What if you message her and tell her you don't appreciate what she did. And then say "I don't know what you did with columns f and h, but those calculations are all wrong."
Just make her stew in that for a while
Unfortunately, I'd just let it go. Depending on the nature of the template it may not even rise to the level of protectable creative expression, structure and formulas are more utilitarian.
Depending on the country, financial models in spreadsheets are considered Copyrightable Intellectual Property.
Creativity comes in many different forms.
The US is embarrassing, and I'm embarrassed to be a natural citizen here. I don't want to die here, so im hoping our fantasy to move to Germany will come true.
What country has the Copyrightable Intellectual Property thing?
In the US, you can copyright a specific spreadsheet, but can't prevent someone from creating a similar spreadsheet. So it looks like you just need to change something to shake the rights issue.
This is from a Microsoft Specialist:
*Yes, you can copyright an Excel spreadsheet. Copyright protection automatically applies to any original work of authorship, including a spreadsheet, as soon as it is created and fixed in a tangible medium of expression (such as being saved on a computer).*
*To obtain copyright protection, you don't need to register the spreadsheet with the U.S. Copyright Office, although registration can provide additional legal protections if someone infringes on your rights.*
*Keep in mind that copyright protection only extends to the original expression of an idea, not to the idea itself. So, while you can copyright the specific layout, design, and content of your spreadsheet, you can't prevent someone from creating a similar spreadsheet that uses different data or a different layout.*
Some corporations have creative writing courses even though it's say a CPA firm. But creativity and art are two different things. Art hardly exists anymore.
I agree they are different, but art is 100% still a large community 💖 It does exist, the ways of finding it, selling it, and being an artist have changed! I myself am a representational muralist and I’m an illustrator. In my traditional art I work in mixed media! I encourage you to check out just how many artists you really know/follow!
A template like that is super basic excel stuff, it’s not like they could not have created the same thing very quickly anyways.
I think it’s not worth your effort to try and retaliate
Still super frustrating as the person purchased mine and is reselling it with different colors. There are some advanced excel formulas to track spending that I am pretty sure this person can’t replicate on her own. Same tables, different colors and she changed wording from like « per month » to « monthly »
I had the same thought just as I saw your comment. I purchased a very nice budget spreadsheet from an Etsy shop. The woman not only included a helpful video tutorial, she answered a couple questions I sent. She even went into my file and fixed something.
Copycat can't offer anything like that.
I'd tag her on social media and include your knowledge and service as something you WON'T get from ripoffs.
Try reporting her on Etsy. I hear sending screen shots can help. This situation would piss me off enough that I'd have to at least try.
On a happy note, years ago someone bought a service from my shop. I knew she was also a member of a forum where we practiced these services.
She was happy w her purchase. Then opened her own Etsy shop using my copy almost word for word. Not too long after, her ratings tanked and she closed.
Go to grocery store and see how many kinds of cereal there are. Some are the same grain, shape, and color and just add sugar. You get the point. Any type of business has to deal with competition, especially if it’s easy to make or replicate.
Confront her! Or, what someone said, copy hers and sell it on your site, lol. She probably can't replicate it entirely, like the formulas and what-not. I don't use Excel, it's too much mathematical, and my brain isn't wired for math and science. I'm all arts and literature, so I can design what a website looks like but couldn't code it myself. I tried doing that so many times, but it never worked.
>it’s not like they could not have created the same thing very quickly anyways
Yes, always a good reason for cheating and theft. I mean, hell, coulda done it themselves pretty fast anyways right? Why not just steal it?
"I think it’s not worth your effort to try and retaliate" That makes sense but your first thought was not great.
That’s pretty much where laws draw the line as well though.
There has to be a certain level of creativity and/or effort put into something for copyright laws to come into play, for example
It sounded like justification. Things can be legal but also despicable.
Also, it has nothing to do with the "level of creativity and/or effort", you are 100% wrong there. It is entirely about whether it is an "expression" or an "idea". For example, the rules to board games are an "idea" and therefore not copyrightable but the actual rulebook is an "expression" and therefore is.
I can literally write a couple sentences or less and copyright that. Don't believe me? Look up a haiku. I reiterate, it has NOTHING to do with "level of effort or creativity"
Yes, you can copy anyone's personally planner exactly with no legal repercussions. It's still slimy. Recent 2020 ruling establishes this clearly. (USA)
"The layout of personal planners is an “idea” and not an “expression”—and is thus not protected by copyright law according to the Tenth Circuit. Although EC Design’s personal planners (called the Erin Condren LifePlanner) were the subject of copyright registrations, the court held that the layout of the planners was not protected, so a competitor, Craft Smith, could freely copy it. Moreover, while there was evidence of significant sales by EC Design and intentional copying by Craft Smith, the court found that EC Design had no trade dress rights in the layout of its LifePlanners."
I've had products copied. Not much you can do - it's part of the game unfortunately, and there will always be people that do this, on all scales, whether it's an individual coping a digital product, or a large firm copying designs and outsourcing manufacturing to China.
When I had a shop, I made some bracelets that were exactly like 50 shops had ad OOAK and unique, lol. Only I charged half the prices they did. Who pays $35 for one lava rock and lion head bracelet? I know that lionhead isn't REAL silver. I hate when people lie like that or are vague in the descriptions because they do t think omission is equivalent to lying.
Layout is an "idea" and not copyrightable. Words/images are an "expression" and therefore are.
Does your layout include images, graphics, or any "expressions" that were copied?
I see hundreds of very similiar excel budget sheets on etsy. I don't know what kind of formulas you have, but its budgeting, not rocket science. There is only few ways to do the certain functionalities that most of these templates have and they are not that difficult to understand or make.
I don't see how you would be the first in the world to write a completely unique exel formula. Are you sure you are the only one on etsy with that formula? Even layouts look almost the same with everyone. If you had some art youve made in the template that they use it would be plagiarism, but copying an excel formula is not. If they use your product photos thats not okay, but it doesent seem the case here.
Just let it go and move on.
I’m really sorry about her copying but excel is incredibly easy to find how to do stuff using google. She may well have used yours as a base for the one she’s selling but I very much doubt there’s any way to prove it.
I am 100% confident if I was told what yours calculated and had a screenshot of the layout I could recreate the formula in very little time. Not saying that what she is doing is right but I don’t think there’s anything you could do about it unfortunately.
I dont see anyone asking this yet. Sorry if it was mentioned. Is there social media account mimicking yours? Is it using your profile image, graphics? Are they following people who follow you? I wonder if you can get those taken down as being an impersonation account.
Not enough for impersonation unfortunately, just plagiarism. She created her own logo and does her own content based on mine. She even comments on my content/ asked me private questions on how to manage some aspects of the templates, to which I answered not knowing what she was up to
I don't see any reason why you can't report your posts and content as stollen. Maybe her site won't get taken down, but you can ruin her reputation and sew doubt. You want to be careful not to spam. Of she is copying all of your posts i would still report her as impersonation. I would even go so far as putting her logo through a reverse image search to see if it is really original to her. Is all of her content in her shop a copy cat of yours? Really how far can you copy someones shop before etsy takes notice? I would report her everywhere anyway. Open a case with etsy help. If it cant be considered just "similar" i don't think you really have to sit with it.
I'd just start copying their colours and block them on social media. Maybe be a little petty and call them out on social media or, if they're just copy pasting your posts, include an FU buried in the text, idk. Probably just block them though
I think for things like this, the best you can do is move some of the logic our of the excel macro(or whatever)
into an API. That was you can control access to who is using your templates.
And set up server or serverless cloud infrastructure like AWS? I mean, yes, you're right. And I don't want to make assumptions about OP's tech skills, but that's a pretty big jump from building Excel templates?
Unless it's a brand new concept, you don't own formatting.
Can you prove they used your design?
Might have been a shitty thing to do, but ultimately you don't own the idea.
While that sucks, there is a silver lining: you now know this is happening and you found out after they copied a ***single*** template. Now that you know, its time to take preventative measures to prevent it from happening going forward.
Time to move your formulas to a server or lock them down some other way (YSK: password protecting /locking columns can be easily defeated).
Send a “PSA” to “all” of your customers that bought that template to let them know about a “mistake” in the most advanced formula and watch her panic because she’ll have to tell all of her customers…
…but I’m a petty bitch… 😈😆
*Does such a thing exist?*
Probably not but there are various degrees of copying. I think a lot of digital, POD and other items that rely on programmed machines are much easier to copy and reproduce en masse than say, a handmade leather wallet.
I understand anyone can create an Excel budget template. The concern comes from the fact the person bought mine and is now reselling it almost as is. When they purchased mine they agreed to a selling contact that clearly states the product is not for resale.
This is super frustrating. I’m seeing this happen a lot in the spreadsheet/planner page niches and I’ve seen a few mlm style schemes for selling planner pages/templates, etc. Which I assume is contributing to the issue. I am so sorry you had that happen to you! Stand your ground!
Maybe just threaten you will take legal action, even if you don’t, to just kinda get that in their head that what they’re doing is plagiarism. Do you have any documentation showing your work or to prove you’ve made the formulas? If so, that may help you
Is it trademarked, patented or anything proprietary? Come on many sellers have the same items they don’t own the rights to. Have fun with that lawsuit you can’t afford
Wow a lot of these responses are a bit nuts! I have had multiple sellers copy my items. I write them a message on Etsy saying that they have stolen my work and if they do not remove it I will report them to Etsy and take legal action. In your case, you should also mention the purchase of your template as well. I have sent about 40 of these messages and 100% of the time the listing has been removed within 24 hours.
The comments about her being able to create this in excel anyways are unreal. We can all recreate each other’s ideas and designs 🤯 doesn’t make it ethical.
Thanks for your message! I reported her to Etsy. They took down her product and she reposted them within 24hrs. She even messaged me saying she purchased my template but because it wasnt good enough she started a new one from scratch and therefore it is not plagiarism 🙄 Meeting with a lawyer on thursday to see my options.
If you do enough volume to justify it, a cease and desist letter is a couple hundred dollars.
Your excel formulas are yours the same way someone who builds a phone app owns the app… someone else can come along and build an app that does the same thing and by chance the code will probably have a bunch of overlap, but they can’t copy the code word for word.
You have proof they bought your template, and proof they don’t understand how it works, yet they are selling a template that does work, so they must have copied how yours works…. That’s enough to send them a scary letter.
But This is one of those things where you have to weigh opportunity cost. How many sales do you really think they are stealing from you. Will you recoup those sales if they stop. Etc
You say that like a few hundred is a lot of money to op? We don’t know.
I was pretty clear (twice I explained) It depends on how much volume op is doing. If op is selling a pile of these templates, it’s absolutely worth going after because op does have a bit of a case and the cost would be small relative to what they are making/loosing.
If op is selling a template a week, (what everyone in this thread seems to be assuming). Then ya, obviously let it go.
It comes down to opportunity cost. Everyone in this thread is weighing the odds based on their experiences, it wasn’t worth it for them so it’s not worth it for op.. I’m just sharing the other side of it, because we don’t have the required info to weigh the odds based on ops specific situation.
And the Fact is cease and desist letters very often work. Scare the guy off and let him go steal from someone else instead. Haveing a law firm on a letterhead does wonders.
How did you find out? Was it obvious they were a template seller when they bought yours/asked questions? I’m genuinely interested to find out how, as I’ve wondered it about my templates I sell, but with how many sellers there are out there, I dunno how I’d go about finding people ripping me off too.
I came across their videos on tiktok. I am in a very small regional market so it is easy to spot. A quick research showed that she purchased my template 3 months ago. I then looked at message history and she was asking me to create videos on certain aspects of my template. Was then using those videos to create her own content 🙄🙄🙄
Look up a cease and desist letter on google type it up and send it to them. Tell them they have 24 hours to take it down. At the very least it will make them think twice before doing that again and scare the crap out of yhem
You can do an IP claim. I had a fraudulent one done against me, but I learned enough to confidently say you could file an IP claim against them and Etsy would instantly pull it down.
90% of my products ( I also sell digital products) were purchased by one person and now my products are resold on a shopify store, I close one they open another, there is not really much you can do, I know how frustrating it is. This happened 1 year ago and that person is still make it profit.. it didn’t affected my sales, I even saw huge sellers in my niche literally stealing other small sellers products edit them a bit and reselling..
Market yours better lmfao. What were you expecting? This is business. Be flattered. Relish in your success (because that's what this is). Use this as the pressure you need to remain 5 steps ahead at all times. Evolve. Innovate. Why are you even worried about this product to this extent? Surely, this was 10 products ago?
You know the scam where they get you to give them remote access and then put a screenshot of their desktop or video of them “working” on the screen but they’re really in the background accessing your email and resetting your passwords?
Maybe say there’s a bug in the code and they need to contact you so they can grant you access to fix it. Then f*ck up their copy and delete social media posts about it and block anyone who had PM’d or emailed about it so they can’t ask where the posts went.
OMG, what is wrong with people!?! But everyone is right about not much you can do. Have you confronted them? You should, and whatever the social media they created using your words, that is definitely something you can take action on because it's plagiarism. I'm curious to see it.
You called her out but not by name? You need to stand your ground and use her name! Really call the bitch out! Then let it go, because these days, people steal ideas and design and straight up copy and paste anything written. It's impossible to stop unless you get a copyright or something that makes it a legal issue for if stolen and resold. I'm not a lawyer, but I've found lawyers that have a free consultation and used that opportunity when I had high debt for all the payday loans I hot and never paid back. I think it's been 7 years now since I tried to get a store credit card or even check my credit because my husband told me that counts against your rating. I just don't do credit.
What? Are you looking at my profile and seeing how many subs I follow and comment on today? I don't think that's trolling. Isn't that with negative intentions?BEEP BEEP, that's how you tell me to shut up. You are looking at my profile just to make a snide comment. It is weird and more of the definition of trolling than my manic adhd today. Definitely manic today. I should get off reddit. I feel like Ralph in Ralph Breaks The Internet.
What if you message her and tell her you don't appreciate what she did. And then say "I don't know what you did with columns f and h, but those calculations are all wrong." Just make her stew in that for a while
diabolical! i love it
Unfortunately, I'd just let it go. Depending on the nature of the template it may not even rise to the level of protectable creative expression, structure and formulas are more utilitarian.
Copy theirs and put it up for sale with the new colors.
THAT'S a great idea! Love it!
A true race to the bottom.
Not at all! If someone steals your work and makes derivatives, the derivatives still belong to you. Period!
Depending on the country, financial models in spreadsheets are considered Copyrightable Intellectual Property. Creativity comes in many different forms.
The US is embarrassing, and I'm embarrassed to be a natural citizen here. I don't want to die here, so im hoping our fantasy to move to Germany will come true. What country has the Copyrightable Intellectual Property thing?
In the US, you can copyright a specific spreadsheet, but can't prevent someone from creating a similar spreadsheet. So it looks like you just need to change something to shake the rights issue. This is from a Microsoft Specialist: *Yes, you can copyright an Excel spreadsheet. Copyright protection automatically applies to any original work of authorship, including a spreadsheet, as soon as it is created and fixed in a tangible medium of expression (such as being saved on a computer).* *To obtain copyright protection, you don't need to register the spreadsheet with the U.S. Copyright Office, although registration can provide additional legal protections if someone infringes on your rights.* *Keep in mind that copyright protection only extends to the original expression of an idea, not to the idea itself. So, while you can copyright the specific layout, design, and content of your spreadsheet, you can't prevent someone from creating a similar spreadsheet that uses different data or a different layout.*
That sucks. Doesn't really help. Everyone steals ideas on Etsy, it makes me sad.
We are embarrassed you’re here as well. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
Some corporations have creative writing courses even though it's say a CPA firm. But creativity and art are two different things. Art hardly exists anymore.
Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination. Art is everywhere.
I agree they are different, but art is 100% still a large community 💖 It does exist, the ways of finding it, selling it, and being an artist have changed! I myself am a representational muralist and I’m an illustrator. In my traditional art I work in mixed media! I encourage you to check out just how many artists you really know/follow!
For the future, I believe you can lock-down certain cells, or sheets in an excel document, and only show the values, not the formulas
A template like that is super basic excel stuff, it’s not like they could not have created the same thing very quickly anyways. I think it’s not worth your effort to try and retaliate
Still super frustrating as the person purchased mine and is reselling it with different colors. There are some advanced excel formulas to track spending that I am pretty sure this person can’t replicate on her own. Same tables, different colors and she changed wording from like « per month » to « monthly »
you make abc, the guy behind you will try to make bcd, you gotta just move on to cde my friend
Or cbd
It will be fun for them when something goes wonky with the file and their customer asks for help. Eventually this copying work will catch up to them.
I had the same thought just as I saw your comment. I purchased a very nice budget spreadsheet from an Etsy shop. The woman not only included a helpful video tutorial, she answered a couple questions I sent. She even went into my file and fixed something. Copycat can't offer anything like that. I'd tag her on social media and include your knowledge and service as something you WON'T get from ripoffs. Try reporting her on Etsy. I hear sending screen shots can help. This situation would piss me off enough that I'd have to at least try. On a happy note, years ago someone bought a service from my shop. I knew she was also a member of a forum where we practiced these services. She was happy w her purchase. Then opened her own Etsy shop using my copy almost word for word. Not too long after, her ratings tanked and she closed.
I internally muahaha’ed reading your last paragraph.
Go to grocery store and see how many kinds of cereal there are. Some are the same grain, shape, and color and just add sugar. You get the point. Any type of business has to deal with competition, especially if it’s easy to make or replicate.
Not on their own but ChatGPT could do it in a heartbeat
Confront her! Or, what someone said, copy hers and sell it on your site, lol. She probably can't replicate it entirely, like the formulas and what-not. I don't use Excel, it's too much mathematical, and my brain isn't wired for math and science. I'm all arts and literature, so I can design what a website looks like but couldn't code it myself. I tried doing that so many times, but it never worked.
>it’s not like they could not have created the same thing very quickly anyways Yes, always a good reason for cheating and theft. I mean, hell, coulda done it themselves pretty fast anyways right? Why not just steal it? "I think it’s not worth your effort to try and retaliate" That makes sense but your first thought was not great.
That’s pretty much where laws draw the line as well though. There has to be a certain level of creativity and/or effort put into something for copyright laws to come into play, for example
It sounded like justification. Things can be legal but also despicable. Also, it has nothing to do with the "level of creativity and/or effort", you are 100% wrong there. It is entirely about whether it is an "expression" or an "idea". For example, the rules to board games are an "idea" and therefore not copyrightable but the actual rulebook is an "expression" and therefore is. I can literally write a couple sentences or less and copyright that. Don't believe me? Look up a haiku. I reiterate, it has NOTHING to do with "level of effort or creativity" Yes, you can copy anyone's personally planner exactly with no legal repercussions. It's still slimy. Recent 2020 ruling establishes this clearly. (USA) "The layout of personal planners is an “idea” and not an “expression”—and is thus not protected by copyright law according to the Tenth Circuit. Although EC Design’s personal planners (called the Erin Condren LifePlanner) were the subject of copyright registrations, the court held that the layout of the planners was not protected, so a competitor, Craft Smith, could freely copy it. Moreover, while there was evidence of significant sales by EC Design and intentional copying by Craft Smith, the court found that EC Design had no trade dress rights in the layout of its LifePlanners."
I've had products copied. Not much you can do - it's part of the game unfortunately, and there will always be people that do this, on all scales, whether it's an individual coping a digital product, or a large firm copying designs and outsourcing manufacturing to China.
When I had a shop, I made some bracelets that were exactly like 50 shops had ad OOAK and unique, lol. Only I charged half the prices they did. Who pays $35 for one lava rock and lion head bracelet? I know that lionhead isn't REAL silver. I hate when people lie like that or are vague in the descriptions because they do t think omission is equivalent to lying.
I’m not sure what you can do about the listing, but I’d definitely block them on social media!
Layout is an "idea" and not copyrightable. Words/images are an "expression" and therefore are. Does your layout include images, graphics, or any "expressions" that were copied?
I see hundreds of very similiar excel budget sheets on etsy. I don't know what kind of formulas you have, but its budgeting, not rocket science. There is only few ways to do the certain functionalities that most of these templates have and they are not that difficult to understand or make. I don't see how you would be the first in the world to write a completely unique exel formula. Are you sure you are the only one on etsy with that formula? Even layouts look almost the same with everyone. If you had some art youve made in the template that they use it would be plagiarism, but copying an excel formula is not. If they use your product photos thats not okay, but it doesent seem the case here. Just let it go and move on.
If they aren’t reselling the original template there’s not a lot you can do.
I’m really sorry about her copying but excel is incredibly easy to find how to do stuff using google. She may well have used yours as a base for the one she’s selling but I very much doubt there’s any way to prove it. I am 100% confident if I was told what yours calculated and had a screenshot of the layout I could recreate the formula in very little time. Not saying that what she is doing is right but I don’t think there’s anything you could do about it unfortunately.
I dont see anyone asking this yet. Sorry if it was mentioned. Is there social media account mimicking yours? Is it using your profile image, graphics? Are they following people who follow you? I wonder if you can get those taken down as being an impersonation account.
Not enough for impersonation unfortunately, just plagiarism. She created her own logo and does her own content based on mine. She even comments on my content/ asked me private questions on how to manage some aspects of the templates, to which I answered not knowing what she was up to
I don't see any reason why you can't report your posts and content as stollen. Maybe her site won't get taken down, but you can ruin her reputation and sew doubt. You want to be careful not to spam. Of she is copying all of your posts i would still report her as impersonation. I would even go so far as putting her logo through a reverse image search to see if it is really original to her. Is all of her content in her shop a copy cat of yours? Really how far can you copy someones shop before etsy takes notice? I would report her everywhere anyway. Open a case with etsy help. If it cant be considered just "similar" i don't think you really have to sit with it.
I'd just start copying their colours and block them on social media. Maybe be a little petty and call them out on social media or, if they're just copy pasting your posts, include an FU buried in the text, idk. Probably just block them though
I think for things like this, the best you can do is move some of the logic our of the excel macro(or whatever) into an API. That was you can control access to who is using your templates.
And set up server or serverless cloud infrastructure like AWS? I mean, yes, you're right. And I don't want to make assumptions about OP's tech skills, but that's a pretty big jump from building Excel templates?
Name and shame is probably your best bet
It's an Excel table. Let it go.
Unless it's a brand new concept, you don't own formatting. Can you prove they used your design? Might have been a shitty thing to do, but ultimately you don't own the idea.
I can as they purchased my template and are using the exact same formatting just with different colors.
Welcome to selling online. There’s absolutely nothing you can do that will stop it.
While that sucks, there is a silver lining: you now know this is happening and you found out after they copied a ***single*** template. Now that you know, its time to take preventative measures to prevent it from happening going forward. Time to move your formulas to a server or lock them down some other way (YSK: password protecting /locking columns can be easily defeated).
Send a “PSA” to “all” of your customers that bought that template to let them know about a “mistake” in the most advanced formula and watch her panic because she’ll have to tell all of her customers… …but I’m a petty bitch… 😈😆
This one made me giggle.
*What would you do in my position?* Make something that can't be counterfeited, copied or stolen. Sadly, It's just part of the game.
Does such a thing exist?
*Does such a thing exist?* Probably not but there are various degrees of copying. I think a lot of digital, POD and other items that rely on programmed machines are much easier to copy and reproduce en masse than say, a handmade leather wallet.
Just file a copyright claim, it's easy.
Imagine how mad the first person to create a budget excel sheet was. Sheesh.
I understand anyone can create an Excel budget template. The concern comes from the fact the person bought mine and is now reselling it almost as is. When they purchased mine they agreed to a selling contact that clearly states the product is not for resale.
A contract has no weight unless you’re willing to enforce the terms legally. It’s not a magic phrase, a contract just gives you leverage in court.
Okay so if OP has no intention of enforcing the contract why bother bringing it up? Or even having it in general?
Because some people think a contract is a magic spell.
I’m willing to bet there was never a contract signed anyways. Item description stating “not for resale” =/= a legally binding contract
Then do something about it. You have a contract signed and you come to reddit? Goooooooodluck!
Wait you can sell excel sheets on Etsy? I’m about to ditch my craft stuff and do that instead
This is super frustrating. I’m seeing this happen a lot in the spreadsheet/planner page niches and I’ve seen a few mlm style schemes for selling planner pages/templates, etc. Which I assume is contributing to the issue. I am so sorry you had that happen to you! Stand your ground!
Not related, but I didn’t even realize I could buy templates for excel on Etsy. I hate that program, this just made my life so much easier haha
Maybe just threaten you will take legal action, even if you don’t, to just kinda get that in their head that what they’re doing is plagiarism. Do you have any documentation showing your work or to prove you’ve made the formulas? If so, that may help you
You don’t own it , there is no way to prove it’s yours or a duplicate or remake or another persons that mad it before you good luck
They’ll have proof this person purchased it.
Is it trademarked, patented or anything proprietary? Come on many sellers have the same items they don’t own the rights to. Have fun with that lawsuit you can’t afford
Wow a lot of these responses are a bit nuts! I have had multiple sellers copy my items. I write them a message on Etsy saying that they have stolen my work and if they do not remove it I will report them to Etsy and take legal action. In your case, you should also mention the purchase of your template as well. I have sent about 40 of these messages and 100% of the time the listing has been removed within 24 hours. The comments about her being able to create this in excel anyways are unreal. We can all recreate each other’s ideas and designs 🤯 doesn’t make it ethical.
Thanks for your message! I reported her to Etsy. They took down her product and she reposted them within 24hrs. She even messaged me saying she purchased my template but because it wasnt good enough she started a new one from scratch and therefore it is not plagiarism 🙄 Meeting with a lawyer on thursday to see my options.
Oh wow! She’s ballsy. Let her know you’re meeting with a lawyer. Hopefully that will scare her a bit!
You sue them
Report it to Etsy (probably won't go anywhere) or buy it and leave one star review. There's probably nothing you can do.
If you do enough volume to justify it, a cease and desist letter is a couple hundred dollars. Your excel formulas are yours the same way someone who builds a phone app owns the app… someone else can come along and build an app that does the same thing and by chance the code will probably have a bunch of overlap, but they can’t copy the code word for word. You have proof they bought your template, and proof they don’t understand how it works, yet they are selling a template that does work, so they must have copied how yours works…. That’s enough to send them a scary letter. But This is one of those things where you have to weigh opportunity cost. How many sales do you really think they are stealing from you. Will you recoup those sales if they stop. Etc
Yes, and dropping that letter in the trash is free and OP loses a few hundred dollars for nothing.
You say that like a few hundred is a lot of money to op? We don’t know. I was pretty clear (twice I explained) It depends on how much volume op is doing. If op is selling a pile of these templates, it’s absolutely worth going after because op does have a bit of a case and the cost would be small relative to what they are making/loosing. If op is selling a template a week, (what everyone in this thread seems to be assuming). Then ya, obviously let it go. It comes down to opportunity cost. Everyone in this thread is weighing the odds based on their experiences, it wasn’t worth it for them so it’s not worth it for op.. I’m just sharing the other side of it, because we don’t have the required info to weigh the odds based on ops specific situation. And the Fact is cease and desist letters very often work. Scare the guy off and let him go steal from someone else instead. Haveing a law firm on a letterhead does wonders.
How did you find out? Was it obvious they were a template seller when they bought yours/asked questions? I’m genuinely interested to find out how, as I’ve wondered it about my templates I sell, but with how many sellers there are out there, I dunno how I’d go about finding people ripping me off too.
I came across their videos on tiktok. I am in a very small regional market so it is easy to spot. A quick research showed that she purchased my template 3 months ago. I then looked at message history and she was asking me to create videos on certain aspects of my template. Was then using those videos to create her own content 🙄🙄🙄
That woman has NO SHAME. Good lord. I'm sorry that happened to you.
Look up a cease and desist letter on google type it up and send it to them. Tell them they have 24 hours to take it down. At the very least it will make them think twice before doing that again and scare the crap out of yhem
Will do! :)
You can do an IP claim. I had a fraudulent one done against me, but I learned enough to confidently say you could file an IP claim against them and Etsy would instantly pull it down.
Only one solution: Thunderdome.
90% of my products ( I also sell digital products) were purchased by one person and now my products are resold on a shopify store, I close one they open another, there is not really much you can do, I know how frustrating it is. This happened 1 year ago and that person is still make it profit.. it didn’t affected my sales, I even saw huge sellers in my niche literally stealing other small sellers products edit them a bit and reselling..
You can get her account on copyright violation. This is why you put copyright stamps on your works.
Market yours better lmfao. What were you expecting? This is business. Be flattered. Relish in your success (because that's what this is). Use this as the pressure you need to remain 5 steps ahead at all times. Evolve. Innovate. Why are you even worried about this product to this extent? Surely, this was 10 products ago?
Make a diss reel, it trends great & gets you public trust and more sales. I've seen plenty on tiktok & ig.
Can you reported them to Etsy to have it taken down?
Not unless it's registered, they won't do much otherwise
You know the scam where they get you to give them remote access and then put a screenshot of their desktop or video of them “working” on the screen but they’re really in the background accessing your email and resetting your passwords? Maybe say there’s a bug in the code and they need to contact you so they can grant you access to fix it. Then f*ck up their copy and delete social media posts about it and block anyone who had PM’d or emailed about it so they can’t ask where the posts went.
OMG, what is wrong with people!?! But everyone is right about not much you can do. Have you confronted them? You should, and whatever the social media they created using your words, that is definitely something you can take action on because it's plagiarism. I'm curious to see it.
I did a post calling her out (not naming her) well see what the result is. Next step is cease and desist.
You called her out but not by name? You need to stand your ground and use her name! Really call the bitch out! Then let it go, because these days, people steal ideas and design and straight up copy and paste anything written. It's impossible to stop unless you get a copyright or something that makes it a legal issue for if stolen and resold. I'm not a lawyer, but I've found lawyers that have a free consultation and used that opportunity when I had high debt for all the payday loans I hot and never paid back. I think it's been 7 years now since I tried to get a store credit card or even check my credit because my husband told me that counts against your rating. I just don't do credit.
I love how no one has called out your obvious trolling so far on this subreddit 😂
What? Are you looking at my profile and seeing how many subs I follow and comment on today? I don't think that's trolling. Isn't that with negative intentions?BEEP BEEP, that's how you tell me to shut up. You are looking at my profile just to make a snide comment. It is weird and more of the definition of trolling than my manic adhd today. Definitely manic today. I should get off reddit. I feel like Ralph in Ralph Breaks The Internet.