Last night I was Googling "the nest effect" to see where I'm showing up on the internet. I came across several places that my free printables have been reuploaded to sites like Scribd and other file sharing sites, with the people who are posting claiming them as their own. They clearly say "the nest effect printables" on the bottom, so they are not just documents that others have made that look like mine.
If you want to share my free printables, please feel free to do so. I don't mind if you post a link to them on your blog - as long as there's a link directly back to my blog so that I'm getting credit.
I share my printables because I enjoy doing so. They're all for personal use only and cannot be resold or reposted as your own. That's copyright infringement. If you want to make your own documents from scratch on your computer that look like mine - go ahead, just don't make it identical. Take my printables as inspiration. I don't mind. Just don't take what I've spent time making and try to show it off as your own creation.
To recap:
- you may share my printables with appropriate credit/link ups
- you may email/share links to the free documents with friends/family/social media/on your blog
- don't repost on document hosting site such as Scribd, even with credit - it's just not the place for you to share someone else's creations
- don't resell or repost any of my documents, trying to show them off as your own creation
- all documents have my etsy store name attached to the bottom - this cannot be removed, or else it's copyright infringement
Thanks! =]
That's sad. I know I appreciate your freebies, and I hope you aren't discouraged by someone's selfishness and greed.
ReplyDeleteHi there! Found you on SheSpeaks. I'm a new follower. Come visit me at www.weidknecht.com! Thanks for the printables. I'm a preschool teacher and am always on the lookout for good ones.
ReplyDeleteI had that sort of thing happen with some printables I created too. I learned that one company was making money off of them. Some people are just so sick. Sorry you are dealing with this issue.
ReplyDeleteI just found your site through Pinterest. I'm so sorry your hard work is being misused. I too make printables that I share with friends, but because of what you've experienced I don't share them openly. Sad isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThat sucks! It seems like this whole issue of copyright infringement is coping up a lot these days. People can be so... awful. Really, how do they sleep at night?
ReplyDeleteI started water marking all my pictures now, even if I have a very young baby blog, I want to protect my stuff. I'm just wondering if marking it at the bottom is enough, should I put the mark ACROSS the actual image, but then I also like being able to see my pictures with no obstructions.
I dunno, I'm just getting the hand of this whole blogging thing. I'm trying to get informed. But from what I see, if they are really assholes, people will steal your work no matter how much precaution you take. If having your blog/etsy shop name at the bottom of your printable is not enough not to get it stolen... The only other thing you can do is get a legal copyright so you can legally pursue those who steal.
I'm really afraid of putting up my "invention" on my blog now because of this. I don't want the idea stolen, and I don't have a legal copyright, so I know there wouldn't be much I could do anyway.
That being said, I hope you're not too discouraged, and I thank you for continuing to share your printables for free, even if only for a limited time.