It's Been a Hot Minute....Shaken Crochet Community is a buzz

 Hello fellow fiber fanatics!

It's been a hot minute since I've posted anything. I've been busy starting a new venture and custom orders have been slowly rolling in. I'm still working on a scrap yarn blanket. The crochet community, more specifically, the plushie/amigurumi community is shaken. 

What's got the Community Abuzz?

Well, it's a story of what is art (fanart) versus Intellectual Property (IP), copyright, and license infringement. When the lines blur between being a super fan of specific genre of pop culture and making money, designing patterns, and the use of AI bots targeting small creators. Are only small creators being targets or is bigger following accounts going to be included in this roundup? We all know, thanks to the mandalorian fiasco, there has been a crackdown on making popular characters or likeness of said characters. It would appear popular fan favorites (Pokemon etc) are now on the no-no list for creatives to design and make, but weren't they already on the no-no list?

What are all these terms and what do they mean?

To be honest, all of these terms ... intellectual property, copyright, and licensed mean something different depending on where you live within the different markets. One thing is for certain is these larger companies and corporations have an edge of smaller business and corporations. They funnel a bunch of money into purchasing through agreements and contracts to purchase the rights to include any likeness to characters they believe could produce profit. Essentially said, they own them. This translates to people having to purchase the right to make/design any of these characters from the owner. Can most people do that....short answer nope. We're talking big money most don't have.

Why can mass producers get away with it?

Doing a little research, mass producers (Temu, shein, etc) have purchased the rights through things like 3rd party contracts. Typically, they pay a certain amount for the rights to produce a certain amount at a lower costs. See...companies want it available for the masses and know not everyone can afford the "luxury" brand name. They team up to offer a lower cost alternative. Which leads to smaller makers and designers thinking....

I'm not mass producing and barely making anything at all or nothing!

That may be true in most cases. You, a small creator or larger creator, may not be rolling in the millions, but here's the catch....People are knowing taking a risk since they are protected.  There is a fine line between being a super fan and I only made a couple to sell. The other side is it's "art" and I'm just designing these for other super fans. I'm giving away the patterns for free. In the end, big companies are looking at the liability and image projected out to the public. They bank on the control of that image to include marketing.

My opinion and my opinion only

This is my opinion...take it, leave it, take some of it.

You are knowly breaking the law. You are violating said IP, copyright, and licensing. One thing I have seen evolve in the community is the constant infighting of what IP and copyright looks like. The constant give me credit or DACA reports on "stolen" patterns is massive (amigurumi to a lesser, plushie community is much more). Given this is happening in the community, which everyone seems so perturbed about, it's kind of hypocritical. This "it's a big company..."  doesn't negate the fact you're violating the very thing many complain about.

Final Thought

I would be remiss if I didn't say I've made a baby Yoda for my husband (he's a big Star Wars nerd). I've even made the mistake posting it. I really don't think they're going after the I've made a couple items over time. The targets are those who's feeds are filled with nothing but "fanart". They're targeting those designers who design patterns based on these characters. That being said...are the little guy getting caught in the crossfire? They probably are. Is it best to steer clear? It sure is if you value your business or side hustle.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!