Copycat Crafters - 5 steps to protecting your work

As a crafter you spend hours dedicated to making beautiful unique items. So finding out that someone else has stolen your idea can be heartbreaking.

on the 1st of October 2014 the Intellectual Property Act 2014 came into force. This means that it is now a criminal offence to intentionally copy a registered design.

In today's world of Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram It's difficult to protect your ideas, but there are ways that you can reduce the chances of someone poaching your intellectual property (IP).


First lets talk a little about Intellectual property rights.

It is possible to own the intellectual property of;

• something you have designed.
• something you have invented.
• the name of your product or a brand.
• something you have written or produced.

Step 1 - Protect your name and logo

Your brand is possibly the single most important part of your business. It encompasses the combined reputation, standard and quality of your enterprise. The last thing you want is to find out that someone has been riding on the coat tails of your brands success by imitating it.

You can search to find out if your business name is available to register as a trade mark and apply HERE. 

Step 2 - Protect your designs

These are classed as "design rights" and automatically protect your 3D designs from 10 years after they were first sold or 15 years after they were created. 

if your design is 2D, for example a fabric or wallpaper then you MUST register them to be protected. 

You can register your 2D designs HERE.

Step 3 - Protect your images

I have written a much more detailed article regarding how to protect your images HERE. 

Step 4 - Protect your data.

This may not seem that important. But remember that all of your product research, images, passwords and written content is most likely saved on your computer.

80% of cyber attacks could have been avoided by taking steps such as updating anti-virus software. IPO, IP Basics 2016

To protect your designs you must first protect your computer.

Step 5 - What to do when you find someone using any of your IP

If someone is using your IP on Facebook

If they are selling through a group then report the post to the group admins and to Facebook. 

You can do this by clicking the downward facing arrow to the top right of the post and selecting "Report Post".

If they keep using your IP than you can escalate the issue to Facebook directly HERE.

If someone is using your IP on Etsy

Report IP infringement to Etsy HERE. 

If someone is using your IP on their own website

It is much more difficult to implement an IP notice on a website. This is because website hosing providers are not held responsible for the content held within the sites that they host. You can try to report infringement to Wordpress etc, but as they are not legally liable it is unlikely that they will do anything about it.

In this instance the only option you have is to contact the website owner yourself. Often the site owner has no idea that they are infringing copyright, and will be more than happy to credit any images that belong to you. 

If they refuse then you can enlist the help of a copy righter or a solicitor that has experience if working with IP infringement.

If someone is using your IP on Instagram

I have found a great article over on the Me & Orla blog all about what to do in the event of Instagram IP infringement.

Read it HERE.

For more information on where you can go to register your designs, click HERE.

5 steps to increasing organic reach on your Craft Business Facebook page

Social media had become a game changer. 15 years ago if you wanted to promote your craft business your options were things like; advertise in craft publications, attend craft fairs and give out business cards perhaps even have a radio ad. Now with platforms such as Facebook and Twitter it has never been easier to put your products in front of potential customers.

Facebook cottoned on to this and now provides the "boost" feature. For a modest fee you can have your ads placed right in front of potential buyers that fit in to the criteria that you have set.

But do you know the one thing better than cheap publicity? Free publicity!

The number of people that see your business is described as your "reach". The more people see your posts and share them, the more your reach will increase. 

So whats the best way to do this?

Here are 5 ways that you can increase your reach on Facebook without spending a penny.

1. Share content onto relevant groups.

Only sharing content on your own page is just preaching to the converted. You may get a couple of shares from people who already "like" your page, but your going to be waiting a long time to see your reach increase that way. 

Start sharing your content with Facebook groups that would find it interesting.
For example, if you specialise in making button frames you may want to share a picture of a recent commission on Crafting with Buttons

If you make Harry Potter inspired book folds then you may want to share a picture onto Home made Harry Potter


2. Encourage interaction by asking questions.

If you put an interesting post on your page, someone may "like" it but that would probably be the end of it. 
If instead your asked a question, then someone may leave a comment answering it. Facebook ranks post with comments higher than that of those with just likes. Comments also work by "bumping" posts up to the top of the news feed meaning they are more likely to get seen.


3. Create "shareable" content.

Shareable content is something that the reader would think that other people would find interesting.
We've all see these posts on Facebook;

(Sorry for the naughty swearing)

This is a prime example of "shareable" content, because nearly everyone will know someone with their name on that list who will inevitably "tag" them and share the post.

By creating content that the readers friends and family will find interesting, you are encouraging them to press the "share" button. 

4. Leave the hashtags where they belong! #######

There's a time and a place for hashtags and Facebook isn't it. Facebook just doesn't like hashtags. If you can't bear to leave those scratches alone then use them very sparingly.

This info-graphic from Surepayroll demonstrates how using too many hashtags on Facebook can do your post more harm than good.

#just #don't #do #it

5. Don't be all about business.

If all you ever do is bombard people with images of the same woolly hat you have made in 20 different colours, your page will be getting "unliked" faster than you can blink. Keep the content fresh and engaging. Direct sales and marketing posts should only be making up about 50% of the content that you share. 

What are your customers other interests? If you make customised wool gloves then why don't you share that article you just saw about us being in for the coldest winter on record? If you sell bath bombs, then write a post asking people when was the last time they had a proper soaking session in the bath? Keep all content topical, relevant and consistent with your brand image.

I hope you find these tips useful. If you have any other queries as to how you can improve your Facebook business page then please get in touch, we love hearing from you!

Click the image below to be taken to our Facebook page.