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Forgot to add: I attended a conference in Phoenix put on by the PTO, addressing this very thing. (Got the bumper stickers to prove it!!) They were using it to show the far flung worldwide problem: the copies of every type of goods coming out of Asia.
http://www.stopfakes.gov/
What is Intellectual Property?
Why Protect Intellectual Property?
How Can I Protect My Intellectual Property?
Who Can Help Me Protect My Intellectual Property?
The PTO used to call this The Garage Sale Effect, now it's called The eBay Effect............
A lot of patterns that friends make are made at home on their computer so how to distinguish the originals from the copies, I don't know.
As I do, in initially them in an obscure spot. In a different ink - like blue - to distinguish it from the black it's printed with.
If there's ever a questtion, they'd have to show me/tell me where my initials are. Suspicious me: I started that after seeing my patts being sold as originals 4 years ago.
I'm in my 3rd full kit line since the mid 90s. I've unfortunately had to spend a lot of time poring over the legalese on this very issue (which I've been dealing with for 2 years tomorrow, being at the center of a hotly contested trademark infringement case at the US Patent & TM Office.)
Here's the ruling on First Use, meaning ONLY the person who first bought an original design from the author.
The first-sale doctrine is a limitation upon copyright that was
recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908 and subsequently
codified in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 109. The doctrine
of first sale allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e. sell or give
away) a particular, lawfully made and obtained copy of the protected work without
permission once it has been obtained. That means the distribution
rights of a copyright holder end on THAT PARTICULAR COPY once the
copy has been sold to them.§ 109. Limitations on exclusive rights: Effect of transfer of
particular copy or phonorecord40(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3), the owner of a
particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any
person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority
of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the
possession of THAT copy or phonorecord.
(Emphasis is mine)
The first purchaser may sell, swap, give, share ONLY THE ORIGINAL COPY, NOT COPIES and be 100% within the law.
If you find anyone doing this, whether or not it's your pattern, for the protection afforded all of us, you can do what I do: send a copy of that PTO statement. When I've seen them on eBay and write, they've removed the listing themselves.
What they may NOT do is make copies for sale or sell the pattern as if it is their own work.
That's what I do; have them hosted on tupics and put that into the code.
This looked as if they now charged. I'll attempt to list tomorrow if it moves long a little faster - Thx Chrissi!
Is that water or distance in the background?
If nothing else, it indicates that your land is not flat! THAT I envy you for!!!!
Early in the week I started to list my next auction but was unable to finish it then. Usually, when you open up the Sell option, it asks if you want to start a new auction or finish the one you started.
Well, that's gone - there's a whole new page. I'm sure it looks more user-friendly to someone just starting out but I could go pretty quickly through posting. Now it's all new again and even on broadband it takes 2 - 3 minutes for every click-through to open the each & every next step.
I scrolled on down to the bottom of the page and it looks as if the three (?) formerly separate pages of options to fill in are now combined into one.
But what caught my attention was the Image loading.
First picture Free. 12 Remaining. 15¢ each.
What tha..???!!!!!! You mean we have to pay $1.50 for 15 images??!!!! And that we're limited to 13 images????
If you used eBay's photo services you used to pay - now everyone pays?
Tell me I'm wrong and missing a vital link somewhere! None of the little "?" Help buttons worked.
While it may still be cheaper than travel & show expense, and mag ads - this is insane!! I'm TO-d!!!
Someone who's listed in the last day or so - can you please set me straight?
I forgot to add this bit on - when you're stitching mohair or any other fabric w/o the white grid, just remember the size of your sts through long pile: they should always be the same length as with that fabric and tensioned to not pucker the fabric anywhere.
I also sealed just my cutting lines before cutting out. That allowed me a flexible yet sealed edge, as I sewed right next to the edge. Even stuffing firm/hard there were never weak spots, popped seams or sts showing.
Thx Jodi - Me too!
now I tell bidders that I completely understand that if they do want to sell it, please email me and I will send a disk with good pictures on it.
If it's been taken care of, I want it to look as good as the day it left my hands.
All MY feedback is and always has been open to look at, except the two private auctions I had when I was seeing how that worked as many artists do use this feature,
On one's Feedback page, Private Auctions hide only the item # and the final bid.
The Buyer's ID is posted, but no link to what item was purchased.
And several times, I have seen those same bears come back onto Ebay some months or even a year later and they make a fraction of what they originally sold for.
Many collectors attempt to sell items they'd previously urchaesd. It shows that almost no one is doing their homework: except for a VERY very few bears, there is NO secondary market!!!
I hadn't heard of the "power letters' before either
Haven't you heard the newscasters' stories on why drugs have names like Nexxium and Zocor (sp?)?
There are about 4 - 5 consonants that're considered Powerful. And doubling them is supposed to make them even stronger sounding.
You go, Gurl!!!
We can all learn from each other's experiences!!!
MOs at my bank are running between $15 & $35 US.
I refuse to use them. Banks alreasy get enough in fees. I'd rather do without.
And that's been called Cutting Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face, but withthe web, there's always someone else ready to sell if you look. I'd rather spend Time than Money.
I'll have a look for the samples and LYK when I post pix.
Those handsome bears pix were all taken by DH in Vienna anfd his cousin vacationing in Alaska! I'm very proud of them both. Keeping it 'in house' I didn't need to ante up for Royalties!!
And Shelli turned them into banners, using textures that I photographed & Photoshopped, from in the yard and around the house.
Great Collaboration!!
I have done shows in Alberta, BC and 3 or 4 in Ontario
I remember The Tax Man appearing as far back as 99 & 00, in both BC (Cathy & Ruth shows) and in ON.
Here in the States it depends on the State: some visit every show & some never appear, you just receive the paperwork in your vendor packet. Some came near the end of the day and you paid the city, county & state taxes before you got out the door!
Try figuring all of those different percentages out when you're dead on your feet and croaking like a frog from a few days of talking non-stop...
Definitely - Ears & Pricing!!! Oh and Bookkeeping . OK, that's 3....
For those with problems doing Ladder stitching, I come from a knitting background and learned a better way of placing the Sts than the normal shaping that bear makers show. Factoids are things seen in print and accepted as the truth, whether or not it is. That's how I view the usual sketches of Ladder stsitching. I'll have to look up the samples I made for my accrediting as a teacher for the APNR, Amer. Prof. Retailers' Assn. to show pix.
Are you familiar with the size of the squares on the back of the vintage long pile? I''ve just measured several pieces and they average between 28 squares running with the nap and 32 squares across the grain.
It's always been said that using 1 row of backstitch is the strongest seam, providing the sts are entering or exiting each hole. (That has been carried a bit to the extreme sometimes, as sections on the bias will actually flare out like rippled crepe paper if sts are too close and not pulled snugly enough) But basically it's a matter of 2 steps (squares) forward and 1 step back.
'Snugly enough' means keeping the fabric at the same length or tension that an unstitched piece has.
I averaged 20 - 25 sts per inch, so I wasn't hitting every hole but darned close to it. A single strand of good strong polyester thread, (not poly-covered cotton or cotton-covered ploy which will fray the first layer off w/the repetitive stitching) like Metrosene Plus or Guttermann's. I could thread the needle and get 2 full pieces stitched with the same length of thread - I just hated stopping and rethreading! I also stuff 'hard' and if anything would cause sts to show, that does!
I used # 8 & 10 Embriodery needles, which aren't especially thin or short like those tiny little expensive ones - big hands here and I need a needle I can hold on to. But careful placements and just-right tension of the ss - no stitches showing along the seamlines.
The problems that I've seen with going around the seams twice are that the sts still do not hit every single spot (square).
And unless you stitch along the exact line again, you run the risk of the sts from one of the passes showing, thinking that a second row will tension what might've been missed in the first pass.
Half a dozen times around a piece only increases the problem, as you now have a huge gob of stitching, w/o having one clean 'break' line for spreading the seam allowance apart on the wrong side while stuffing. They should be spread or you risk having the look of a flat-felled seam, i.e., have you ever had the fur along a gusset - especially just above the eye at the greatest amount of curve - absolutely not want to have the nap flow smoothly away from the seam?
On one side of the seam, the lower side of a flat-felled seam, the pile lays flat to the head while opposite along the seam and just past it, the nap flares out at least 90°? And you see the backing through the fur along this flared out spot? Being long pile won't hide this mistake. This is, in effect, an unstsitched flat-felled seam, like the side seam of your jeans where both seam allowances are flattened over to one side. The only way to correct the smooth flow of the pile/nap is to unstuff the area and spread the seam allowances apart, holding them in place with careful positioning of stuffing.
It can be used to advantage when you want the pile to look as if the 'hair has been parted' but it's usually caused as the effect of hasty stuffing.
I grin in rememberance of attending shows in the 90s; Sundays were usually pretty dead and all artists had time to chat with their fellow artists. Twice I was chatting with artists who were known for their kits. As we stood chatting on both of these occasions, they were sewing - - with great big galloping sts on the fabric of new models. As if, "It's on the inside and who cares as long as it looks OK when I'm done."
Obviously, it made me feel quite superior!! Conceited thing I was/am!!! Those 2 instances are exactly why I have the quote on my site about Mom & Grandma insisting that "it look as good on the inside as the outside."
They checked!! Oh, the perfect non-puckering darning I had to do, and the handmade French seams....
I feel as if I'm a (VERY proud) Charter Member of Bear-Artists-Online!! I just posted another Topic and plugged Penny shamelessly, to find that others already have!
CONGRATULATIONS again Penny; you do wonderful work. You may never get back to those grumbling bear heads!!!
I'm thrilled to announce that I have some new web work to bring to the Bear world!
My long overdue website overhaul is nearing its end - the permanent url is
http://www.BeyondBasicBears.com
updated for anyone still having the older hyphenated link.
I'm asking for the exchange of Links, too!
If you've ever thought you'd like to experience Needle Felting, this may just be the incentive you need!
There are 2 kits posted on my site as Free Needle Felting Instructions.
I once retailed these kits but now would like to invite everyone to try this fascinating Fiber Art form by following the instructions.
I have always had special needle discounts are for my fellow listees.
I've also subscribed to the exciting new Artist Bear site by Penny Davis
http://www.bear-artists-online.com/index.html
click on my name for my personal page.
Penny does amazing web design and will soon be adding more even sparkle to my new site.
Thank you viewing!
Warmest regards,
Bobbie Ripperger
http//:www.BeyondBasicBears.com
Perennial Artsit Dichotomy: Shoulds vs Wants
"I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping, still my guitar gently weeps."
While My Guitar Gently Weeps 1968© George Harrison
I posted one of my faves - Oatmeal - on another thread.
Here's the pic I made that day:
No gooey, gluey mess for me - chewy individuially plumped up flakes. Milk and a bit of brown sugar for a caramely flavor. I think I'll have to go make a bowl now!
I'd never heard of lemon and sugar on pancakes, until I was sent this link last year. It's one of our grandkids' favorites to watch:
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/08/26/mot … -pancakes/
and just found this one yesterday for Carrot cake
http://jumboempanadas.blogspot.com/2007 … n-one.html
Does this girl know how to make Samples or not??!!
LOL - after PMing you today, I'm not going to bother replying to your oroginal query about your pattern turning out like a monkey; you've dickered enough to have taken out some of the high forehead and found that lost neck. I'd be holding the stuffed muzzle in one hand whil rounding out the cheeks and jaw line w/more stuffing.. but that's just me.
Just as the Anime style has been called The Upside Down Head look, your angular look has a nice feeling, especially with your unique rectangular ears! Loads of artists started just this way, with one detail that is an original idea of theirs. It's pretty hard to come up w/something that hasn't been done before!
I use lots of Liquitex and this one makes nice 3-D works right onto a piece of clear cling film.
Shape it with improvised or sculpting tools, let it dry a day or two, peel it off and it's ready to use.
Teeny, tiny noses - 1/8" and smaller, tinier toe pads......
tonight its really quite bad it feels hot and stiff, i cant bend it all the way and it feels tight...
As advised before, only your DR and Xray/MRI can see the differences your body is making, but hot, stiff and slight swelling in the knee is what first sent to the orthopedic surgeon.
Arthroscopy cleaned up the back of the patella (knee cap) 30 years ago, buying me a little more time until I got to the replacement point a year ago.
New knees! LV EM!!!
from the www.boingboing site: (Love the 'dip their beaks' - new for 'their hand in your pocket'...)
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Ripoff: Visa/Mastercard's "Foreign transaction fee"
I just got off the phone with Citibank after noticing a bunch of "Foreign Transaction Fees" on my bank statement -- turns out that when you use your credit or debit card outside of the US, Visa and Mastercard charge three percent in transaction fees on the spend. It doesn't matter if you use an ATM, buy over the Internet/phone, or walk into a store -- the credit-card companies always dip their beaks. When you pay your hotel bill, when you buy a plane ticket, every time you use Amazon.uk to order a British release (Citibank told me that they even charge the fee when I withdraw from my Citibank US account while at a Citibank UK ATM, using Citibank's own network!).
What makes this such a rip-off is that the credit-card companies already charge a fee -- up to five percent! -- to the merchants for processing the transaction. So Mastercard and Visa are getting a slice from the store, and a slice from the customer. In a global marketplace, Mastercard and Visa are acting like letting you spend your own money is a special service deserving its own fee.The Citibank rep I spoke to told me that the fee used to be one percent, and that it was hidden on the credit-card bills, but that in 2006, the fees tripled and Citi started to break them out on the bill so you could see how badly you're getting hosed.
I called up Citibank UK and asked them if I was charged any fees when I used my Citibank UK debit card outside of Britain that they told me that no, Citibank UK customers are spared this particular screw-job from the credit-card companies.
When you add it all up, the credit-card companies must be making billions off of American customers -- and all the while they're double-dipping, charging the merchants, too. Link
Update: Steve sez, "Most UK banks will tax you if you take money out of a foreign ATM or use the card abroad (Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, Barclays). Barclays does something truly bad: if you buy foreign currency or travellers cheques *in the UK* they hit you with the handling fee, even though they are not even converting the money. Take the money out of the ATM outside the post office and pay in cash, and you save. Not only is there no moral justification for this, its an odd trend. Imagine if banks started charging you more for alchol or eating out compared to supermarket purchases.
"Nationwide and Citibank are the unusual banks in that they don't make up a bogus fee and stick it on your cards when you go abroad.
"This shows that:
1. its a bank thing, not a Visa fee
2. its entirely optional
3. they do it, because they can get away with it."Consider encouraging your UK readers to open up an account with Nationwide just for routing money abroad."
Update 2: Matt Gross sez, "I’m a travel writer for the New York Times, and I got a Capital One Visa card specifically because it was the only one I could find that does not charge a foreign transaction fee. Of course, they give me loads of other problems (like freezing my account every time I actually charge something overseas), but at least I don’t have to pay an extra 3 to 5 percent!"
Matt Goff sez, "I'm moving to London from the US in April, so I've been researching the credit card f/x transaction fees issue. Bankrate.com has a good summary of what ten major US banks charge for credit card, debit card, and ATM transactions in foreign currencies."
Michael Miller sez, "Wells Fargo is another American culprit bank for Foreign Currency Transaction fees. I've been living in Aotearoa (New Zealand) for 5 years now and a couple of years ago Wells Fargo started charging the 3% foreign currency transaction fee. 3% can add up to a lot of money if you're traveling abroad, especially when you add on Wells Fargo's $5 foreign ATM fee on top of it.
"I still need an American account for investments and a retirement account from my first job so last time I was in America I joined up with a local credit union which charges hardly any fees and only a 1% foreign currency transaction fee. The best advice I can give though is if you're working in large sums of money it's still best to open up an account at a good bank in a foreign country and transfer the money directly into the account.
"Truly American credit unions are a savior in a land of high fee thief banks. The idea that people can gather together and work in a non-profit way to make their lives better is a model that others needing essentials services should emulate. If America isn't going to offer universal healthcare for it's citizens then they should band together and make non-profit health care insurance unions. If there's one area of life that needs a non-profit union of citizens more than banking it's definitely health care."
posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:40:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments
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kind of clueless as to how much or how small the grain?? Does it even matter what kind of glass beads? I mean, would you use steel shot and glass beads in one bear or just one of them? I thought i started my bear out good but feel a little overwhelmed.
I'd say the size of Luann's SS is about the same as coarse groud pepper.
And these are best for minis.
With a 13+" bear, you might be better served to use the larger ss shot, or otherwise coated beads and glass. The purpose it to place it in particular sections to give a nice weight: in the bottom of the body and lower legs helps it sit & stand better than fiber stuffing alone.
And you shouldn't feel overwhelmed - you've come to a place wth the best of the best as fellow members! Flip that feeling around and see all of the possiblities that these ideas & answers are opening to you.
Your only problem is going to be writing down all of your ideas and TIME to work through all of them!!
