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Laurie Lou BearsI am now finishing a bear for a shop and I can't decide if he is ooak.I know we had a lengthy discussion on this before.I have made two bears and they are both the same size and pattern.They were made with the same fur and ultrasuede too.The only difference is that the first one had black glass eyes and a brown perle cotton nose and the second one has hand painted two tone blue eyes and a blue nose with a brown border around it.I really can't decide whether to call this one two of two or will he be one of one as he is not exactly the same as the first 
They were supposed to be the same but I just couldn't resist trying to see if I could make him nicer than the first!
I am hoping for a few suggestions on this.
Laurie :hug:
dusty attic bearsHi Laurie,
I think to be able to call a bear ooak it has to have 5 things that are different.I have been told this by a very well known teddy bear artist who has been making and selling bears for over 15 years. that is why it is so hard to sue over copy right.Someone could take one of my bears apart and use the pattern as long as they changed 5 things like eye colour, mohair colour,ear size , length of arm and legs etc. And I could do nothing about it.
Sucks but it can happen.
So ,back to your bear .I guess you could sell them as twins or brothers or something.
Sorry i've probaly been no help at tall. 
Hi Laurie..I think you have to decide ,does it look like the other bear...sometimes even the same pattern and fabric can end up totally different on two bears. I would always be careful about saying OOAK anyway ...just say something like ' an individually made bear from my own pattern design..'that covers it.
I hope it helps!!!!!
Strange BearsHI Laurie
Yes this has been discussed before and my comment to this was taken from the art world.....when an artists paints the same scene but at different times and seasons thay say it's "1 of a series". Which if you are using the same pattern but each is a bit different to me it is a "series".
I believe to be able to call it OOAK means you make only one bear from the pattern and then the pattern is either destroyed or you never use it again
Hugs
Gail
AlmostBearsi know im being an ignoramus but what does ooak stand for??(dont laugh too hard at me )
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)
ignoramus
No you're not if you can spell that!! LOL
It's a One Of A Kind.
I'm sending off a bear this week, for Bear Path's Feb Plum Club special. I'll post an unedited pic. I made one from the same image (Rob't Norlag (sp?)) but flipped the image this time. As NFing is always OOAK, byt quite similar, I too was wondering hoe to describe this...
AlmostBearsthanks for that and can i say your polar bears are incredible,unbelievable,amazing,fantastic......etc(you get the picture?)in other words i love them!!
For me, one of a kind describes something that doesn't look like a replication of another item. So, yes the basic pattern can be used and can be the same size, but it needs to look completely different from the original, so that the new owner knows they are getting an original concept for their money.
For example, I recently made three different bears (shown above) from the same fabric, but gave them all different treatments, so they look nothing like one another beyond sharing my 'All Bear' identity. The first two are both 20" and the third 15" ... I think each could be called one of a kind because none have been duplicated as replicas, although there are shared similarities, ie., the first two have the same body shape and limb shaping and are the same size, the first and last both have eyelids ... and so on.
By the way Bobby, that little picture of your polars sure is beautiful!! 
Laurie Lou BearsThanks for your helpful comments on this.Going by the five rule sounds a good idea as I noticed with your bears Paula there are around that many differences between each one and by doing that they do all look so different.I don't want the person who buys my bear to feel cheated if I labelled him as 1 of 1 so maybe I can think of something special to put on his label and next time I do this I will make sure I have enough differences so I don't have this ooak problem again :doh:
Thanks
Laurie :hug:
Melbourne, AustraliaHi Laurie,
My suggestion would be... OOAK in a series of two... OR... OOAK in an open series, if you plan to do more from this pattern
Laurie Lou BearsThanks Sandi.One of a kind in a series of two might just be the wording that I am after on this one.
Laurie :hug:
Canna Bear PaintI think to be able to call a bear ooak it has to have 5 things that are different.I have been told this by a very well known teddy bear artist who has been making and selling bears for over 15 years. that is why it is so hard to sue over copy right.Someone could take one of my bears apart and use the pattern as long as they changed 5 things like eye colour, mohair colour,ear size , length of arm and legs etc. And I could do nothing about it.
Uh, hate to say this, but that theory is totally false. At least, I know for a fact that it's false here in the US and Canada... and the search I just did online leads me to believe that the UK follows suit (someone correct me if the UK copyright office tells you otherwise). The theory of "change a certain number of things and it becomes mine" is an old copyright myth. I've heard it with "change 20%, change 50%, change 3 things, change 8 things", and so on. There is no magical number or percentage that makes it true.
If you create a pattern froms scratch, you own the copyright. If someone else takes the pattern, and changes however many things about it, that second pattern is a DERIVATIVE work off the first. The only person who can "own" the copyright to a derivative work is the person who owns the copyright to the original. There are absolutely no exceptions to this rule! I agree that it is hard to defend copyright in a case like this however, and derivative works I think tend to make for rather difficult court cases.
Best wishes,
Kelly
Pumpkin & Pickle BearsMost of my bears are from the same pattern which has been enlarged or made smaller - I often change the leg shape etc with each bear, but that's usually trying to 'perfect' the pattern!! Even though I use the same pattern I never use the same mohair/plush. I used to call mine OOAK but since the big topic on it here on TT I've started calling mine 'OOAK in a Series'....i.e. the same pattern is used but each bear is different from each other (in looks).
dusty attic bearsHi Kelly.
You may be right, I was just passing on what i have been told.I know that the person who told me had it happen to them. A large company from japan took one of their designs and changed a few things and sold them as their own.They made huge amounts of them and sold them as cheep, fax fur kids bears.When they looked into it , they were told that nothing could be done as a certin amount of things had been changed.
Maybe the law has changed since then.
Posts: 1,836This is why I decided to use the phrase "Original Design" for all of my works. OOAK seems so abused anymore (almost worn out ....where it looses all meaning) that I just didn't want to use the phrase. That's just me and my thought process on it all. I use a clear explanation on auction templates stating that patterns and fabrics may be used more than once but each creation takes on it's own individual look and will never be exactly duplicated unless clearly noted as a series, edition, etc. I felt this allowed me the creative license I wanted to have in my studio 
:hug:
~Chrissi
Chrissi, I think that's a great way of dealing with it! Like you, I think there is no clear framework for 'one of a kind and' and 'original design' covers things beautifully.
As NFing is always OOAK, byt quite similar, I too was wondering hoe to describe this...
I was wondering this too. My needlefelted bears resemble each other but I don't use patterns. So is it still OOAK? Or original? Maybe just handmade. I dunno.
Okay I just read the above post. I like "original design" best. I'll go with that.
To me "one of a kind" is just that- even using the same pattern, same fabric- if the eyes are not the same colour it is not the same , it is different.
Only if it is 100% the same, then it is identical.
When I have had to make 4 or even when I had to make 12 of a kind- yikes that was hard work, !!!!!! it sounds so easy but easier said than done.
With Paula's 3 bears- each one for me - is one of a kind.
With Bobby's needlefelted- each bear would be one of a kind- as noways could you get a needle felted bear to be 100% identical .
Lynette
Posts: 8,574
not even when I try..........sigh
One of these Sundays I am going to spend the whole day with my patterns and either throw them out or put them where they belong
Who set up the filing system?
Good question:
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Dilu - Love your 'stories'.
Has anyone else ever noticed that you can see a lot about a person's photo set-up by what's reflected in the eyes? (See Diane's first Golli pic)
We just have to keep in mind the famous teapot pix on eBay - I may have the details wrong, but the fellow's details were all reflected there.....
Has anyone else ever noticed that you can see a lot about a person's photo set-up by what's reflected in the eyes? (See Diane's first Golli pic)
That was the first thing I noticed! I was trying to see what was in the refection.
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)I would say that the first golli & bear are in a square or rectangular nylon 'light box' with a top opening - one light shining downward - and the photographer, in a great light blue shaded sweater is holding the camera up to their face.
The golli has a full lengthed dress on with litle black feet peeping out from under the hem, against the lt gold backdrop.
How close did I get????
