A total lack of ethics.....

[Chapi]

It can happen to anyone. It doesn't matter if you just started engraving. I got "bit" by some unscrupulous Chinese vendor who thought one of my engraved tattoo machines was nice enough to copy. Now that I have been engraving and drawing scrolls for a while, I cringe when I see all the errors in my original piece, but the knock off is just horrible. Even worse is that there is a local tattoo artist that is selling these knockoffs. They're so cheap I almost bought one, just to have a comparison on hand. To add insult to injury, every now and again, I get an email where a friend finds one of these on Ebay and asks if I'm selling it.

 

[FANCYGUN]

The "gentleman" who engraved the knife and was trying to sell it lives in Florida. He was marketing it as his own work. I am trying to be civil and not post his name.
Now if it was China we would see in the advertisement..."if you place your order within the next 30 minutes we will send you a second identical knife free. just pay a modest extra shipping and handleing".
He still has not returned my phone call but like I said earlier he did remove it from the web. Makes you wonder how many other pieces from various engravers this individual has copied so far. Maybe getting nailed red handed will prevent him from doing it again in such a flagrant manner.

 

[Haraga.com]

What would be the downside of posting his name?

 

[FANCYGUN]

What would be the downside of posting his name?

I guess i like to figure I am a more honorable person than he is at this point in time.

 

[Marrinan]

Does the work orginate in Astor Florida Marty?

 

[Sam]

No, we don't need to post his name.

 

[SamW]

Did you happen to see anyone elses work copied there?

 

[silverchip]

Sounds like a public TAR AND FEATHERING isn't far in the offing!!!!:banana::banana::banana:

 

[martinr]

The fake knife and the engraving look like crap but how can the guy make any money doing it for $100?

 

[rayf24]

$100 worth of crap engraving have a close look at the quality of the background thats even crappier that were he has saved some of the time or maybe someone tossed the knife away and he found it so what the hell he's $1,00 in front to start with:biggrin:

 

[FANCYGUN]

He was asking over 3K for the knife believe it or not.
About the best I can hope for is that I scared the crap out of him with my phone call. He did remove the for sale listing rather quickly. And perhaps he is a "lurker" here on the forum and has seen the outrage that my fellow engravers have for such behavior. If we prevent him and others from doing the same....we have prevailed.

 

[rayf24]

3K $%&*%%£ IN HIS DREAMS WHAT DOES HE THINK IS HE A LEGEND IN HIS OWN LUNCH BOX.
Well fancygun that would make yours worth 30K +++ if one judges by quality of cutting and finish. and going by the comments of other re this post and subject matter I think we all know who's the top gun on this one. It's a pitty he can't be named but I understand sam's point there would be no mileage but it does make one

Shame Shame Shame on the copy cat cutter 3K makes me laugh did he sign it R. SOLE

 

[coincutter]

Marty,

I think you worry too much. Sure it's a knock off of your design. But poorly executed and I will bet you who ever cut it didn't make a great profit doing it.

Perhaps it's better to look at it in the light of flattery. Someone thought it was very cool and made an attempt to mimic an old master!

Steve

 

[FANCYGUN]

Steve
It's always nice to get flattered. We all get inspired by others work and we also hope to inspire. What Brian accomplished with his Knife being inspired by Sam is a beatiful case in point on using inspiration and making it your own. Unfortunately this was not the case here in my minds eye with a flat out copy and trying to sell it as your own work.
Also are you accusing me of being "old"???? :thinking::thinking::thinking: I'm in my prime and about to turn 64.:banana::banana: That used to be old.

Thanks again for the pictures from the Denver show

 

[coincutter]

You are welcome for the pictures.

Old, no. I couldn't say that. Our birthdays are too close. That would be old by proxy!

Seasoned perhaps. Yes, that's it. Seasoned. Well seasoned.

 

[JJ Roberts]

Marty,If you can remember Mayor La Guadia reading the funny papers on Sunday morning back in the day your a geezer.:biggrin:J.J.

 

[FANCYGUN]

"Seasoned"..I like that. Much classier.

JJ I'm not quite THAT old.............Although my HS back in NYC is now called the LaGuardia HS of the arts

 

[Cloudy]

64???? You're younger than I!

 

[Jeffrey]

I think that in some way it makes the original more valuable. If it is true and there are a bunch of Chinese copies out there the original would be more coveted. These copies are inadvertently providing free advertising as in "frequently copied" artist!!! Let it be known your work is so admired that people steal the designs!

 

[Ray Cover]

Ya know, I can't prove it but I feel that a lot of the attitudes toward copying would change or at least not be as loose if our Gov. would back up US companies against Chinese and Russian knock offs.... AND make it easier for the average individual to take legal action against being copied. Ya they make a show of making knock offs illegal and such and such. But there is no tariff or serious sanctions being enforced against foreign companies who are raping the creativity and intelligence of Western inventors, manufacturers and yes even artist. Unless you have millions in the bank a copyright is useless. A patent agent told me one time it takes an average of $2mil just to get a serious copyright suite rolling.

As long as the average Joe on the street sees that our gov is doing nothing to REALLY protect our industries its perfectly logical for him to think its OK and just the way business works.

Marty, JJ, Myself and others on here have formal art backgrounds. We have been taught (and have seen first hand) how copying hurts artist. Most average folks on the street who have not had such an education have never really taken the time to think through the moral and practical ramifications of copying.

Sadly fewer and fewer folks in this world ever set down and truly think through any part of their world view or moral attitudes. And certainly do not think them through to their logical ends.

Just a few random thoughts on the subject now I got to get back to the bench.

Ray