@amibonjyu's post on Artfol
I posted this statement in my Instagram story a few hours ago. However, I thought I should update you all here too. It’s a bit of a long read, but I think context is v important. For now, I’m going to delay publishing my future crochet patterns.
Hello Everyone!
I just want to share something that has happened to me with a crochet pattern. I want to keep designing patterns, but this incident has sort of discouraged me.
I don’t want to say who it is. Thus, I won’t use any screenshots. For anyone mentioned, I will use they to refer to the them because I want to respect everyone’s privacy. This is a bit of a long story, so I’ll divide it to multiple parts. 
You can always skim through it or skip to the end. 
Context
Last September I looked for pattern testers for my Lili the frog pattern, I contacted each of them privately with more details about the pattern testing process. It was a bit of a long message, but there was one part I said “Please don’t take any part of the pattern or share its information with others. If you would like to sell the finished amigurumi, please contact me for permission. This pattern is only for personal use.”. Prior to sending the pattern, you need to agree to all of my terms and conditions. There was a person who agreed to pattern test and assumed that you only need to ask for permission to sell. However, in my pattern it says that you need a license from me. I will admit that I should have stated the need for a license in the earlier chat (I think I didn’t get to add it because of the limit), but I did not say that you just need to credit me to sell. Furthermore, I said at the last point that you can message me for any questions or clarifications. I didn’t expect there to be a miscommunication about this, since the person could have clarified prior to agreeing.
The person no longer wanted to pattern test after receiving the pattern and saw that you need a license to sell. The person said that it benefits me more and they would rather use their time and resources for their restock. As they put it, it is “bad business” that they need to pay for a license to sell. I understand their reason and I’m not invalidating it. I allowed the person to back out of testing, without payment, despite having a copy of my pattern. The person did say this “but because you don’t permit the selling of this item you don’t have to worry, i won’t be making the item or distributing the pattern or finished product as i don’t be making it.”
Current Situation
I saw this person having a pattern tester call for a frog amigurumi pattern. When I first saw it, I thought it looked like a modified version of my Lili the frog pattern. It also doesn’t help that I know the person has a copy of my pattern. From the picture I saw, it looks like the person made the same arms + legs and attached them differently. As for the eyes and the head + body, I can’t tell if the method is the same at the start or if the curve of the body was copied. I’m also not sure if the method I used to make the flat bottom of my frog is the same. The frog also has a v-shaped mouth and not crocheted cheeks. I understand that I do not own the concept of a frog amigurumi or certain methods like embroidering a v-shaped mouth. However, I’ve asked some people for their opinion about this. One of my Lili the frog pattern testers mentioned that they see the resemblance. I also reached out to one of the people who bought the pattern, the customer also said it looks like it. Aside from people who crochet, I asked other artist and non artist people and they said they see the resemblance.
I’m just feeling really sad and disappointed that this person may have modified my frog pattern to make theirs. It is not allowed to take any part of my pattern even if you’ve paid for it. Although, this person didn’t pay anything nor helped with testing. I design amigurumis to make people happy. This is the same with my patterns. My target market isn’t people who have crochet businesses, but people who just love the craft and would like to make for their loved ones.
I’m in no way accusing the person I have mentioned. I’m only stating what has happened and how I feel about it. If you find out who the person I mentioned is, please do not send hate. I do not want to cause drama. I just want to raise awareness on this issue in the crochet community and share my feelings about it.Nov 17, 2021
Hello Everyone!
I just want to share something that has happened to me with a crochet pattern. I want to keep designing patterns, but this incident has sort of discouraged me.
I don’t want to say who it is. Thus, I won’t use any screenshots. For anyone mentioned, I will use they to refer to the them because I want to respect everyone’s privacy. This is a bit of a long story, so I’ll divide it to multiple parts. You can always skim through it or skip to the end. Context
Last September I looked for pattern testers for my Lili the frog pattern, I contacted each of them privately with more details about the pattern testing process. It was a bit of a long message, but there was one part I said “Please don’t take any part of the pattern or share its information with others. If you would like to sell the finished amigurumi, please contact me for permission. This pattern is only for personal use.”. Prior to sending the pattern, you need to agree to all of my terms and conditions. There was a person who agreed to pattern test and assumed that you only need to ask for permission to sell. However, in my pattern it says that you need a license from me. I will admit that I should have stated the need for a license in the earlier chat (I think I didn’t get to add it because of the limit), but I did not say that you just need to credit me to sell. Furthermore, I said at the last point that you can message me for any questions or clarifications. I didn’t expect there to be a miscommunication about this, since the person could have clarified prior to agreeing.
The person no longer wanted to pattern test after receiving the pattern and saw that you need a license to sell. The person said that it benefits me more and they would rather use their time and resources for their restock. As they put it, it is “bad business” that they need to pay for a license to sell. I understand their reason and I’m not invalidating it. I allowed the person to back out of testing, without payment, despite having a copy of my pattern. The person did say this “but because you don’t permit the selling of this item you don’t have to worry, i won’t be making the item or distributing the pattern or finished product as i don’t be making it.”
Current Situation
I saw this person having a pattern tester call for a frog amigurumi pattern. When I first saw it, I thought it looked like a modified version of my Lili the frog pattern. It also doesn’t help that I know the person has a copy of my pattern. From the picture I saw, it looks like the person made the same arms + legs and attached them differently. As for the eyes and the head + body, I can’t tell if the method is the same at the start or if the curve of the body was copied. I’m also not sure if the method I used to make the flat bottom of my frog is the same. The frog also has a v-shaped mouth and not crocheted cheeks. I understand that I do not own the concept of a frog amigurumi or certain methods like embroidering a v-shaped mouth. However, I’ve asked some people for their opinion about this. One of my Lili the frog pattern testers mentioned that they see the resemblance. I also reached out to one of the people who bought the pattern, the customer also said it looks like it. Aside from people who crochet, I asked other artist and non artist people and they said they see the resemblance.
I’m just feeling really sad and disappointed that this person may have modified my frog pattern to make theirs. It is not allowed to take any part of my pattern even if you’ve paid for it. Although, this person didn’t pay anything nor helped with testing.
I design amigurumis to make people happy. This is the same with my patterns. My target market isn’t people who have crochet businesses, but people who just love the craft and would like to make for their loved ones.I’m in no way accusing the person I have mentioned. I’m only stating what has happened and how I feel about it. If you find out who the person I mentioned is, please do not send hate. I do not want to cause drama. I just want to raise awareness on this issue in the crochet community and share my feelings about it.Nov 17, 2021
#crochet
#amigurumi
#frog
#pattern
Comments
Honestly its ok to protect your ip by licenses and its only fair, that was very scummy on their part, hope you push through this, your amigurumis are really awesome
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