# Boycott Grandin Road



## Dr. Phibes (Nov 10, 2010)

Does it cost much to copyright something? I have no idea....seems to be a rip off scenario regardless.


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## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

I'm not sure. I've always heard that it is much more difficult to copyright art as opposed to the written word, but I really have no idea about that.


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

Dr. Phibes said:


> Does it cost much to copyright something? I have no idea....seems to be a rip off scenario regardless.


It is more confusing than anything else (I couldn't make heads nor tails of the list when attempting just a quick read-through), although the cost can go up into the hundreds depending on what one wishes to do, which can be a bit steep for the common person. http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html

As long as someone makes at least minor modifications, all is fair in marketing products, or so I have heard; if a company markets a _direct_ replica, on the other hand, that's when the trouble begins and there _can_ be legal ramifications.


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## HauntedDiva (Oct 1, 2009)

Seems the faceless ghost isn't Grandin Roads rip off, but someone else's that they purchased from. Improvements is selling the same thing. http://www.improvementscatalog.com/...264907?defattrib=&defattribvalue=&listIndex=1


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## Scatterbrains (Nov 16, 2008)

This is a touchy subject as there are a lot of folks here that copy other's work. I think the big deal is obviously someone making a profit off it. Yes it sucks...but walk through Walmart and look at the props they sell and you see a lot that someone in the haunt community built first. I've got pumpkins from Biglots that have a pumpkinrot look to them.I wouldn't doubt that a prop like the cauldron creep doesn't show up in stores in the next couple of years for a lot cheaper than what it's costing me to make mine.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Then there are the cheap knock-offs that come along a year or two after someone creates an expensive prop.


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## Kardec251985 (Jul 25, 2012)

Art is incredibly tough to copyright, if not near impossible, if small changes are made. In the case of the cloaked ghost design, I have seen that prop for at least a decade in various venues so it is probably in the public domain now. As for the William Bezek sculptures, they are a different story. The clothes are altered so the manufacturer can get away with saying that is their own creation. The faces are where copyright infringement comes in (if the artist copyrighted his work.) Bezek could argue that the manufacturer deliberately copied his sculptures and the effect on the faces was not just influenced by Bezek's creations--it fully recreates them. A judge may determine that the manufacturer deliberately stole the facial designs from Bezek in which case production will need to be stopped by the manufacturer & awards will need to be paid to Bezek.

It couldn't hurt to ask Grandin Road to stop carrying the sculptures stolen from William Bezek. On moral grounds I would refuse to buy anything from Grandin Road for seeking legal action against Bezek's blog post. Instead of handling the situation with care and tact, listening to how violated Bezek feels, they came out with guns a'blazin against the wrong guy. That's shameful.


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## blackfog (Oct 9, 2008)

Well said Kardec251985.......It is shameful......it is clear that those sculptures on the faces are identical to Bezek's, can only imagine how he feels.


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## diggerc (Sep 29, 2005)

The gentleman bears a striking resemblance to a certain Hitchhiking Ghost http://davelandweb.com/hauntedmansion/images/hitchhiking/HM_Disney_Cemetery4_detail.jpg that Disney would be interested in knowing about ,and here the female companion looks like this Disney design also from the Haunted Mansion.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff3/krazykarlboehm/Haunted Mansion/ghoulphoto2.jpg
And Disney just Loves when they feel their copyrights are infringed upon


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## MrNightmare (Mar 2, 2009)

Junit, I am glad you started this Thread...

I have been following PumpkinRot's post on this for the past week. As for GrandinRoad, they did not steal the design from Bezek, it was the vendor they bought from that did (according to the info on the blog). That being said, I am further disgusted that GrandinRoad had the audacity to threaten Bezek with legal action if he did not remove his post. GrandinRoad should make this right, at the very least, give Bezek credit. There is no question that his design was stolen, and they are making a profit from it.

GrandinRoad has really gone down hill in both quality and selection the past two years, and this just crosses the line.


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## Uruk-Hai (Aug 31, 2008)

I have a friend who works as a corporate copyright lawyer and the way he was explaining it to me was the copyright is the easy part. Once you create something copyright is yours - you don't have to register it or anything like that (diff. for trademarks or logos) HOWEVER it is the enforcement where it gets difficult and expensive. You might have a clear copyright to a design, proof to back it up and it will still be too expensive to fight it in the courts and so the other guys wins by default. Sucks.


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## Hilda (Jul 31, 2011)

What a bummer!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Uruk-Hai said:


> I have a friend who works as a corporate copyright lawyer and the way he was explaining it to me was the copyright is the easy part. Once you create something copyright is yours - you don't have to register it or anything like that (diff. for trademarks or logos) HOWEVER it is the enforcement where it gets difficult and expensive. You might have a clear copyright to a design, proof to back it up and it will still be too expensive to fight it in the courts and so the other guys wins by default. Sucks.


This is what I figured would happen. You can have all the copyrights in the world & proof, but unless you have Apple or Samsung kinda money (just google their recent case) it's just not worth the fight.

It happens all too often in the haunt community, it seem to be the nature of the beast. We all wanna share stuff & this may be the price we have to pay.


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## Kelloween (Jun 8, 2012)

W ell I can't say anything, I guess..when I paint something..I copy paint from old cards and such, but then again I am not in it for big profit or multiple productions and I do always say where I got the idea from. My son sells art but he watermarks it, My sister is a big doll maker on Ebay and she has been copied many times, there is really not much you can do she was told. I would never take someones ideas and claim them as my own though.


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

RCIAG said:


> This is what I figured would happen. You can have all the copyrights in the world & proof, but unless you have Apple or Samsung kinda money (just google their recent case) it's just not worth the fight.
> 
> It happens all too often in the haunt community, it seem to be the nature of the beast. We all wanna share stuff & this may be the price we have to pay.


So my idea about a spooky closet yard decor with a title "a politicians closet" and have skeltons falling out of it will be stolen?


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## The-Dullahan (Feb 26, 2011)

For the record, basically every home-made prop has a corporate counterpart that was designed after it. Some of them are actually superior to their home-made counterpart and have sold so well, many Forum members probably own some of them, without any knowledge they were ripoffs of someone else's custom design. It is hardly anything new.

That being said, this completely understand how the original artist has the right to be outraged. These are a little too close. In a way though, I guess the artist could even take it as a mild sort of annoying compliment, as imitation is the highest form of flattery.

On a side note, that faceless ghost is fantastic. The first one. The second one looks cheaper than the rubbish Walmart sells.


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## Pumpkinprincess (Aug 8, 2007)

This isn't a Grandin Road problem...it's the Halloween industry. Probably could expand it to Christmas decorations, etc. I know the faceless reaper is everywhere. I just saw it on the Shindigz site.

I don't like how Grandin Road is handling this, but they are not the first and won't be the last.

Most of us hang out of this very forum to gather ideas. I see many posters who have taken an idea and made money on etsy or ebay.


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## Gothikim (Jul 25, 2005)

Since the props in question were most likely made in China, there's not much to be done to make it right. Chinese companies rip off designs left and right, with impunity, because they are protected by the Chinese government and legal system. There are Chinese car manufacturers that rip of US and European car designs, almost bolt for bolt, and there's no recourse to be had. The Chinese legal system isn't very likely to hand down judgements in favor of US or European companies...

While there may be some sorriness on Grandin Road's part, the actual copying almost certainly occurred long ago in China. I bet there are hundreds of folks in China whose sole job is to troll American haunters' forums and websites for ideas to cheaply copy for the next year's Halloween product.


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