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I posted almost the EXACT same quandary here about my STDs:
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/make-me-feel-better-about-this
Maybe the comments there will help?
fine line, if you use her image.. and create it.. then there is a problem.
If you use it for inspiration... and make it your own.. ie colors blah blah... then i think its a free for all, because its YOUR creativity..
If you then pawn the idea off to someone else, i think its polite to say when you pawn it that this was your inspiration.
I would find it wrong, if you copied the idea then sold it on etsy.. Personal use.. I think fine.
I agree with ccranetobe. Just find a way to make it your own, and use the original as your inspiration! Good luck! :)
I personally would copy as close as I could... You aren't selling it, just using them for your own personal wedding!
I think that using the analogy to college is a pretty good idea -- so her design has purple and lilac swirls? Yours can have plum and lavender swirls shifted ever so slightly to the left, you know? Major companies are "inspired" by other copyrighted things all the time (look at knock-off wedding dresses!), so I think that as long as you are very careful not to actually plagiarize her whole invite, you would be OK. As for the text, I'd google around, and if you find anything really similar, I'd use it anyway (like if it doesn't seem to be 100% original). It's not like she wrote a poem; I can't imagine there being THAT many variations on invite text for hers to be 100% original. But of course, if it doesn't seem like there is anything else out there close to it, then yeah, back to summarizing like quotations.
But yeah, I would make your own as long as you don't just rip them off.
(I have no credentials to say this, but I don't think personal use would apply legally here. It's like when RCIA sued Napster. Technically, the music was for personal use, but it still denied profits to the artist, and that was the problem.)
I think that if you change enough of the style and don't copy her words verbatim, it's ok. Change some colors, some of the layout, etc. In my opinion, the real ethical dilemma comes into play if you were thinking of selling these for profit.
DIY projects often times are inspired by others. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just make sure you are making it your own in some way :)
My biggest worry is the wording - her invitations are REALLY unique (which is what I wanted) and I've never seen anything else worded like them. :/
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31520816
here's the invite in case you're curious.
I had already planned to change SOME of the wording, since we don't like the 'patiently tolerate' part, and our reception will be alcohol free, so the 'feasting drinking and celebration' will have to be changed. But her verbage is so unique that I worry about plagarizing it! Also, I've spent so much time staring at them that I pretty much have it memorized, haha....
I agree with most of the other posters, that it's totally fine to take inspiration from things you see. Even if it's pretty close to an item for sale, I think as long as you're not turning around and selling it as your own it's fine.
My feeling is that there really is no such thing as a completely original idea anymore. While not super common, I have seen invitations/STDs in the same vein as the one you posted from Etsy. Since you're not planning on selling this design I think it's totally fine to recreate it to fit your needs. You'll put your own spin on it and it will look fabulous. Be sure to post them here when you're done!!
Yeah, I agree, if you are buying that item from her, you are paying for her ideas but more importantly you are paying her to make those for you. Since you want to do this yourself, there is nothing wrong with using her invitations as inspiration.
Nowadays you can find almost anything on the internet. You are the one who will have to make the layout and make it similar.
I don't think it is a good idea to email her and ask for any assistance. I highly doubt she is going to hand over a layout that she put her time and effort to make and especially for someone who is going to make her own.
You're changing a few words already and if you change the colors to match your wedding colors I think you're safe. It's not like you're selling her ideas, and if you didn't copy hers you still wouldn't be buying them so she's really not loosing out on any money.
You're not making a profit, nor are you claiming it as your own. I think the only person that can tell you if it's ethical is yourself, ethics are part of your core values and we all share different core values due to geographical areas or cultures. If it's something you're not comfortable doing then just gather inspiration and come up with better words and or phrases with the help of the bees. The words are unique but the design isn't, I've seen it in hello lucky and it's also not a copyrighted design.
Personal use does not apply. No one owns the wording or fonts as those are available to anyone. The artistic design however is up for discussion. If it's a stock image or a rubber stamp for example, then they don't own the design. But if the image is watermarked or copyrighted, then you may have a problem. If it's on Etsy, chances are that they got the idea from someone else so it may not be completely original. In that case, I honestly wouldn't worry about it. It's not like your guests will be scouring the internet to see where you got the idea since they will think it was your own creativity. I've seen similar designs at Offbeatbride.com so you aren't stealing the idea from this vendor. If you love it, use it and don't stress.
I am big on protecting intellectual property. I feel that if you are going to do your own invitations, you can use her's for inspiration to some degree, but make it your own. Improve on what the artist has displayed on Etsy. Change the wording, don't use the exact font. Change the colors. You can be inspired by something and not copy it nor stealing it, per say.
I'm a designer....and I think that you can do whatever you want if it's for personal use. People DIY stuff that they see in magazines all the time...whether it's a birdhouse or whatever. As long as you aren't planning on selling it and making money...I see nothing wrong with it.
ditto mandalynn: i mean look at all of the crystal cake toppers!!! bird cage veils and more!!! i think that if you do it yourself it's inspired, i look at other ideas all the time and see what i can't do to recreate it and make it my own, you know?! i think there are tons of invites on that same type of vein and when you order it you'd be recreating different versions of it for your own use, for example instead of the florally marks you'd be using a different motif, etc.
heck after a show i even had someone CALL ME to send them pictures of my centerpiece design so that they could COPY IT!! i was like wth?! but i directed them to my FB page where it is and wished them luck on it (it's expensive to copy, but errr who calls someone and tells them that?!)
@daydreamwanderer
Honestly if it's personal use it's not technically it's not copying. If you use it to sell it on Etsy in that case than it is wrong to copy the idea..
I was just curious if you can post a pic of the invitations?
I agree with everyone else, as long as it's for personal use and your are not profitting from the situation then GO AHEAD.
COPY it word for word. Use the same COLOURS, FONTS, STYLES...
It's an idea and if it's perfect for you then just recreate it! There is no harm in that!
Go for it! It is not like you are going to set-up shop on Etsy, you are sending them to your guests.
I say DDW to use the basic style, but make it your own! You're awesome and can do that!! :) Love the basic design feel too though.
I agree with others here... as long as you're making some changes, and not selling these or marketing them, than it should be fine. If it were me, I would also be a little extra careful too, and not blog about the invitations... and don't post pictures of them online. If you post images, then it seems like the seller could potentially find the images and come after you for plagarism. I'm not sure what the laws are here regarding things posted online, but I think it's a good added precaution.
I agree with ski, I would not blog about or post pics, unless you are going to do enough changes so that no one can say "hey thats my design!".
There's nothing unethical about copying the living daylights out of anything for personal use. It'd be a problem if you were to try to sell it yourself or distribute it to others (such as if you blogged about it). I feel like wedding planning is largely based on looking at blogs and magazines and picking things to copy from other people.
I'd just do it... maybe I should have more morals, but meh.
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Beekeeper
So, I found invites that I love. On Etsy. They're pretty unique, and like nothing I've ever seen before. They're also pretty simple, and realistically, I could re-create them in less than 2 hours on Pages, if I want to.
We're on a tight budget, and I've been planning to DIY invites all along. Our budget for invites is about $100 + postage (and I know I can make that work with DIY; I checked). The design for sale is for gocco'd invites which cost $4 each, not including RSVP cards. There's no WAY I can afford them.
So I convo'd the seller and asked her if she would be willing to send me a printable pdf that I could print myself, semi DIY. After all, she created these invites that I've fallen in love with! I expected the reply to include a price around $25, which I'd totally find room for in the budget. Instead, she came back with a whopping $150 charge. Woah! I can't afford that!
Now my question is...
Is it even REMOTELY ethical for me to DIY these, and how similar can they be without stepping over the line of plagarism? I don't want to rip off her idea, but I do love the invites, and they're really not typical. And I never would've been creative enough to do it myself.
Help! I'm not comfortable plagarising her work, but I don't think I'll be happy with run of the mill invites!