Can she do this??? Etsy designer and my prints!

Benny618 · April 2013

So a co-worker created an image for me using my and Fi's thumbprints and turned them into the shape of a heart. We are using this image at various times at the wedding. I sent the image to an Etsy designer to use on some paper goods she made for us, and they came out great... perfect...

I just logged into facebook and the Etsy designer had posted a picture of someone elses paper goods to her page, using MY THUMBPRINTS! She changed the colors but it's clearly ours.

1, why would that couple want strangers thumb prints?
2, more importanly. can the Etsy designer do this??? She doesn't own the rights to that image and it's really creepy to me that she is using my thumb prints at her own discrection!

MuppetFan · April 2013

Ask her to remove it.

OliveOilsMom · April 2013

First, be flattered that someone liked your idea so much that they wanted it for themselves. Second, talk to the Etsy designer and ask her to not use your image any further and to delete all copies of it from her computer.

You gave her the image, she probably thought that she could use it as she wanted. Unless you specifically told her to NOT use the image on anything other than your items, I don't really see the etsy seller being in the wrong.

KnotIrene · April 2013

That's an image that has been around for a while with I-don't-know-who's thumbprints. If you are sure the ones used are yours, Muppet's right, the first step is to ask her to remove them.

s-aries8990 · April 2013

Is she using them as portfolio pieces? Most "designers" of any kind that I know (Marketing, Comotology, Construction, Art) use pieces they've created/worked on, including commissions, as part of their professional portfolio.

Did she have you "accept" terms and conditions that included a release? If you accepted a release, you can't really do much.

Your may be the only thumb prints she has and is using them as part of her marketing material. She may have combined your image with dummy information and printed it out so its a real, tangible production piece, not just a digitally rendered representation of what she could do (those don't sell nearly as well).

I'd contact her and inquire, but don't go attacking her until you can prove that you she is in fact wrong.

Maggie0829 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_can-she-do-this-etsy-designer-and-my-prints?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:14Discussion:66ed577b-32bb-4e88-bf88-52a9eb4ea9ddPost:b2343871-0808-47eb-882b-1c2a7280179f">Re: Can she do this??? Etsy designer and my prints!</a>:
[QUOTE]That's an image that has been around for a while with I-don't-know-who's thumbprints. If you are sure the ones used are yours, Muppet's right, the first step is to ask her to remove them.
Posted by Knot Irene[/QUOTE]

This. I have seen that image of two fingerprints put together to make a heart a lot. Are you positive that it was your fingerprints? And if so I don't really see the big deal of her using it but if you don't want her to then ask her to take it down.

Benny618 · April 2013

This is my thumb print on my listing:https://img0.etsystatic.com/013/0/22268749/icm_fullxfull.24532168_dofnbxsvb74s08owo0cs.jpg

This is a listing for someone else, using my image and advertising the thumb print design in the description:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/130071863/reserved-for-nicky-wedding-door-hangers?ref=shop_home_active

This is the picture she posted on her facebook page, using our thumb print. You can see the lines and fading are in the exact same spot:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10151467772379678&set=a.10150635642504678.395503.101141004677&type=1&theater

Am i nuts?? Tell my I'm nuts and those are totally different.

Benny618 · April 2013

I am hardly claiming the idea to be my own, I got it from seeing it all over Pinterest. My problem is that a graphic designer made the image for me, AND if I have learned anything from Law and Order our fingerprints are our identiy. I just think it's weird to think she is using it however she feels to. I did not sign a release for her to use the image.

Maggie0829 · April 2013

Ok, well then simply email her or call her and ask her to please take down the items with your image on it and to no longer use your image for any listings. This isn't that hard and it certainly isn't life or death.

Benny618 · April 2013

Ok I will email her. I certainly don't think it's life or death but I just was curious if this was normal for Etsy and if it was something the designers were just allowed to do.

Obviously I was joking about the law and order comment, but I do think it's a bit creepy to think of my fingerprints being used wherever, whenever... it was not my intention and I will let the designer know that. Thanks for your advice on that.

Yes those are the thumbprints I saw online when I got the idea, of course none of those are MINE (which is why I didn't use them as my own).

MissMolly · April 2013

Honestly, I don't know if she can do this, as I have limited experience with ETSY's policies. However, I'm a graphic artist, and if I had put together something like that for someone else, I know that I wouldn't be able to use it for anyone else.

That being said, we're doing the same thing (thumbprint heart) on some of our stuff. What I actually did was the quick-and-dirty thing: I Googled "vector thumbprint", and used those. I totally cheated because it isn't either of our thumbprints. However, I didn't have that amount of time to Photoshop our own!

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_can-she-do-this-etsy-designer-and-my-prints?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:66ed577b-32bb-4e88-bf88-52a9eb4ea9ddPost:fd0b52fa-8c30-4142-bc5e-0c08ff57627b">Can she do this??? Etsy designer and my prints!</a>:
[QUOTE]So a co-worker created an image for me using my and Fi's thumbprints and turned them into the shape of a heart. We are using this image at various times at the wedding. I sent the image to an Etsy designer to use on some paper goods she made for us, and they came out great... perfect... I just logged into facebook and the Etsy designer had posted a picture of someone elses paper goods to her page, using MY THUMBPRINTS! She changed the colors but it's clearly ours. 1, why would that couple want strangers thumb prints? 2, more importanly. can the Etsy designer do this??? She doesn't own the rights to that image and it's really creepy to me that she is using my thumb prints at her own discrection!
Posted by Benny618[/QUOTE]

allychase · April 2013

They honestly look like someone put paint on a sponge and applied it to paper. The one on FB doesn't even look like real fingerprints.

Can she do this??? Etsy designer and my prints!

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