ENVY and when it goes too far..

I was just reading about a certain big clothing company copying an independent artist's work for their product line and not admitting it being a thing because, according to them she's not as popular as their company so it makes it right.. apparently. You might have heard about that somewhere. The artist in question has been vocal about it on her 150 000 followers social media account.
The story sparked questions in me. What happens to those who are copied, but don't have hundreds of thousands followers on social media to back them up against the copier?

Now imagine you've been doing what you do for several years, putting time and effort into it, pouring your heart and soul into your craft or career, etc.
Suddenly out of the blue someone new comes along, maybe even using you to gain their place and practically takes your place. Then uses your ideas and without crediting you, or even without being nice to you leaves you unable to continue on because of low demand, lack of exclusivity or such.

Now here's a fictional little story to help you get an idea:

As an example, let's meet Bobby. He had a small store and sold oil lamps and candelabras in it. He had spent a couple of years carefully building his business model and was ready to open an online store to sell those colourful victorian oil lamps and quirky candelabras to everyone and be a very type-specific brand / store.
Then a guy named Walter came along one day. He said he admired Bobby's vision and they had a few conversations about it and life in general and because he wanted to be like Bobby, he decided to copy his store concept and open his own online store, identical to Bobby's, without considering how Bobby would feel about it.
Walter went onto being successful with Bobby's idea and even though he never really had the same intimate relationship with it, he saw it as a way to gain identity and money. He even bullied Bobby, because he no longer needed him and even though Bobby had only been nice to Walter.
Bobby got depressed because of this and felt like he couldn't trust people or share his ideas any more. Every time he would see successful people, he would close even more and eventually give up his dreams of ever having a career.
Bobby was still the same person he was before it all happened, except that he knew he had tripped off of his path and was unable to return because someone else used it now.

(You can personalize this example to fit your perspective more closely)



Now, if you were Bobby or someone in a similar situation, would you:

- Accept it and move on without any grudges?

- Be envious and angry and carry a grudge till the end of your time?

- Move on and do something different?

- Never be able to shed the feeling and fear that it might happen again?

- Accept the fact that nothing in this world is permanent and that at least you are the honest and sincere person in the situation?

- Something else?


This can basically relate to any subject but since we're here, let's discuss the antique / vintage dealer's perspective. I know there are some artists here too, so feel free to vent.

How do you deal with the emotions of threat and uncertainty and find a healthy balance, but still keep your business-mind, aka keep your place in the competition without unravelling to self-centered thinking.
Can you love your competitors but still aspire to offer the best services yourself?

When someone, intentionally or unintentionally steps into your pattern, how do you react? Like a child, whose toy got stolen by another child who is unwilling to share, do you take it back or call mommy to rescue. Or, find a new toy?

Which brings the question: Is willingness to share necessary, or an invitation to steal?

I would think that being a self-proclaimed martyr doesn't help. Nor does feeding a poor self-esteem or victimhood that easily lead to a spiral of hurt ego / inflated ego and at the end soils the entire interest or thing that once was pure.

A bit pseudo-philosophical maybe, but true and an interesting cautionary tale from multiple perspectives and a spot for anyone to learn. Share your thoughts!

Oh, the names in the story just came to my mind randomly, so there's no intention or truth behind the second story in that aspect. It's also not connected to the true story of the artist I mentioned at the very beginning.

 

There was a story in the local paper just a couple of weeks ago about a new bar that opened in town and an early visitor was an out-of-towner who recognized the decor as plagiarized from an artist she knew. Don't know the outcome. The article emphasized how difficult it is to stop such things from happening given the prevalence of electronic media and it's effectiveness in disseminating even obscure data.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...mercy-accused-of-copying-an-artists-work.html

 

"All's fair in love and war and business and..."

If you aren't likely to be prosecuted, go for it.

 

It is shocking how people do that. Personally I would always give credit to the artists whenever it's due, even if someone just merely influenced something I made, I would state that.

Here's another article I found:

http://jezebel.com/zara-copies-indie-artists-work-then-says-shes-not-famo-1783970547

 

And here's a story about an artist being sued because he claims he didn't paint a particular picture.

http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/11/artis...or-claiming-a-painting-isnt-his-work-6000807/

 

Hmm, does this have to involve multi media?

I opened my store 8 years ago. There were maybe 10-12 dealers on the street. One was a mall with four people. Three moved out leaving the 4th to flounder. The three rented another store to share. They walked through my store and set their new store up very similar to the way my store was set up. In fact people would come in thinking they were in the other store.

One of the three moved to another city to live with her daughter.
One of the others rented another store on the street, leaving the last to maintain the store. The one that stayed is more new merchandise and not antique. They are still there.
The one that rented the store sent their granddaughter down to walk through my store and talk to me. Only I didn't know it was the granddaughter. Next thing I know, their new store although not set up like mine, is now carrying a mix of antiques and new items. Many of the new items although not the same brand were the same as mine. Long story short, I am still there and this other store is now gone.

So to answer your questions.
Yes I was upset to have been copied twice. I did voice my displeasure to some other merchants and then let it go.
Competition is good. It makes you improve if you want to succeed. If you become stagnant and wallow in self pity because someone took your idea - you lose.

Maybe your hypothetical Bobby wouldn't have succeeded even if no one came along and copied him. It has to do with how you present yourself, and whether you are willing to work harder to be the best you can be.