I am betting this is made with really cheap parts and motors and won't last a couple years before there are issues with it. The thing is that if you make something unique and post it on an open forum and don't have a patent on it. Then anyone can use it and mass produce it. If you think about it the beat to originator to the punch. And even if you have a patent it doesn't really matter. All a person has to do is change a couple things on it and then it isn't the same. So we are screwed anyway.

Sad thing is that you are going to see a lot of people stop posting tutorials or unique builds on here because of it.

 

I wonder if we have the right to be upset because Halloween Forum members often applaud others who copy large manufacturers and we encourage them to post how they built their version and we further request tips and tutorials so we can do it too.

Here's a couple examples specifically related to this prop:

ryanlamprecht has done a version of this (he acknowledges beastcraft) and currently his thread has 2924 views. Many of the thread views are mine as I revisit the thread often.

Deoblo has a video tutorial on youtube making one with 4864 views and his thread in the tutorial section has 2847 views. I check this one out frequently too.

I don't recall a posting in either thread arguing that both members should not have copied beastcrafts concept.


I too hope to make my own version this summer so am I equally as bad as the company who is mass producing these because I too did not seek permission, or offer beastcraft some compensation for essentially copying their intellectual property??? Maybe.

How many people were angry when the "Beloved" Tombstone was copied by a few different manufacturers? I don't know the exact number but a lot of people were quite upset to see "Terra's Beloved" copied.....funny thing is Terra copied it from a haunter in New York.

Updated: Kevin from the Brewster haunt created Beloved long before Terra. Here's a link with a photo of his Beloved back in 2005. Terra did her Beloved in 2009 and has received tons of accolades ever since. I don't ever recall Terra giving Kevin proper credit.


http://www.fulcrumsites.com/haunt/html/2005_new_props_11.html

Shame on me but the only real reason I don't like expensive props being copied and mass produced is so when I copy it there aren't as many similar props around and mine will stand out more. Yes I'll go back under my rock and hang my head in shame.

 

Is Brewsters still haunting?I sure hope so...they are from way back when.

 

I think the part that upsets the most is it being copied and then mast produced for sales, that takes away sales from beastcraft"s masterpiece. It will not be as nice as the original, but if the price is way lower, many will opt for a cheap copy before forking $$ on the nice one..
The company doing this should be shamed out the door.. where it wouldn't surprise me to see it pop up on ebay selling from China, but to have them show up in a U.S base haunt show with copies for sale at a cheap price ...not cool.. no wonder big companies like nevermore, unti70 or many others, keep the new cool stuff secret up to near the show dates.. that way, no copies show up for cheap..
there's a big difference between making something similar for yourself versus mast producing something / stealing a concept for profit..

 

sorry glitch at work and double post

 

If I saw a prop I really liked but couldnt afford I would try to figure out how it was made and make my own, and I'm sure Im not alone in that. I would not try to sell multiples of some one elses design though. I would use some one elses technique to create something that reflects my own sensibiity and sell that provided they had posted a how to of their technique in an open way like on a forum or on youtube or something. I do think though that it takes a serious lack of integrity to lift another person's design, and maybe add a little something just to make somewhat different and then sell it.

 

I'm sure they didn't ask permission or give credit....Everybody takes ideas, it happens in all the arts....I think the issue as others have stated is companies that take ideas and mass produce a cheap version of it purely for profit....It may be immoral but there's nothing illegal about it as long as they put their own take on it.....Probably the biggest ripoff I've seen is Disney's Haunted Mansion ride....Look at how many ideas have been "stolen" from that ride that is part of our Halloween displays today....But if you read the history of the ride, the engineers "stole" ideas when they built the ride.....Everybody does it, it's just blatantly obvious on certain examples such as beastcraft's ghoul....ZR

 

Everytime I see a homehaunt prop mass produced it bums me out. Non-creative people taking ideas from creative people. And even if haunters did get a patent, you'd still have to pay a lawyer to sue a large company (if a lawyer would even take the case). I guess the best you can do is take solace in the fact that you created something so awesome it got ripped off.

 

One day someone is going to sue these people. They'll either have deep enough pockets, won't care about the fees, or it will be a lawyer that's a haunter.

It's a double edged sword. You want to share your creations with everyone but that just puts you out there for your art to be stolen.

I was surfing one night & found some pillows on Walmart's site & as soon as I saw them I knew the artwork was Rhode Montijo's stuff. I Facebooked him & told him about it thinking there's probably no way he'd licensed his art to Walmart or anyone else & sure enough, he didn't give permission for whatever manufacturer to produce pillows with his artwork on it. I'm sure Walmart is no different than GR or any other store, they're just a middleman buying from a trade show somewhere & it's most likely produced in China.

FTR, here's his pages, I just love him & he's always been great to deal with when you buy stuff.
http://www.rhodemontijo.com/

His Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RhodeMontijo

His Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Rhode-Montijo-26212736988/

 

I know it sucks major and I do not agree with copying for financial gain but I don't think much can be done about it legally unless there's a patent on say a mechanism used in the animatronic. I'm not a lawyer by no means but I have seen a lot of cases similar that unless there is something extremely distinct about the piece, no court will rule in favour. They will just say you can't patent a zombie and laugh you out of court.
At the same time, big companies love to threaten legal action to scare away anyone who they think is infringing copyright on their products namely because there is a good chance if it did go to court, it would not go in their favour. Yes the system sucks.

The best action that can be taken against such a thing is getting the community on board to call them out. That can be far more damaging in long run to make them think twice about doing it again. Hit the review or comments section stuff like that.

 

They will just say you can't patent a zombie and laugh you out of court.
At the same time, big companies love to threaten legal action to scare away anyone who they think is infringing copyright on their products namely because there is a good chance if it did go to court, it would not go in their favour. Yes the system sucks.

Monster Cable was good for going after anyone that used the word Monster in their product ....Monster Mini Golf was targeted but I think it worked out OK....That irked me so bad I haven't bought another Monster cable since....ZR

 

There was someone on here a couple of years ago that had an arrow/mileage sign pointing to different scary places in the country. A year later, some company had mass produced it. You can tell it was an exact copy because the only place in the whole country where those numbers worked was from the haunter's front yard.

 

There really is very little that can be done about companies taking ideas and appropriating them. China, where many of the Halloween things we see in retail shops come from, has very little regard for copyright laws. Many wonderful artists have shown off their work, here and in other places, only to find them mass produced shortly after.

But that said, would you really trade your cauldron creep for that awful one that Halloween Express put out?

One day I hope to post something on this site worthy of corporate theft and espionage. It's happened to me in other venues, and while it irks me to realize that there's nothing I can do, I content myself with knowing I was first. But here at the forum there is one other saving grace. I know that fellow haunters are going to go out and make a decent copy of what I've done and maybe even make it better. My idea will be used for exactly the purpose I shared it in the first place. To delight people with the joys of Halloween.

I hope none of us ever think twice about that being a good thing. The theft of ideas hurts, but the crushing of Halloween spirit would be far worse. So, I put things out there in the hopes that fellow haunters will "steal" my ideas and make them their own. And in return, I promise that I will do the same. And just to prove it, meet our Cauldron Creep made entirely from help and suggestions we received from fellow haunters.

 

I know that fellow haunters are going to go out and make a decent copy of what I've done and maybe even make it better. My idea will be used for exactly the purpose I shared it in the first place. To delight people with the joys of Halloween.

I hope none of us ever think twice about that being a good thing. The theft of ideas hurts, but the crushing of Halloween spirit would be far worse. So, I put things out there in the hopes that fellow haunters will "steal" my ideas and make them their own. And in return, I promise that I will do the same. And just to prove it, meet our Cauldron Creep made entirely from help and suggestions we received from fellow haunters.

View attachment 579897

This is why so many post things here, just to share the joy of creating your own bit of Halloween. To share what you've created & to see how others can improve or re-create it in their own fashion.

 

Artistic theft has been around for eons and will continue as long as someone can make a profit from it. I keep detailed documents of every prop I make yet I rarely share information for this very reason. I don't mind assisting other haunters to produce items for their own use but it never fails that someone eventually copies it. Should any of my custom props end up massed produce at least I have the documentation should I decide to file a lawsuit.

 

i have mixed feelings on this whole issue.

on the one hand, i get that having an idea outright stolen is a huge problem. i've never made my living from my creativity, but i dabble in music as a hobby, and if someone stole a song i'd written i'd be very upset, whether i had ever made any money from it or not.

on the other, there's a lot of hair-splitting that goes on when it comes to intellectual property. if you have a really distinct piece, you probably can protect your work, but if it comes down to "scary skeleton doing a thing," you won't get much legal protection. and for good reason--there are a lot of original, non-stolen ways to do "scary skeleton doing a thing," and if the first guy to do it owned the entire concept, it would kill creativity.

allowing "knock off" versions also gives people the chance to enter the market how they see fit--i may pay $50 for a lower quality version of an item that i wouldn't pay $250 for a higher quality version of. but if the higher price is truly worth it, there will be a market for the higher quality piece. compare it to guitars--there are a lot of companies making cheap electric guitars that more or less resemble a fender, and are just different enough to not be stealing fender's ideas, but fender is still doing okay selling their better versions.

i also am not sure how i feel about us stealing an idea being better than a company stealing an idea. either way, we're taking a sale away from the company that originally made the product. are we upset that the company mass-producing is doing it on a large scale, or just that they're gaining financially, or that we're passionate about it as a hobby and they're not? i'm not sure the original maker cares much, as long as the end result is that they lose sales.

bottom line: vote with your wallet. sellers only exist in markets we create.

 

My biggest problem concerning theft is someone taking it out of my yard after I spent so much money on it...I've spent thousands and am afraid to let it in my yard because someone might steal it and then it's gone....It's not like the police are going to do anything beyond filing a report...You'd have to have a video of them stealing it and a lot of community support to figure out who did it and even then, what's really going to happen to them?....A fine?....Will you ever get your prop back?....Probably not....The money you spent is wasted and a feeling of not wanting to do a Halloween display anymore....THAT is the world we live in and probably why you don't see many displays anymore.....Yet everything gets sold out every year so that tells me most people have private party's or set it up for 1 night, etc.....Now that I've finally figured out how to make silicone molds, I'm going to make copies of THEIR stuff I bought and spent a lot of money for....I'm going to make cheap fiberglass castings and I'm going to decorate my yard (for the WHOLE month!!!) with those castings for props....If someone steals it, I still have the original and a mold to make another....I'm still going to be very upset but ultimately am going to have a way to make another one and keep decorating my yard.....The only apology you'll hear from me about making copies is I'm sorry the world is the way it is that I have to resort to these options if I'm going to do a yard display.....ZR

 

I think we all have to find that fine line we walk between what we accept as fair use and what seems stolen from an artist. Even corporations do it. An individual haunter might do a marvelous recreation of the witch from Snow White, and never hear word one about it from Disney. But let that same person start making multiple copies to sell on Etsy, and they'll probably see a cease and desist order in their mailbox. For me, that's where I draw my line.

I have no problem making a ghoulish silhouette from a David Lowe tutorial using his insanely funny designs. But I won't buy any of them made by Chinese businesses who never gave him a dime when they stole the artwork to make window stickies. It's all about the Benjamins. If someone is making money off of another person's idea, I get upset. If they're just making something fun for themselves to spook the neighbors, I'm good. And for the most part, that's where fair use laws fall. It's the making of money off another's intellectual property that's not allowed. People making wooden cut outs of Charlie Brown, Linus, and the Great Pumpkin for their front yard are pretty much in the clear.

And, I'm not all that upset with folks who buy stuff from Spirit Halloween, Home Depot, or Grandin Road. Maybe they don't have the skills to make the props themselves. Or maybe they don't have the time. At least they're out there trying to make the world a creepier place for everyone. They bought in good faith that the merchant created the ideas on their own. If we know better, then our actions should reflect that. As Dane82 said, "bottom line: vote with your wallet. sellers only exist in markets we create." (And yeah, I stole that idea from his post.)

 

I think we all have to find that fine line we walk between what we accept as fair use and what seems stolen from an artist.

I've been pretty sensitive to all the different forms of intellectual property lately because I've started posting youtube videos and trying to cover all the basis I can think of....I even went back to check all the fonts I was using in titles, etc to make sure they had a free to use license, any music was free to use/attribution free, etc....

And, I'm not all that upset with folks who buy stuff from Spirit Halloween, Home Depot, or Grandin Road. Maybe they don't have the skills to make the props themselves. Or maybe they don't have the time.

I spent quite a bit this past season but it was all with intention of making molds so everything I got was generic heads, hands, feet, torso, lot's of different type skulls, etc....Being able to mix/match to make entirely different combinations quickly.....

We think that's one of the concerns most haunters have. We work so hard or pay so much for what we have, we don't want to see it stolen or vandalized.

We put out our haunt every year, and what's bolted to the stairwell or into the ground with stakes, we leave out for the month. Other props more easily walked off with are put out only on the weekend and come in every night. We're a small haunt, so it takes less than an hour to put up and take down the decorations. But still, in the back of our mind, we think, "What will we do if this gets stolen or destroyed?"

We can't say for sure, but we hope that we'll regroup and push on. The reason we do it is because we remember a world that was better than the one we live in now, and we hope to make this one a bit better by what we do. Maybe a graveyard on the front lawn isn't peace in the Middle East, but if a few people walk away with a smile on their face it's good enough for us. We can't change the world, but we might make it just a bit better for those who walk past our house come Halloween. That seems worth the risks to us.

There is no fast and easy way to make a detailed prop but I'm coming up with shortcuts so it's not devastating if something get's stolen/destroyed so I will keep doing the yard display....I hope to make some videos of the progress as I go....I feel kind of bummed at all the empty yards lately during the season but I've had an empty yard myself for many years now....Hopefully things change this year....Even if I only make a few props for the first year, it's better than nothing...ZR

 

I was on instagram last night and saw a tombstone that looked really familar.
Trick or treat studios is planning on selling a judith tombstone.
It looks exactly like cemetery haunts one.....exactly.I messaged her and somebody had already told her.
I am actually planning on buying one from cemetery haunts plus a couple more.

 

do you have pictures of both? i find intellectual property stuff incredibly interesting, it's actually why i was first interested in being a lawyer.

 

Cemetery haunts tombstone

Trick or treat studios tombstone

 

Here is the link to her Etsy she is a member here to.she has several different sizes of the Judith tombstone
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CemeteryHaunts

 

Got cemetery haunts tombstone in today. Under 80 and free ship I love it.