Cannot chase Paperchase...

o here is the infinite problem: What do you do when a huge corporation like Paperchase sucks the blood of a small independent artist with a super long, thick and huge straw?

And talking more specifically, my lovely girl from the artwork most of you know “He says he can hear the Forest whisper” has been stolen, badly traced and stuck in front of a poor (and separately traced) mushroom that now decorates untold numbers of notebooks, albums and tote bags sold throughout the UK through Paperchase and Amazonco.uk!

You would naturally answer: You contact Paperchase, inform them and ask for the item to be removed from their shops and Amazon and not be sold any more. Pretty much you cut their straw, right?

….and you are right! That's exactly what I did but Paperchase is not the best buddy to be friends with!

They basically ignore me in my face and keep selling the eye sore of a design all around the world!

Moreover the lawyers ask me astronomical amounts of money to deal with this seriously in the courts and I suspect that is exactly the reason why Paperchase ignores me in the first place.

Since I have written to them, Paperchase made sure to put up even more items for sale with my plagiarised art! I'm sure Paperchase think that there is nothing that can make them stop. Proof is that the albums in the link above are actually freshly listed after the notebooks that I had written them about have apparently sold out!

So please, if you are any bit angry or frustrated with huge n ancient vampires sucking the creative juice of indie artists, a simple e-mail sent to them here might save me from having to raise $40000 for court expenses!

So thank you Paperchase for making a killing out of my hard work! And an especially strong, bone-crackling bear hug to the anonymous designer that badly traced my art and then denied it!

If there ever was any doubt that this design is copied from my artwork, my lovable partner made sure to dispel the mist through way of joyous animation!

Lots of love, lovely people and a sincere thank you to all the fans and fellow artists that recognised the copy and told me about it!

Bear hugs,

xxx Hidden Eloise xxx

**** Update ****

I couldn't thank each and every one of you enough for the support and for standing up for what you feel is right! I am in awe and have been working hard to deal with all the million things that are happening at the same time today!

I still have not heard from Paperchase though they deemed it right to make a public statement. Which is pretty much the same thing they told me back in December: we got the design from a designer, we are not telling you who that is. The difference is that now they are saying they will look into it at least.

The Amazon item has been removed without a word. Well, I heard that it didn't get any high reviews anyway.

I have been contacted by various journalists in national papers,  lawyers and oh so many other kind people that want to offer a helping hand one way or another. I will try to reply to each and every one of you as your generosity deserves but it will take some time. A huge thank you from my heart. I'm standing on the shoulders of giants so I will keep standing strong.

Comments

[Kim]

GAH! I'm so sorry to hear about this, I have the print by you and it's one of my favourites... so sad that they decided to copy rather than ask to use your own (much superior) work.

[jodie]

This makes me so mad, and so sad at the same time!
damn the big guys and the ripping off of artists, you see it way too much these days :(
im so sorry this is happening to you!
xx

[maki]

I retweeted it…
bad paperCHASE-company!

I'm sorry.

cheering up greetings from snowy from germany
maki

[arienvalo]

sending a note too, and Neil Gaiman has just broadcast this via twitter!
have RT it for you as well.
Shame on Paperchase!!

[Sarah]

You may have already been informed of this, but Neil Gaiman just linked to your post on Twitter. I'm so sorry this has happened to you, your art is stunning.

[sinisterpictures]

I've emailed them as well regarding their theft. Seems copyright is only an issue if it's music or motion pictures.

[Lauren Cooke]

Email sent for you :) Hopefully it will have some impact, if not at least we can damage their reputations.

[Bonniegrrl]

I tweeted about this as well to spread the word about the evil that is Paperchase.

[Henryryder]

I am spreading the word and the Paperhate. Wrong wrong wrong.... take it to the top.... and take them down!

[Kahani]

Hi from Malaysia, saw Neil Gaiman's tweet and am very upset by a company I'd always liked till now. As a journalist I may have an affinity for notebooks but above all, I respect copyright. Have sent in an email. Please update us if they contact you. =)

[clare]

This is truly shocking! Retweeting and linking to this on fb!

[Alison]

I've just come over from someone menitoning this on twitter & I will certainly be passing this on too for others to see!

I think this is disgraceful of Paperchase & I've just read the above message from Jacqueline too ~ how shocking is that!?!?
I really feel for you, this is such a difficult & awful situation that Paperchase have put you in.

love
Alison
x

[Alice]

This is sickening. I will never understand why people think they deserve to get away with these things. Have emailed, crossly.

[Zag_zag]

I too am very sorry for you-- have written to paperchase and will spread the word

[hen]

Hello,

I dont know if you know about Twitter.. but there is quite a campaign going on on your behalf. People are appalled by the blatant plagiarism of your work. To such an extent, in fact, that it has become a UK 'Trending Topic'. That means it's in the top 10 most tweeted about subjects in the UK. There has to be thousands of tweets in order for that to have happened.

There is no way that Paperchase can miss it. I do hope this works out well for you. Your work is just beautiful.

Warmest wishes,

hen

( @hen4 on Twitter :) )

[Alex G]

Grr, so wrong! I've tweeted about this and posted a review on Amazon as well. We shouldn't let them get away with it. You don't need a lawyer - just the power of teh interwebs :-)

[Ellie Gibbons]

This is awful! Neil Gaiman actually Tweeted about this, so hopefully a lot more people will be writing this awful company about their blatant theft and perversion of your art!! i wrote them a note for you! i hope everything works out! <3

[Maverynthia]

What about going to a local media outlet? I'm sure it'd be great news to find out big business is doing this and the fact that you can't get legal aide. If anything, it would tell the community this is happening and raise awareness for it.

[Nina Greaves]

This is outrageous!! We are an online card company in the UK www.funkypigeon.com and we have in-house designers and also feature Uk artists' designs and pay a commission on every single product sold.

The creator owns absolute ownership and this kind of behaviour by the big boys should be penalised heavily and also made public.

Shocking news and we sincerely wish you all the very best, should you wish to submit your work to us here please do get in touch.

[discohospital]

I'm retweeting this right now. I wonder how many artists they stole from like that... ugh!

[Rachel]

Written to Paperchase after a friend RTed this. So sorry. Hope you get your day in court, you deserve it.

[Elleclegg]

That's shocking. I've written to complain and will definitely not be buying from Paperchase any more. I've also retweeted and blogged for you. This has to stop.

[Araneas]

Re-tweet and nasty-grams sent.

[Lynfa Davies]

Sorry to hear this - will definitely tweet on your behalf and not buy their stuff...

[Alison]

Hi there,
I've not seen your work before but just heard about this on Twitter, its terrible but if you get enough attention on it they would probably take it down so you should tell everyone!
I've retweeted it and emailed paperchase, I hope this ends in a happy way