Register your Phats design in this msoPHATS Phats Design Register section to help prevent rip-offs (thefts) of your design. It's FREE. Just start a new thread http://mso1.cultureforum.net/f77-phats-design-register

You've spent hours designing YOUR unique Phats, paid your money to have them made only for you, then find others exactly the same on sale on ebay, or the local market afterwards.

How do you prove you've been ripped off ? You need to prove you designed it first and you have not given any permission to anybody to reproduce it or sell it.

How do you do that ? get a lawyer...or

International design and copyright laws automatically give ownership of an artwork to the creator, you do not have to register it anywhere. If you are employed as a designer, your contract will say if you or your boss or the customer or others 'own' the rights.

If you plan to make lots of the same design you need different protection, as the design now comes under commercial design laws for manufacturing, such as registered trademarks etc.

So if you've just made a design for yourself, you are already covered by international copyright laws.

Registering your design here gives you some global public point of reference to lay claim to it in the global arena and specifically the shuffle community.

For instance someone might be thinking about a design but wants to check it's not already created by someone else. Here is a great place to find out those sorts of details.

You can register lots of different designs, but they need to be your creation and/or you own the rights to that design.

Give us as much detail as you can, if your Phats are already made, post a photo or video of your Phats design, if they are not made yet, then some original drawing or diagrams to clearly show your design.

You are free to use this msoPHATS DESIGN LAYOUT (below) for your design registration if you wish. Use computer or print out and colour with felt pen, pencil, whatever you want.

Make sure you leave the MSO label displayed as notification that you have registered this design on the official msoPHATS Phats Design Register, if it has been erased or modified, it can mean your design may have been copied and someone is trying to hide the source or altered and what appears may not be the original design. Having it displayed won't stop it being altered, but if it's gone or obscured, it will be sure proof the image has been altered by someone other than the creator of the design.

Do post the design on a pic service, photobucket flickr etc. They will record the date it has been posted and verify the link to the Phats Register on this forum. So you will have two corresponding independant internet posts that will constitute a dated public publication of your design with corresponding public view counts, and your claim to being the creator. Take screen shots when you do it to establish the start dates, and occasional updates of new views figures as backups.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/cybafaeries/msoPHATS/design-layout-template.gif




Make sure you add details to your PHATS Design Register post/thread with dates such as starting and completion, what country they were designed in, and state whether you have granted copying rights to anyone, such as a garment maker, so nobody accuses innocent people of copyright breaches. So for instance you supplied your design to XYZ phats to make just 1 pair of your design. So if someone sees more for sale after you've got your Phats, it is clearly a rip off, and a lawyer or your local government agency such as ACCC - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. in Australia who helps customers with dodgy businesses may be able to help

You may still have to go to court to win your case, it will cost you heaps of $'s and you may not win.

BUT if your design is registered here, in public online for all to see, those wanting to rip you off may think twice about such a design posted on a well known shuffle forum in full public view, in front of artists from around the globe, looking out for each other. It's hard enough to earn a living as an artist without people stealing your work from you, and if your work is any good, someone will usually try.

TIPS: HOW TO AVOID GETTING RIPPED OFF

1. Before you get your phats made, Ask the maker to give you a promise in writing that your design will not be copied, given away or sold and they will supply no other customer or business with your design, ever ! Unless you change your mind and say so in writing, first.

If the maker refuses to put anything in writing, DO NOT TRUST THEM ! A maker who has no intention of ripping you off will happily give you that in writing.

Legit well known businesses can also rip you off, so don't be fooled by what a friendly customer service person says, get specifics in writing or no deal.

If you have nothing in writing you will find it very hard to prove anything, even though you are in the right.

So put the maker on the spot, and perhaps the dodgy ones will disappear, and we'll just have good ones left...yes, we can dream

Garry do you make phats?

is Spydahunny a good brand

I don't personally make phats any more because my hands and wrists are worn out with carpel tunnel and Repetitive strain injuries. They're quite common injuries for people who work with their hands on detailed work, whether you're a factory worker on a production line or an artist or musician. I'm nearly 60 now so I have to save what use I have in my hands for day to day living type things and avoid the heavy work.

So I mainly concentrate on design and leave the hard work to other makers.

msoPHATS is an online retail store which has been located on a different site that we're shutting down and transfering to the forum, so everything is in the same place.

msoPHATS will be selling my new designs which will now be made by Trauss who also do custom design phats, who we recommend. Bonez from Florida is also setting up a phats making business and we'll be selling their product thru msoPHATS as well.

Common apparel like hoodies, T shirts etc with shuffle artwork prints on them we sell thru zazzle, the artwork prints can also be purchased as fine art prints on canvass with 100+ year archival ink and as greeting cards, stickers, posters, mugs, caps and giftware etc.

We did sell msoPHATS shoes too thru zazzle, but their supplier has just closed down because of th global recession. Zazzles looking for another supplier and we'll have shoes back as soon as zazzle get that sorted.

So msoPHATS has expanded from just me to quite a few people now and more, because we will be including new designers from this forum as well, using our trusted makers.

It's hard enough making a living and supporting a family as an artist anywhere in the world, and it's just plain evil to steal from artists and leave them and their families to rot while the thief keeps all the money - there is no honour, no skill, and no respect in theft, these are just talentless lowlife who do it.

So msoPHATS only deals with makers who we can trust not to steal from us, and would rather work with us to help make a better product for customers.

We work with others who have a passion for quality and service in their work. Two elements sadly in very short supply in the world these days. And we believe that should change and shufflers are leading by example as part of the shuffle mission - To really give a damn.