I know a lot of people buy my stitch guides and I greatly appreciate it. I love being able to teach long distance to all my customers around the country. A few weeks ago, I saw someone post a picture on Needlepoint Nation of a piece they were working on, which was clearly my guide. Not just the stitches, but the exact threads, as well. All well and good that I wasn’t given credit for the guide, however, something didn’t sit right with me. I had never heard of this stitcher before. And for those of you who know me personally, you know I never forget a name once I’ve seen it in print. My photographic memory is a bitch sometimes. LOL!
So, I did some digging through my computer system at the shop to see if she was a customer. Nope. Then I thought, maybe the guide was purchased in the online store which is a different system so I checked there, as well. Nope . . .not there. It is not a guide that I sell wholesale so I would have records of every purchase of this guide in my systems. So, obviously this guide had been illegally copied, hence the copyright clearly indicated on each page of my guides. Copyright can get complicated. But, the simple definition is that it is illegal to reproduce someone else’s intellectual property. Simply put, you CAN’T make a copy.
I work really hard to create so many stitch guides. I do actually try to make a living doing this needlepoint thing . . .and it’s not easy. This isn’t the first time I’ve run into this problem, but I never wanted to address it here on the blog. I like to keep the blog fun and light, but I just can’t keep quiet any more.
I’ve debated about purchasing very expensive paper that is copy proof, but that would raise the cost of guides significantly. I don’t want to do that to all of the honest people out there. And I know most of you are. But all it takes, in whatever the situation, is one bad egg to ruin it for everyone.
I encourage everyone to be respectful of all of the stitch guides writers out there. Please don’t make a copy for a friend, or buy two canvases and one guide. Shop owners aren’t stupid when people do that. But it’s hard for us to say anything because we’re afraid the complaints will go viral on Facebook.
It is hard work keeping track of everything we do in a piece and writing it up so that it makes sense. . .let alone coming up with all the stitches and thread choices to begin with. But that’s the fun part. Sometimes I feel like I’m still in college and have to write reports for every project I finish. LOL!
I decided to put stitch guides on sale in the online store over the next few days. Use the discount code
guide20
at the checkout and you will receive 20% off any guide in our online store now through July 4th.
Click here to hop on over to the online store.
I trust you all to respect copyright when you purchase my guides or guides from any stitch guide writer. The guides in our online store are emailed to you with a link to download the file. You won’t receive a paper copy in the mail. The discount can only be applied at the time of purchase so make sure you enter the code. I can’t apply the discount later if you forget. The system won’t let me do that. Copyright also means that you CAN’T email a copy to anyone either.
Sorry I derailed from the usual fun here on As the Needle Turns. I promise I’ll resume as normal. LOL!
I also wanted to try out a new ribbon floss in the shop that’s red, white and blue. I used that in the center circle. I love the effect!
