Chasing Paperchase...

his has possibly been the busiest day of my life. It still is. Bear with me as I am typing as fast as I can.

I have been in contact with newspaper and TV journalists and I have been writing to everyone I can manage. Importantly, Paperchase has made a public statement, without contacting me, so I think I will take the bait and make a public statement myself. :)

Thank you Paperchase for confirming in public that you bought the design in October 2008. I sold my first copy of "He says he can hear the Forest whisper" on March 2008.

I did indeed contact you in November and you did indeed answer dully in early December. It shouldn't be any surprise to you that I didn't contact you after your reply. You told me that you only see an "unfortunate" similarity between my artwork and your design and that you would not be pulling out the range of 2 items. After such a reply, one contacts her lawyer and doesn't answer back.

Paperchase seems to think that it is a great excuse that they bought the infringing design from an outside source. Paperchase ignores that they were the ones selling the products. It doesn't matter how you obtained them. What matters is that you had a chance to act upon this matter in November when I contacted you and you never did. Now you are blaming someone else and you are still denying what is in front of your very eyes. Plagiarism that is. Everybody but you seems to believe so.

Actually, let me correct myself in that Paperchase is not "denying" plagiarism. They are just saying that they would never knowingly sell plagiarised material. Which I'm sure is exactly what their expensive lawyers advised them to say so that Paperchse has plausible deniability in court.

All in all Paperchase neither accepts or denies anything regarding this matter. They just apologise to you for any ill-feelings caused.

I can also confirm that I have been contacted by the design company that sold the design to Paperchase. Right before they made a public statement at the Paperchase site. They're pretty much saying the same that their public statement says but more on that later. I'll write to them directly first.

Thank you again for all the support, lovely people around the world!

Bear hugs,

xxx Hidden Eloise xxx

Comments

[sofia]

You have my support. Cannot believe the nerve of Paperchase. They have clearly underestimated the power of social media..

Keep on keepin on! We're on your side Hidden Eloise.

[susan]

I am watching this story since you posted in the Etsy forums about it. This warms my heart to hear of the power of Twitter and social networking which has allowed you (and potentially any one of us small time artists) to get your voice heard by a large entity. I agree with you that their excuses are lame, but I suspect they are moving in the proper direction towards doing the right thing... and that is not only to pull the image, but to pay you back pay for all those pieces sold to date. I would venture to say that maybe even now you can find a lawyer willing to take on the case to get you that since the press has made a bit of their job easier. Who wouldn't want to take on that case pro bono? It would be a nice feather in their cap!

[Bumpkin Bears]

My goodness, this is all so terrible, you stand tall, we are all behind you. Big Bear Hugs, Catherine x

[sofia]

I agree, you probably wouldn't have a problem finding legal representation now this is in the news.

GOOD LUCK!

[amypamyp]

Hidden Eloise has blatantly ripped off another designer herself! please look at www.jencorace.com click on fine art

[Nikolais]

Thanks for your note on Reputation online and it is great to read the other side of the story too! Agree that it is indeed an evasive tactic as at the end of the day the buck stops with the company selling the product.

My point was coming from a design background I have seen it all too often that a design company copies someone else's design and claims it as their own. A good design company/designer builds its reputation on trust and innovative design and its agencies such as this that give us good guys (i would like to think im one of them) a bad name.

It goes without saying now the 'cat is out of the bad' that you should be getting recognition and payment/royalties for the designs that Paperchase are using and that the sooner they hold their hands up and do so the less their reputation will be tarnished!

I would imagine the agency will definitely be gathering no moss as they will need to keep on moving to avoid the S&^t storm that's coming their way :o)

Good luck and go get em!
Nik

[laura]

I'm so upset-I've been a paperchase fan for years and used their papers wraps every holiday! I just sent the following to them:

Surely you can see the similarities between Hidden Eloise's original design and the one you purchased as a media collage. Even if you are not directly at fault and it is the design company's internal issue, you have been made aware that the original artist is upset and you surely know that someone stole that design. Your awareness of the problem, but your unwillingness to acknowledge it by removing it from your inventory has made you a thorn in the side of indie artists everywhere.

I am not going to purchase any of your items because if you can claim that something so blatant isn't a copy, I'm sure that you'd ignore less obvious but still valid complaints. So it is clear that with Paperchase one never knows if an artist has been ripped off in the worst sense possible.

The etsy and blogging communities are large and I'd sure hate to be your PR person in a few weeks.

[no]

dully v. duly

very different outcomes there

[no]

File a lawsuit against both firms, on the basis of their theft of your image and ask for an account of all profits and disgorgement to you of same, further ask for general damages in an amount determined by your lawyers, and also ask for costs on a substantial indemnity basis (if your lawyer hasn't already said this get a new one)

Paperchase had no duty to account to you when you first contacted them, they were reasonably relying on their contract between themselves and gathernomoss. It's up to them to launch a cross claim against gathernomoss.

Just get the lawsuit started and watch them cry.

[Bicyclefish]

@amypamyp

Going around everywhere to accuse her of copying the works of someone with a similar style is pretty low. Apparently you do not know the difference between styles being similar and tracing. Just who are you anyway?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/feb/11/paperchase-design-hidden-eloise?showallcomments=true#CommentKey:6c4e247f-bfa5-4b4a-add6-3553f433ecb9
http://hidenseek.typepad.com/come_out_come_out/2010/02/chasing-paperchase.html?cid=6a00e54fb4e17e88340120a89234f3970b#comment-6a00e54fb4e17e88340120a89234f3970b

[Matthew]

Byciclefish,

I think whenever someone gets some Internet attention there's always someone else with a pathological desire to tear them down - and reasoned argument rarely comes into it.

Here's some more amypamyp (so crazy, she named herself twice) or Amy Parry (according to her twitter account):

http://twitter.com/amypamyp1

http://artsandentertainment.independentminds.livejournal.com/1081216.html?thread=3430016#t3430016

http://blog.fluidcreativity.co.uk/paperchase-plagiarism-and-more-online-pilfering/#comment-33995281

I've emailed Jen Corace with details, in the hope that she may comment on her site. It's probably not necessary though, as the accusations are pretty stupid - I just hope that nobody thinks she is behind them.

Jen and Eloise do actually crop up together on a blog post, which ably demonstrates that their similarities of style and subject matter are also shared with other artists:

http://bellwetherdays.blogspot.com/2009/02/kids-today.html

[Cosmetology School Online]

Your really deserve this,I am sure you will receive the credit which is yours.