Thread: Ripped off?

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Do you ever have the feeling that a prop you made was ripped off by a company and now they are selling them. For example, I made this shower curtain back in 1999.

Now for a few years they are selling them all over the place. I know somebody probably did this same thing years ago. I mean "Psycho" was back in '62. But I had never seen one until now. I have noticed that alot of stuff we create is becoming commercially available. Does that bother anyone besides me, or did I just wake up on the wrong side of the crypt this morning?

one the other note, I have taken tons of props made by companies and made my own version. How is this any different? You might get flamed on this topic.
We have all seen something made by someone or a company then made it ourselves, so technically we are ripping them off.....

not trying to bash, just pointing out.
It used to bother me on some of my technical stuff. But then I thought "am I stupid" so MANY members on the forums have shown me how to build, given me direction when I was stuck or just flat out sent me the plans.
This is why I and many others share, help others and answer questions when we can. We all enjoy Halloween and scaring. Hope this helps you, and ya you just woke up on the "wrong side of the crypt" but it is a good effect and now others can make or buy it, be proud of what you made !!!!!

-PB

Yeah I probably will get flamed. I guess I was just ranting. No offense to anyone here or companies that produce Halloween props.

This is a rough case to prove one way or the other most of the time. I am a working glass artist and jeweler and sell my work across the US. I go to about 25 shows of various kinds [art fair, fine art show, jewelry trade show, glass trade show, bead trade show, farmers' markets] every year and often talk to other working artists about ideas being copied and how to handle it. It is awfully hard to be sure somebody took your idea unless there are some obvious signs like they bought one of your pieces and reverse engineered it or took a class from you and then went into production of your signature piece. Other stuff, though, is a lot murkier, especially with popularity and business necessity of the internet. I've woken up with an inspiration in the middle of the night, rushed out to the studio and cranked out the absolute coolest thing I ever thought of only to find out somebody else has been doing that exact thing for three years. Do I copy them? Not really or at the very least not on purpose. I may have seen a picture of the design on a web page and not thought much of it at the time. I may have just recently learned the necessary advanced technique to be able to execute the design or develpoed my skills to the level where it became possible for me to make something i didn't have skill or knowledge enough to make before. I could even have had the very same idea completely independently. The most common is that you have an idea so very simple yet terribly elegant that you have to wonder why you've never seen it before [Answer: you've just never seen it--somebody somewhere probably does it as well]. To artists who work these venues what I do next is far more important than how we got there.

In this case, it may just be as simple as the growing popularity of gore in Halloween decor convinced some accountant in a suit someplace to decide that making bloody shower curtains a la Psycho is suddenly cost effective and can bring a high margin. Moreover, even if the guy is a shmuck and saw your prop someplace and decided to make a version to sell, there are some things that are hard to claim as exclusive intellectual property [even if all you want is credit for the idea] and murder/dismemberment in the shower is such a common concept that anybody at all could think of it independently or based on the news, a tv show, movie etc. If, on the other hand, you wrote a screenplay about a killer with a trademark style or "signature" or a very specific and unique appearance [ie Freddy Kruger] and that starts showing up everywhere, it's much easier to prove connection. Legal protection becomes another matter entirely, especially if the character/concept is extremely lucrative--like Mickey Mouse. On top of all that, as DIY haunters we tread awfully close to the line or even cross over it all the time. Jason, Freddy, Michael, Jack Skellington, any film version of Dracula or Frankenstein, monsters from Alien, stuff out of Disney's Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean are all legal property of somebody else and we adapt the characters for our own use. The reason they don't have lawyers on our doorsteps mostly comes down to how little we damage the value of the property and that as a general rule we don't aim to profit from the props we make--we make them for ourselves and/or each other [mostly] just for cost of materials. for this situation I suggest that you be flattered that you were ahead of the horror curve on the bloody shower curtain and bask in the fact that you didn't pay anywhere near as much and probably made a better one than the commercial versions other people are buying.

I think there's a difference between inspiration and flat out copying. How many of us have been inspired by the same movie or book? Maybe we create things that are similar but a good eye could see the differences. As an artist I get the infringement scare every time I share my work with others, but I won't let it stop me; I know that my art is my style and it would be difficult for others to duplicate exactly. I'm not sure you can copyright a prop but if it concerns anyone then look into. I have seen things show up in magazines that I've seen online, so it's true that companies do take from us. If you're bothered by it, get protected, otherwise just don't share things online.

This makes me think of Doug Ferguson - creator of the flying crank ghost. He gave that remarkable prop to the home haunter community and now you can go online and buy "phantom flyers" or whatever they call it on ebay and there is rarely, if ever, any credit given to Doug for his invention. It used to really bother me that so many people were flat out selling his invention and he wasn't getting a dime. Especially since the FCG is such a great prop and probably the first foray into animated prop building for many home haunters. I asked Doug about it once and he remarked that that he made a conscious decision to give it away as the flying crank mechanism wasn't really his idea, it's been around for years. Only his application of it (and maybe the ghost construction) were his and his alone. I'm paraphrasing and I hope I'm remembering his response correctly. But he never complained about it, and I always thought that was very noble of him in a world where everyone wants recognition and credit.

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Halloween prop manufacturers follow websites like this and similar ones looking for the next great idea. I guess if you come up with a truly unique idea like Doug did, you have to make a choice and either patent it or share it with everyone. Doug did something very generous, and I'd like to think it has only helped bring more home haunters out on Halloween.

Originally Posted by Terror Tom

Do you ever have the feeling that a prop you made was ripped off by a company and now they are selling them. For example, I made this shower curtain back in 1999.

Now for a few years they are selling them all over the place. I know somebody probably did this same thing years ago. I mean "Psycho" was back in '62. But I had never seen one until now. I have noticed that alot of stuff we create is becoming commercially available. Does that bother anyone besides me, or did I just wake up on the wrong side of the crypt this morning?

Not meaning to be a stickler or anything, but "Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho" came out in 1960.

NOWHINING made a cheeseball shapped like a Female Mummy and just recently into the new Halloween books that are out at the store here she and I see them doing the same dang thing!!! NOWHINING wasnt too happy about it at all!

Sorry 1960. Ooops! Sorry Alfred...

Back on topic, I know someone ripped off some guys idea of Putting a printed face on a piece of paper in a jar in a Prop Book, and sold it. The guy has since removed his original tutorial. I can't for the life of me remember who it was though!