Wow. Just...wow
So I made a couple of additions to my store last week. A couple of baby items, because I'm odd like that. These items had a picture on them of a younger version of a particular creature of mine that you all might know of.
My parents already know about the store (through word-of-mouth advertising gone horribly wrong), and they like to see any new additions to said store. So when they checked a few days later, and the items weren't there, I checked the products from my account on Cafepress.
Beneath each of the two items, there was a big, bold, red word: PENDING
I tried clicking the link to see what was causing the problem; this proved to be of no help, so I tried looking at the product information. Sure enough, the part showing the image for that particular item was outlined in red. I clicked that link to find a slightly more helpful set of information - though it was of a bland, one-size-fits-all variety that didn't even try to get into specifics. Still, I figured out that one of two things was the problem, both relating to the image:
1) the image was inappropriate, hateful, or unnecessarily graphic (highly unlikely), or
2) the image was being considered an infringement on someone else's copyright (which I also thought was highly unlikely).
There was an e-mail sent to me as well (though Hotmail had put it into junk mail, for some reason), outlining the situation ("designing, manufacturing, marketing and/or selling products that may infringe the rights of a third party", "Accordingly, we have set the content that we believe to be questionable to "pending status"", etc.). At the end, the e-mail stated that I could contact them if I needed any help. Great, I thought, since I wanted to know what exactly was going on. So I wrote them back:
"To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for your concern, and for your e-mail. However, I'd like to know in more specific terms just what my infringement was; the creature is one of my own invention - or so I thought - and I fail to see what, exactly, is offensive about a baby animal. I would be grateful if you were to answer my question as soon as possible.
Thank you."
Okay, I didn't pay much attention to the legalese at the time, which is why I mentioned the offensiveness part. I didn't think it was that anyway, I just figured I should cover all bases.
Skip ahead to the next day, Friday. The following arrives in my e-mail:
"Dear Zene Tyler,
Thank you for contacting CafePress.com!
As you may know, there are two distinct Intellectual Property Rights in the designs that you create. While the first Intellectual Property Rights belongs to the party that created the design, the second Intellectual Property Right belongs to the business that owns the rights to the content being depicted in the design.
With that said, while your may own the actual artwork you don't own the character, and cannot use another person's property for commercial advantage.
Your ticket code is (ticket code). Please use this code in any further communication.
Best Regards,
M. H."
Er...I don't own the character? Unless I sleep-sell the rights to my creatures during the night (and if I do, then there are probably bigger things to worry about than a couple CafePress products), I don't think it's possible. I've seen creatures that are close to mine in appearance in some way or another, yes, but I think there are substantial enough differences to say that they are separate creatures. So I wrote back again:
"Yes, I understand the Intellectual Property Rights, and it's something of a relief to know that that's the issue. What I don't understand, however, is what about the content is owned by another business. As I stated in my last e-mail, the creature shown is mine, to my knowledge. However, since your company seems to disagree, I would at least like to know what business or individual it belongs to. I have nothing against removing the content in question if it turns out that I am indeed in the wrong on this. However, I would like to have proof that this is the case, first."
That was late-ish in the day on Friday. Today I received the following in my inbox:
"Dear Zene Tyler,
Thank you for contacting CafePress.com!
We originally placed the image in question on ?Pending Status? due to a potential Intellectual Property issue. Upon further review we have decided to reinstate your image. However, if we receive a notice or determine at a later time that it is potentially infringing on a third parties Intellectual Property Rights, we may place the image in pending status again.
Your ticket code is (ticket code). Please use this code in any further communication.
Best Regards,
M. H."
Okay, it's nice that they let me use the picture again, but that doesn't really answer my question, y'know? How do I know that this isn't going to happen again? I don't even know whose Intellectual Property Rights I was accused of infringing. How do I defend myself in the future when I don't even know the details of my charges?
Just...yeah. *sighs*
My parents already know about the store (through word-of-mouth advertising gone horribly wrong), and they like to see any new additions to said store. So when they checked a few days later, and the items weren't there, I checked the products from my account on Cafepress.
Beneath each of the two items, there was a big, bold, red word: PENDING
I tried clicking the link to see what was causing the problem; this proved to be of no help, so I tried looking at the product information. Sure enough, the part showing the image for that particular item was outlined in red. I clicked that link to find a slightly more helpful set of information - though it was of a bland, one-size-fits-all variety that didn't even try to get into specifics. Still, I figured out that one of two things was the problem, both relating to the image:
1) the image was inappropriate, hateful, or unnecessarily graphic (highly unlikely), or
2) the image was being considered an infringement on someone else's copyright (which I also thought was highly unlikely).
There was an e-mail sent to me as well (though Hotmail had put it into junk mail, for some reason), outlining the situation ("designing, manufacturing, marketing and/or selling products that may infringe the rights of a third party", "Accordingly, we have set the content that we believe to be questionable to "pending status"", etc.). At the end, the e-mail stated that I could contact them if I needed any help. Great, I thought, since I wanted to know what exactly was going on. So I wrote them back:
"To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for your concern, and for your e-mail. However, I'd like to know in more specific terms just what my infringement was; the creature is one of my own invention - or so I thought - and I fail to see what, exactly, is offensive about a baby animal. I would be grateful if you were to answer my question as soon as possible.
Thank you."
Okay, I didn't pay much attention to the legalese at the time, which is why I mentioned the offensiveness part. I didn't think it was that anyway, I just figured I should cover all bases.
Skip ahead to the next day, Friday. The following arrives in my e-mail:
"Dear Zene Tyler,
Thank you for contacting CafePress.com!
As you may know, there are two distinct Intellectual Property Rights in the designs that you create. While the first Intellectual Property Rights belongs to the party that created the design, the second Intellectual Property Right belongs to the business that owns the rights to the content being depicted in the design.
With that said, while your may own the actual artwork you don't own the character, and cannot use another person's property for commercial advantage.
Your ticket code is (ticket code). Please use this code in any further communication.
Best Regards,
M. H."
Er...I don't own the character? Unless I sleep-sell the rights to my creatures during the night (and if I do, then there are probably bigger things to worry about than a couple CafePress products), I don't think it's possible. I've seen creatures that are close to mine in appearance in some way or another, yes, but I think there are substantial enough differences to say that they are separate creatures. So I wrote back again:
"Yes, I understand the Intellectual Property Rights, and it's something of a relief to know that that's the issue. What I don't understand, however, is what about the content is owned by another business. As I stated in my last e-mail, the creature shown is mine, to my knowledge. However, since your company seems to disagree, I would at least like to know what business or individual it belongs to. I have nothing against removing the content in question if it turns out that I am indeed in the wrong on this. However, I would like to have proof that this is the case, first."
That was late-ish in the day on Friday. Today I received the following in my inbox:
"Dear Zene Tyler,
Thank you for contacting CafePress.com!
We originally placed the image in question on ?Pending Status? due to a potential Intellectual Property issue. Upon further review we have decided to reinstate your image. However, if we receive a notice or determine at a later time that it is potentially infringing on a third parties Intellectual Property Rights, we may place the image in pending status again.
Your ticket code is (ticket code). Please use this code in any further communication.
Best Regards,
M. H."
Okay, it's nice that they let me use the picture again, but that doesn't really answer my question, y'know? How do I know that this isn't going to happen again? I don't even know whose Intellectual Property Rights I was accused of infringing. How do I defend myself in the future when I don't even know the details of my charges?
Just...yeah. *sighs*