A message about copyright

Hello all.

This post isn't directly about leathercraft but I do think it is a helpful thing to know about.  Copyright law in the US (and I'll be speaking strictly in terms of the US as that is all I remotely familiar with) can seem a complicated thing.  When you get right down to it, it is rather simple.  If someone else came up with it, don't copy it.  Where it gets complicated is in the details and interpretation.

Two quick notes here at the beginning.

1. I AM NOT A LAWYER.  So please do not take any of this as direct legal advice.  If you have questions seek professional help. Got it?  Good.  You may continue.

2. I'm speaking mostly in terms of if you are trying to sell your leather goods.  If you are just a hobbyist making stuff for yourself, family, friends, or gifts then by all means go bananas.  When you want to sell something though, then you are entering murky waters.

Sometimes copyright law is easy.  Dave Matthews Band has a design called the "Firedancer" that has been the bands symbol almost since day one.  Don't put that design on anything you make.  Easy enough.  Where it gets tricky is where the design isn't as recognizable or is basically just a doodle that is easy to unknowingly copy.  Or if some came up with a bag design or wallet design then it is hard to know if you are infringing on their rights.  Chances are, in that last example, you are fine as long as the bag is different enough.  There is only so many ways you can stitch together a bag.

But to make it easier on yourself, if you know someone else came up with the design or the template, don't use it.  Period.  Now does that mean if you see a type of bracelet or wallet on Etsy or some other site and you want to make it for yourself that is fine.  And if you make it and it gives you an idea on how to make a bracelet a different way then you have your own, new idea.  (Here is where MY lawyer is requesting I add in again that you should NOT take any of this as legal advice.  When in doubt, seek out a copyright lawyer and ask away.)

Why am I bringing this up?  Well, two reasons.  First I felt it something I should talk about and second it's because I'm a schmuck and didn't know this and almost got myself in deep water.  Here is what happened:

I can't go into too much detail but basically a lot of what I was selling had logos of popular nerd culture icons.  I was under the (FALSE) impression that if it is hand made, then you are not violating copyright law. (VERY FALSE)  So I was knocking these leather goods out and making a (VERY) small amount of money in the process.  Long story short, one of the companies that owned the copyright to one of the designs I was "borrowing" sent a cease and desist.  Once I knew I was in the wrong I immediately halted all sale of copyrighted material and prayed that was the end of it.  Apparently it was, as that was the last I heard of it.  So lesson learned.

Now custom work is another story.  If someone contacts you and wants you to put a design of copyrighted material on their custom item, that is territory I'm not familiar with.  So again, if this happens, seek out a copyright lawyer.  If I find out a definitive answer then I will update this post.

Well I wanted to get something on here since there has been such a long time since I have posted anything.  I hope this was informative and as always, drop me a line.

Happy crafting!  

Time Flies . . .

 . . . while everything else goes crazy.  I'm still here.  I haven't fallen off the Earth.  Not yet anyway.  I just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm working on getting some things in here soon.  How soon, well if you go by my current timeline, sometime around the tricentennial.

Kidding aside, I do have plans, they are coming, and I wanted to let you know what's up.  The long and the short of it, I lost my "day" job.  I was laid off and I had to scramble for another job.  So I did thankfully.  During all of this I also decided to pursue a passion of mine, voice acting.  So all of this has been taking up my time and I haven't had time to break down and work with leather.  But I haven't forgotten about you.  I plan to try and post something once a month.  And for those of you who are a fan of the Etsy shop, we aren't going away.  I plan on putting some stuff up there too.  I will keep everyone posted as things come up.

As always, thank you for sticking with me and drop me a line.  Take Care!

I promise I will get back to projects soon . . .

With everything going on I haven't been working on leather as much as I would like.  But we have put the store back together and we are having a Summer Sale to celebrate!

When you purchase anything from our store in the next two weeks you can type either:

SUMMERFUN to get 25% off your entire order

or

SUMMERSAVINGS to get FREE SHIPPING

You just need to type those in the coupon code field.

Thanks for sticking with me and as always let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Crafting!

New Items on The Store

Just wanted to let you all know that we have put some new stuff on the store. As always, more to come. Thanks for reading!

When will Then be Now . . . .

 . . . .now actually.

The store is open!  Currently there are only a few items on the store but that is going to change in the coming days.  I also am working on a project that will be featured here and . . .elsewhere.  More details to come.  Thanks for sticking with me and I'm really excited about what's to come!

Our Store!

As always, drop me a line if you have any questions.

Happy Crafting!

Coming Soon!

Hello everyone!  We are back from our vacation and settling back into normality.  Well, relative normality, as my wife is still diligently looking for a job.  She has a few nibbles at the line and we are waiting to hear if anything comes of them.  In the mean time I'm working to start back up with this blog and the store.  I'm not ready just yet to open the store back up but I'm working on it.  I'm guessing we will be back open in a few weeks.

(NOTE:  If there is a development in regards to a potential move or what have you this obviously will change the timeline.  In any case I will make sure to keep everyone posted as to what is happening.)

One more thing before I let you go.  I have something in the works that I'm really excited about.  I still have to work out some kinks in the formula but if it works I think you all will really like it.  Basically I came up with an idea that I really think could work.  I may even get a "Kickstarter" going to help build some capital.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Thanks again for sticking with me.  You guys are awesome!

Some Rambling . . .

Hello again.  I figured since I have posted on our Etsy Site, Facebook Page, Twitter, and Google+ page I should probably fill you guys in as well. . . .

Here is the deal.  We put our site "On Vacation."  It's a cute way of saying "Temporarily Closed."  We are coming back though.  Emphasis on temporary.  In fact we are not really gone.  I'm still here.  I plan on being here for awhile.   (You might not know it from my lack of activity on this blog but I am here.  More on that later.)  So if you have questions, thoughts, ideas, gripes, or whatever send them on to me and I will be happy to respond.  For those of you wondering here is what is going on:

Life.

As I've said elsewhere this isn't a bad thing.  On the contrary good things are happening.  Basically my wife just finished grad school yesterday.  We are all very excited for her but it made for a bit of a stressful go for a couple of months.  Her constantly studying and me picking up slack (which I happily did) to make sure she could continue to study until her professors told her to stop.  (Which considering she finished yesterday should be sometime in August.)

So her graduation ceremony is in two weeks.  Family is coming into town and staying with us (so my leather shop will be someone's dresser for a week) and we have a lot planned for that.  Not to mention a close friend of ours is also finishing Nursing School and is becoming and RN so there is a lot celebrating and alcohol consumption in our future.  (For those that dislike alcohol I'll pretend it's root beer.)

That is the fun side of things but there is also a practical consumer of our time.  Now my wife is in a search of a job.  She is applying all over the United States.  From what her "career counselors" in her grad program tell us, the busy interview time is also in the next three weeks.  And considering she has applied to many positions already we are expecting (hoping) she starts to get calls for interviews.  I'm sure you are asking what that has to do with my leather work.  Putting aside all the family events in the near future (in addition to a real vacation that we are going on the first week of June) my wife is a big part of the store.  Not only does she make stuff for the shop but she also handles a lot of the business side of things.  While I'm OK at that part and can hold my own, it wouldn't be a good idea with all this stuff going on.  I would not be able to give my customers the attention they deserve.  I don't want to risk upsetting a customer just because I wanted to keep the shop open all year around.

Now if she gets a job near our home then I will be able to open the shop right after we get back from our real vacation and everything will be great.  But if she gets a job that requires us to relocate then that will entail a whole new set of challenges.  I didn't want to have 9 unfulfilled orders in the balance while we figure out how to move to Alaska or wherever.  Why am I explaining myself?  Because I feel you should know why I would do something like this.  I want you to know that I had a good reason to put my shop on hold.

I also wanted to inform you of this because I thought I would pass along a little bit of my philosophy and the way I do things.  In my "real" life I work for a great company.  A phenomenal company really.  A couple of years back they sent me on a seminar called "95 Share."  I could write up five to ten blog posts about this seminar but it was unlike any business seminar I have ever attended.  I recommend it.  To make a long story short the whole point of the seminar is to treat your customers, your coworkers, your employees, everyone you come into contact with right.  Treat them right.  Do right by them and they will do right by you.  Don't tell them how great you are, show them.  Simple concept.  It works.  When I started my shop I used this philosophy and it has worked.  It generates more business but that is just a side benefit.  (The guy that runs the seminar would argue with me on whether it is a side benefit thing or the whole point but stick with me.)  It just makes you feel good.  Even if the customer is driving you crazy with off the wall questions and requests when all is said and done, if you treated that customer right, then you feel good.  So do they.  It just works.

Shifting gears one last time I want to apologize for the lack of activity on the site here.  About a month ago I received some bad news that disheartened me for a little bit.  Nothing Earth shattering or anything.  But it was bad news that directly related to my leather work.  I can't get into details but ultimately it made me want to take a break from leather.  I still filled orders and went through the motions but I had lost the desire to lock myself in my workshop and work on new ideas.  This also aided in my interest in this blog.  I do want to point out this has nothing to do with the current shop situation.  The last few weeks I have wanted to get back into the workshop but I just haven't had the time.  Every day the urge grows.  So look out for more stuff.

Well I have rambled on long enough.  Thanks for stopping by.  As always, send me any questions you have and Happy Crafting!