

Luckily every pattern posted on Braceletbook is automatically copyrighted to the creator, which means it covers your design for the exact arrangement of pixels. However, copyright law will exclude very simple designs like a circle or tiny basic shapes that alone would be impossible to represent in a unique way with so few pixels. Maybe you have seen some flower patterns that use the same flower shape like in #26251 #53370 and #64141. The flower shape itself isn't owned by anyone, it's just too geometrically simple to qualify as intellectual property. But using it in repetition in a particular arrangement will make it unique, and therefore the pattern arrangement could be copyrighted, as well as more complex designs that you wouldn't be able to recreate without counting pixel for pixel.

If you do create a pattern that someone copies the exact design or layout, your ownership of the original pattern gives you the right to have the copied pattern removed from the site. This happens a lot with cross stitch and beadwork patterns that are for sale on retail sites. There's some very beautiful pixel art and professionally designed patterns out there that artists are trying to make a living on, and those patterns would also happen to make lovely bracelets or wall hangings, so many users will copy them as their own patterns posted here on BB. But those designs are most likely copyrighted and if the owner finds out or disapproves of it being distributed for free, then they have the right to request its removal.

The pattern in question doesn't appear to be extremely similar to yours, although the theme is the same. There is some other strawberry lemonade patterns already, and other various fruits too... #61914 #90364 #42929 #89879 #114595 #130012 #99046 along with a zillion others! ๐Ÿ˜„

It may also be helpful for you to visit the links at the bottom of the page and read through the Guidelines and TOU where they reference copyrights and rules of the site so you can feel more comfortable.

I hope you can continue to create your series! Just keep in mind that there's always going to be similarities in patterns, especially with the database increasing daily.
So just have fun creating what you like! ๐Ÿ‘
dragonfrui
Bracelet King
dragonfrui
1ย year, 1ย month ago by dragonfrui
@MaeveMakes I think you linked the wrong pattern?
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