Designer - needs help - new to this forum

[FidoJann]

Hi to everyone,
I have been designing and selling cross stitch kits online for 20 years. The internet was in its infancy when I started.
I am posting here because I am saddened by the amount of copying and sharing of my charts online.

My designs are constantly shared online. There is a Russian website who charge to download my designs. It is impossible to contact them. The problem is that buyers don't know about copyright something - that this website makes very clear, thank you.

So can I ask all you avid cross stitchers not to upload designs to sites unless you get permission first.
Sorry to moan, but it is starting to be a real problem.

Thanks for reading,
Jan ~
Jann Designs
Fido Stitch Studio

[Nicola Main]

Hi Jan, so sorry to hear of your troubles with copyrighting. I have bought a couple of your designs on Ebay (an owl and a border terrier) and have thoroughly enjoyed doing them (I have photos of them on my own thread on here but have never given out your designs or charts, I would never do that). All the best, Nicola.

[Allyn]

It won't help with charts already out there, but have you considered watermarking the charts with the buyer's information and putting a password on them (usually the buyer's email address)? It makes it harder to share the charts and if sharing does happen, you can see where the original came from.

[ZlayaKoshka]

Hi Jan,

I'm really sorry to hear that some Russian website is stealing your charts. Here in Russia the idea of copyrighted material is only starting it's way into people's minds. As a newbie designer myself I can understand how terrible you should feel about that. If you need any help with these guys, I could help you compile an angry letter in Russian to send them.