Williams Sonoma Nastygrams Blogger Who Helps People Build Their Own Furniture
from the furniture-pirates? dept
Brad Hubbard writes "I regularly read a blog called "Knock Off Wood" -- a site where a woman teaches readers how to build various designer-looking pieces of furniture at home for a lot less. It's the best kind of "maker" site - someone who is passionate about crafting, freely sharing their passion with a community of readers and everyone learns a little something. So when Williams Sonoma, Inc (owner of Pottery Barn and West Elm among others) sent them a legal nastygram, the owner of the site was entertained more than anything."The company is alleging both trademark and copyright violations -- though it's difficult to see either one holding up. Unfortunately the woman who runs the site decided it was easier to just cave in, but that's unfortunate. Doing so encourages more bullying. The trademark claims are ridiculous. They say that by mentioning specific product names, she's implying that "the website is somehow affiliated" with WSI. But, of course, any moron in a hurry knows that's not true. The whole site clearly states it's about making knock-off furniture. No one is going to go to this site and think it's actually affiliated with WSI, or any of the other brand name furniture companies.
The copyright claim is equally questionable. At issue is that she's using the copyrighted images of WSI's furniture as part of the blog posts about how to make that type of furniture. But that seems like it should be a clear cut case of fair use. If you run through the four factors of fair use, it's hard to see how this is infringement:
- the purpose and character of your use
The question here is if the use is somehow transformative or being used to build something new. But one of the questions usually asked in judging this factor is: "Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings?" It seems like an entire blog post around how to build that kind of furniture certainly qualifies. This one is in favor of fair use.
- the nature of the copyrighted work
Well, they're photographs, but they were used in catalogs and such, not for sale. So that would seem to, again, lend to a fair use ruling. The original purpose of the photos was that they were to be seen widely. -
the amount and substantiality of the portion taken
Indeed, it sounds like the "entire" photo was used, so you might be able to weigh this factor against fair use, but not necessarily. As we've seen in multiple lawsuits, even if you're using the entirety of the work, it can be considered fair use if the purpose is so completely different from the original -- which, in this case, is definitely true. - the effect of the use upon the potential market.
Now, some might argue that the use here might harm the market for WSI furniture since it's teaching people how to build their own, but that shouldn't apply here. The test is for the potential market of the copyrighted work. That is, this factor should not take into account the impact on the market for the furniture itself, but just on the market for the photographs. And it's difficult to see any harm done here at all.
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Filed Under: blogs, copyright, furniture, knockoffs, makers, trademark
Companies: williams sonoma
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Thanx
Funny where you find things that you are really interested in on the net.
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Re: Thanx
So hurray for the author not just shutting down, but simply tweaking her content and keeping the site up.
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Streisand Effect to the Max
Thanks WS for pointing me to this valuable woodworking resource. I will be sure to tell all my friends (some who actually buy your overpriced products) about it.
Yippeee!!!
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Thanks for the heads-up, Williams Sonoma
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Neat site!
Once again, a site that people never heard of, until the lawyers got in the way. I guess I should be thanking the lawyers ... I would have never known about her if it wasn't for them.
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i wish i knew this years ago
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I'll donate to the legal fund...
Freedom
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legal fund
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Thanks for the Support
Thank you for this article. I am a carpenter, not a lawyer, living a hundred miles from a stoplight, in the middle of nowhere Alaska. I don't know a single lawyer. I haven't made a single penny off Knock-Off Wood and can't justify spending my family's limited income on fighting a gigantic corporation. Additionally, I feel my time is best spent drawing up plans, not fighting corporations. I also am a mom, and could not justify the amount of time needed to fight, when my daughter is needing attention badly as it is.
But you make me rethink. You make me want to fight, because it's what is right for the greater good. By having access to their photos, I can teach people more effectively.
Thank you again, Blessings, Ana
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Re: Thanks for the Support
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Re: Thanks for the Support
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Re: Thanks for the Support
And why exactly should she take that risk? When threatened with a ruinous lawsuit why should she try to walk the brink, following legal advice from a well-wishing non-lawyer on a blog? If she follows your advice and Williams-Sonoma sues anyway, will you foot the bill? I'm on her side and I'm disgusted by WSI's bullying, but since I'm not prepared to pay her legal bills I won't advise her to stand up to them any more than she thinks is wise.
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Re: Thanks for the Support
you rock. WSI is lame and clearly threatened by your ability to bring great furniture and design to people to would otherwise only oggle the catalogs that end up getting tossed. Ultimately, you have to do what is best for your family, but if a battle was to be had, you would have support from your many, many fans. Myself included. Please don't stop the great work, my hubby and I have such great bonding experiences building your designs! Cazra
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re trademarks
Legal defense fund? It's going to get expensive even if she is right. The letters back and forth with a good IP and trademark lawyer is going to run about $300 a letter then they are still going to file suit on you. Settling out is going to take at least a few weeks of back and forth, so I guess, and I'm not a laywer, $5,000 out of your own pocket and then you roll over for them. If not, there's a possiblitiy that they just file suit and grind away for years racking up 50-100k in legal bills and THEN you settle. Over a blog? I think we all know the answer to what she should do...
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Re: re trademarks
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Re: Re: re trademarks
That is, after all, the best kind of punishment. ;-)
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Re: re trademarks
Trademark on a design - really ?
What kind of design would warrant a trademark ?
Possibly the design is of a platform with backrest supported by four legs, or maybe it is a large horizontal surface supported by four legs.
I seriously doubt that a moron in a hurry would become confused about who made a piece of furnature simply because of its design.
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Re: Re: re trademarks
here's just one of the cases of knoll suing for the barcelona chair, a chair made in the 20s, well beyond the design patents. they trademarked the design.
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Re: Re: Re: re trademarks
I do not dispute whether case law illustrates the abuse of our justice system.
The point is still valid.
I seriously doubt that a moron in a hurry would become confused about who made a piece of furnature simply because of its design.
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Law and the Law
Disfiguring the poor man for life.
Makes me want to get sick, our legal system is out of control.
It barely works.
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Free furniture
Can't the EFF get involved with frivolous stuff like this?
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Knock Off Wood
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Fair Use
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Re: Fair Use
Sounds like Disney, but with tables instead of stories.
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This is very sad
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She's not giving up
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Re: She's not giving up
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Re: Re: She's not giving up
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Re: Re: She's not giving up
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When my hubby reads this, he's gonna want to build something.
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Trademark
> No one is going to go to this site and think it's actually affiliated
> with WSI, or any of the other brand name furniture companies.
Not to mention the easy remedy for that isn't to delete all references to WSI's products, but rather to merely put up a prominent disclaimer saying that "Despite the fact that this site references the names of WSI products, it is in no way affiliated with that company."
WSI would have a hard to making the case that despite the name and nature of the site *and* the disclaimer, reasonable people would still be confused about the nature of the the site's relationship to WSI.
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Re: Trademark
Then, with big, clear, simple wording: and when you don't have time (or give up trying), click here to have this item ordered and delivered to your door in 1 week (or whatever).
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YES!
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Poor Ana
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Copyright...Copywrong
I also don't see why WSI is so mad, afterall "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Is it not?
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That said, I must say she lays out what are perhaps the most complete and helpful set of instructions for making things I have ever seen.
Besides furniture, I wonder if she also has a killer recipie for moose stew?
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Free plans
"I've looked at other woodworking sites. Furniture plans are usually expensive. Why give yours away?
Would you look at my plans if you had to first buy them?"
She doesn't appear to have any formal business training, and realizes the opportunity cost of charging for plans- not many people will buy them. Granted, she may not be monetizing much off offering the plan for free, but eh.
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Williams Sonoma
I'll remember that name and will never buy their brand.
Where are the Equal (Civil) Rights Lawyers when we need them?
All copyright and trademark cases should be reviewed for merit by the organization we paid the money to protect us.
The Copyright and the Trademark offices are government agencies that we pay to protect our rights, but we have to put up with unregulated private companies enforcing the laws we paid the government agencies to protect. Meanwhile politicians steal any song or visual aid they can get their hands on without the permission of the Copyright or Trademark holders because they know that the government cares less and will do nothing to protect the rights of the Copyright or Trademark owner. Thus if you don't have the money to sue or hire an agency to go after the thieves you are out of luck.
Is there something wrong with that thinking?
Why would I pay the government to protect me when they obviously do not?
We need to get it through our heads that the government or the police do not and will not ever protect us. They always come in after the fact and bungle the cleanup. The sad thing is that we have to pay for this!
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re
Dear Ana
Thank you for you interest in our work. However we would ask you to please no longer use our images and remove the ones you have used so far.
We wish you a great continuation of your work.
With best regards,
POTTER BARN
How hard was that? Just a polite and friendly letter first to try and work things out before you send the lawyer scum after her and create enemies and a streisand effect. But no, they went the lawyer route and created an image as corporate storm troopers, which is really so far from the image they try so hard to create in the first place. If i was running that place, the persons responsible for this would be joining the growing ranks of the American unemployed.
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Re: re
Of course, this is what you usually get when a letter is drafted by an attorney who views things solely through the eyes of the law and not also keeping in mind that the client's image in the eyes of the public is equally important...if not more so.
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Re: Re: re
Clearly many in the UK hew to the line that one can disagree without being disagreeable.
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Re: Re: Re: re
Writing letters would make a far better national sport than football.
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We could fight them you know...
Their legal team email address is: ppvyas@townsend.com
Here is a scan of the letter from Williams-Sonoma:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LodZ9etRvTw/S5aRXlKWPaI/AAAAAAAAE5U/8pY6piJX44s/s1600-h/ pottery+barn+letter.jpg
You can also contact the company through their website at:
https://www.williams-sonomainc.com/contact-us/index.html
I also found a list of management here:
http://www.lead411.com/company_WilliamsSonomaInc_Lester_13667.html
I couldn't find any management nor departmental email addresses otherwise I would post those. None the less, tell them what you think of their shameful business practices. If someone can find a direct email to someone at Williams-Sonoma that will listen then please post it here.
Thanks,
Pjerky
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Re: We could fight them you know...
You better put a nice, fat check in the envelope with your letter if you want them to listen.
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Re: We could fight them you know...
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Re: Re: We could fight them you know...
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re
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
the damage your letter caused to the company:
http://www.google.ch/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=williams+sonoma+kno ck+off+wood&btnG=Google+Search&meta=lr%3D&aq=0&oq=
http://knockoffwood.blogspot.c om/2010/03/we-have-arrived.html
a work of genius really to make williams-sonoma look like corporate stormtroopers.
enjoy the fallout, its already gone to digg.com as well, and will soon show up on any google search for williams-sonoma...
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100310/0435558501.shtml
and yes we no longer will shop at williams-sonoma, and have added it to our newsletter, which has a subscriber list of more than 230,000 in the US alone.
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Stay strong, Ana!
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Re: Stay strong, Ana!
Indeed, and this has inspired me! I think.. instead of buying furniture, I'll buy a radial arm saw, table saw, and some other goodies and make some of my own. But I promise I won't copy-cat WS!! lol
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Made in China or Made at Home
Think Williams Sonoma is providing fellow Americans with jobs? Sure, minimum wage 'McJobs' at their stores... maybe.
Buy American or build it yourself. We are in a recession!
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Gee, I'm so confused...
I'm so confused. You see, there is this blog I read and now I have to ask:
Is your furniture really manufactured in Alaska? Singlehandedly? By one housewife?
The thing is, I see your photos all over their website. And despite liberal use of the words "knock off" and "inspired by" and "like", I just can't tell.
All these years I've been drooling over your catalogs, and now I'm SO SURPRISED to find that all of that beautiful furniture was made by one woman.
What's that? Oh, a letter. Clarifying that Ana is not actually affiliated with you or making your furniture. Really? Gee, thanks for clearing that up. Because, you know, it was so CONFUSING...
Sarcastically yours,
Rebecca
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Re: Gee, I'm so confused...
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Thanks for the link
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Two Fewer
Your legal move against Ana and her blog has just earned you two fewer customers AND two more anti-William Sonoma evangelists with long memories!
Good luck!
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Isn't this exactly like...
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Furniture
Where the savings come in is in wear and tear. In 6 months to a year, the particle board will be coming apart and you'll be out looking for a replacement.
If you build it yourself out of hardwood, your kids will be able to use it too. It is the quality of BIY that is where the savings are.
Now admittedly, not everyone wants to build their own, not everyone has a place to, and not everyone has the tools. Those of us that do have all the above are the least likely to buy premade; else we would not have the tools on hand.
Those making their own are not customers nor are we going be of any retail store dealing with furniture. There is no chance in the world that anything on that site can be mistaken for another manufacturer's product.
Patents tend to be thrown out when they are based on prior art and I am very tempted to get EFF's special team that deals with prior art and busting patents to take a look at this case since it has become so public in nature and looks to be a very good possibility of having a or some patents revoked. Meaning that Williams Sonoma, Inc, could very well have less to worry about in the future over their IP and trademarks to concern themselves with when dealing with the public.
I think for those that use those items to bully small sites such as this appears to be a case of, could use a little more hubris. This is one way that comes to be.
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Knockoff Furniture
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OK, its ON now.
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Gee what a play on words
mikee, the purpose of a catalog is to sell a product, not to "make a photo widely viewed." So her using the photo's to sell her knock off website would be no different that HP using photos of Dell's computers to try to sell their product....
The nature of the works is photos, WOW you got something right, but those photos are also of products that the company sells and those products are probably also patented so her knock off ideas would also be in violation of the patents as well
Lets see number three says a purpose entirely different.. Lets see, one company takes the photos, published them in a catalog to sell a product. A half-wit too lazy to take her cell phone to a showroom floor takes said companies work and uses it to try to sell the idea of her knock offs... hmm one is selling a product the other is selling a product.... seems to defeat number 3 too
Ahhh yeah the affect of half wits that would never have bought the product in the first place using the new works to copy what they would never have bought... But the facts are that if they wanted the original product in the first place bad enough to go copy it, then you defeat the not willing to buy it by only saying that they didn't have the money to buy it by demonstrating the WANT for the product in the first place, and if they wanted something they should save to buy it.
So little mikee instead of calling a spade an apple, how about we call it a spade and quit twisting words.
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Re: Gee what a play on words
But I'm curious.. on your blog you have pictures of various musical instruments/equipment.. I mean, did you get authorization from the manufacturer to post them, or would yours be 'fair use' and hers not?
http://myblog.michialthompson.com/gallery/image/992.aspx
Neither you or the lady are selling anything..
And how would your 'Kegerator' really be much different as well? Again, another item manufactured by a corporation that a picture has been posted of. Of course, I could be wrong, perhaps you did indeed get authorization to post those pictures - but you know, if you didn't, I'm sure they could slap you with some take down notices too..
Not try to be nasty, but at what point do you think they'll stop?
If I wanted to 'copy-cat' the corporate stuff in a wood shop, I could simply go to the their corporate site and make copies of what *they* post on there. I don't need her blog to get pictures of their furniture.
But - well, too bad for them, as I just closed on a house and in a few months when the government finally cuts the checks for the home incentives - I *won't* be looking at WS for anything. Not that they were really on my list, but now they will be a place to avoid, that's just nasty of them.
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Re: Re: Gee what a play on words
Again, I OWN the Kegerator and I TOOK the photos
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Re: Gee what a play on words
I'm guessing that you are not interested in changing anyones opinion with your above post, because what you posted only demonstrates your lack of maturity.
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Re: Gee what a play on words
Or did you just take over his crusade? I have to admit things were getting a little boring around here without having someone to always take the corporate side in their misguided arguments (which often fall apart when read by an intelligent individual - as opposed to the morons who are always in a hurry and seem to accept them as fact).
Good to see you again.
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Not going to buy from WS or PB
Too bad, too, since I'm in the market for a matching ottoman to go with my PB chair and we were looking a new set of Calphalon Copper pots and pans. Hey, look at that, your lawyers just *COST* you about $1,200 from one person over the next three months. That figure doesn't consider any other purchases I may have made in your stores.
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Re: Michial Thompson
Also, she lives in the middle of Alaska "hundreds of miles from a stoplight", and probably many times that from a PB store. A bit hard to go to the local outlet with a camera, don't you think?
Finally, why do you read Techdirt and respond all the time if you don't approve of the content? Could it be because you are desperate for human contact, even if it is negative? How sad for you.
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Re: Re: Michial Thompson
And to the guy claiming that she lives where-ever, that does not justify anything. I live 1800 miles from Hollywood, does that give me the right to copy their movies?
If she cannot go take the photo's herself, then she can pay someone to take them for her. Work for hire is just as efficient as doing it yourself.
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she is a hottie ....
I did something similar a couple years back with a machining and manufacturing site I ran.
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Sent the following to ppvyas@townsend.com
I understand that "through extensive marketing and sales of its famous brand of products and services over many years, [Williams Sonoma Inc.] has built up considerable fame and goodwill".
Please understand that for my family, and several others that I know, that goodwill has been destroyed. We will not purchase any products from Pottery Barn®, pottery barn kids®, PBTeen® or west elm® catalogs or stores.
I like to see businesses grow and thrive, I'm a supporter of small businesses becoming big, and the big businesses being successful. But I really don't like it when big businesses attempt to use their resources to stifle competition or innovation. And I find it particularly repulsive when they use copyright or trademark threats to bully small businesses or individuals.
You might think you are protecting your business from competition, but what you really did was alienate current and future fans and customers. Good luck with that business strategy.
In case you're not sure which of your threats I'm referring to, here's the specific letter:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LodZ9etRvTw/S5aRXlKWPaI/AAAAAAAAE5U/8pY6piJX44s/s1600-h/pottery+b arn+letter.jpg
Here's an interesting commentary:
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100310/0435558501.shtml
Sincerely.
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The system encourages bullying. The little guys caving to legal threats from the big guys is just how the system works.
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Williams Sonoma moves slowly.
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What is this all about?
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Before you set fire to Pottery Barn.
Now, Michael Thompson's response wasn't eloquent, but it was pretty accurate. I would suggest Mike Masnick read up on his copyright law, and if need be discuss it with other professionals. But if a company takes a picture to sell a product, and someone else uses that picture without permission to somehow provide that product (or one similar) in a manner other than sale through the original vendor, that is violation.
As a creative professional, I actually find it pretty sad that this woman lifted the pictures, used Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma name brands to attract attention, and on top of it, used the same collection names. And then she complains when she's told to stop? She obviously does quality work on her own, why does she need to use their name to prove to people she makes nice stuff?
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29.00 plus, then took another $50.00 out of my bank account without my permission. After many telephone calls I received $30.00 back, then tried for the additional $20.00 and it was
a pain to talk to the people in charge. Will never order online again. I was shocked they would take money out of my bank acct without permission. Ended up going to the bank and put a stop pay to Williams Sonoma.
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WSI didn't learn from their own strong arm tactics.
http://eater.com/archives/2013/09/12/williamssonoma-sued-for-using-julia-childs-name-and-image. php
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