Current Mood : Stupid.
Well, another site I used to visit bit the list dust today. Am I the only one ever who gets tired of being called stupid because I have a different opinion ? On that discussion board, in response to the blurry 'buy these dolls, too' photo on the Clawd/Draculaura box :
"ABBEY IS AWESOME! Oh wow!
I'm SO impressed by what I can see, and I'm glad that people will stop being stupid thinking that Spectra is a fake!"
(sigh) This keeps up, I'll have hours and hours in which to sew, since I'll be avoiding every site that ever heard of these *&^5ing dolls. And just think of all the cash I'll save by being too upset, angry, and 'stupid' to buy anything new ! (snark)
Moving right along... I swear, it's a bigger thrill when you're selling on eBay than when you're buying - especially when your stuff actually has bids ! For some reason, eBay gave me 50 free 'auction insertions' to use between yesterday and the first of the month, so listing my three yesterday was 75c cheaper than it was before. Yaaay ! And one has bids already, which is so exciting ! Is it wrong to hope that it sells high ? (greedy grin)
And this'll make you laugh - but first, one of my usual long-winded backgrounds. Not too long ago, the only way to get *legal* licensed Disney embroidery designs was to buy a licensed Brother Disney embroidery machine - or spend nearly the same amount on one of the few licensed cards and a card reader. Back before USB made transferring designs awesome and easy, you'd have to use a card and card reader device to move designs between computer and machine. It's one of the reasons embroidery sewing machines used to be sooo expensive, since they pretty much had to be sold with the sewing machine. And woe betide you if the thing suddenly seized and either stopped working for no apparent reason or dumped everything that was on the card. Happened frequently, from what I read - that system is still in use. I sure can't blame anybody for not trading up when they've already invested big bucks in what they got, and it still (mostly) works. Cards ranged from $40. (blank) to $99. with designs, and the readers were about $250. more. Very proprietary systems, not like you could just get another blank SmartMedia or SD card at Best Buy - these were big and only worked with one system.
Anyway, for the most part, the $400. Brother-exclusive Disney machines had the designs built in, so it was actually the most reliable form, sad as that is. Unfortunately, in order to pay the licensing and remain affordable, the Disney machines were quite stripped and often flawed, and since have poor reputations - for every one that's a dream like my Brody, there's one that never worked and two that had varying degrees of problems. This helped the knockoff, rip-off design sites flourish, and encouraged doing yer own thing with newly available, cheap digitizing software... which includes yours truly, who will on occasion, rip off a design solely for her own selfish use.
That all changed - well, maybe not all, lol ! - today with an email from Brother. They're starting their own design sales site called (perhaps unoriginally) iBroidery, with the usual selection of cute freebies and single-piece prices. Intriguingly, the email promised Pixar designs... and guess what ? Remember the Finding Nemo 'Dory' design I jacked for the Princess Dorrie dress last year ? Guess which exact one is for sale at iBroidery for $6.99 ? I could probably get away with sending them a photo of it, saying it was from their site...of course, they'd have proof I didn't buy it there, and mine doesn't have a ' (c) Disney Pixar' logo running along one edge. Still, I did pretty good with it when I compare them. If I had a spare seven bucks, I'd buy it and stitch 'em out side by side, just out of curiosity.
Frankly, some of their designs, Disney or not, aren't very good. Some of the Disneys, especially the 'Twisted Princess' ones, I can't even read or make out what it's supposed to be. Kinda ranks, 'cause I love the 'Wicked Princess' patch/sign that's up for sale, but if I can't tell what it is before I buy it, goss only knows what it'll look like when Brody's done with it. I mean, Brody does his usual great-job best, of course, but generally stuff offered for sale looks its absolute best *before* you buy it.... It's also funny because it's a generic gothic design, with Olde English lettering. Easy to create with no licensing at all on your own.
I admit, I was feeling a bit down and decided to revisit an old site I used to haunt - for embroidery. Nothin' to do with MH, if you can believe it. I wanted to know others' opinions on that very question. Namely, if you're a fan of a company or product, and like its logo enough to take the time and effort to digitize it just for your personal use - you refuse to sell or give away the design, or sell anything made with that corporate-owned logo - is it any worse than making your own declaration of fandom t-shirt to wear to the concert, or painting your own version of the movie poster for your living room ? You're not making any money or glory off the trademark. Honestly, you're giving the company free advertising, and you've bought their products - usually a couple hundred dollars' worth, and that logo was all over the boxes. The company is not, in any way, suffering financial or status loss as a result of your appreciation. As long as you keep it for your own personal use, is it a deep dark dungeon d@mnation violation ?
Several people think it is. One said that if it was her logo she caught me using (honestly, I didn't know she had one !), 'there'd be h#ll to pay !'. Others advised reading up on copyright law (wise, I really need to study 'fair use' laws), and writing the company for permission. I'd be afraid to put m'self on the radar ! It was foolish of me to ask for opinions when I already know mine, but it's made me think...I need to be more careful about showing photos of my stuff ! Still, I think 'fair use' would allow it - I just don't wanna end up in court to prove it.
BTW, the 'Hello Kitty' stuff was either purchased (the sticker on my sewing machine, KJ) or gifted (the obi belt ribbon, from Tabitha). Last thing I want is for Sanrio to get up my kimono !
