Jewelry Design Ethics

This has been a hot, hot, hot topic in the beading and jewelry making community for several years now.  No wonder!

Here are some very detailed published articles on the legalities and ethics of design infringement from Bead and Button Magazine and one from the blog of one of my favorite artists, whose work I greatly admire. Please do take the time to read these articles. They say it waaaay better than I ever could:


http://bnb.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/9/f/e/bbpdf070873.pdf

http://askszarka.blogspot.com/2012/02/copyrights-patents-and-ethics-of.html

http://bnb.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/e/e/5/bnb-ethics.pdf

(If the links don't work, just copy and paste the URL into your browser bar and hit Go.)

In a nutshell, it's ok to use the designs we see in the various bead and jewelry publications as long as it's just something you're making for yourself or as a gift.  If you're using the design to make items to profit from, you just crossed the great divide!

So why am I on this soapbox?  Because it's something near and dear to my heart as I try to get my 'fledgling' jewelry business off the ground and out there.  I want to make darn sure that my finished items and designs are completely unique to me.

I personally feel it's fine to take inspiration from other artists, (after all, our creative community is about teaching and sharing) but to copy something so closely that it's obviously taken from elsewhere, and then put it out there as your own, really sticks in my craw.  And I fervently hope that I'm never ever guilty of this, even unwittingly!

This leads me to a related facet of this...IDEAS.  It's just as hurtful and painful to have shared creative thoughts and ideas with someone, only to have them turn around and claim them as their own. Really?!? As if!  Try to have your own original ideas, please!

My advice (to you and to myself) in this is:  Be wary of what you share and with whom.  Play your cards close to your chest.  Share only with those whom you greatly trust or it may come back as a sad regret. You cannot go back in time and change the pattern of events or un-share your awesome ideas.

By the way, my poker hand is now tucked firmly in my bra.  I know, I know, TMI!

Till next time,

A little kindness from person to person is better than a vast love for all humankind. ~ Richard Dehmel