Accidentally Buying a Copy: What Should They Do?

I hate to admit my age, but when I was growing up, many people did litter and it was disgusting. Garbage everywhere and the litterers (?) more than made up for those who didn't think of the world as their garbage can. But today people know better, so it's been proven empirically that every little bit does matter. The "I'm just one person" argument only works when there are a tiny minority of people using it, so that the rest can carry them. But at critical mass you end up with a mess-- and in the case of copyrighted goods, an industry collapsing.

 

I think copying a doll really hurts the feeling of the owners of the originals. One shouldn't buy pirated copies anyway. Not only because of the copy right, also it is highly disrespectful to the original sculptor (think about when you see someone copying your work). So I think even it is a mistake, she really should keep it in secrete. If she really love it, she could share it with friends and family but not publicly posting the pictures around the web. It really hurts to see those doll~

 

If I had bought a doll copy and had absolutely no idea I had purchased a copy until I was told much later, I would keep it. Even if I had only bought the doll yesterday and was told today it was a knock-off, I would keep it. It's bad that the company of the original lost money, and I won't buy from the bootlegger again, but the doll I bought would be my doll. I would love him / her just the same as any and grow attached to him / her. People shouldn't be angry at me for a mistake, rather, be angry at the bootlegger. Having my doll banned from being posted would be a killer, especially if I wanted to share him / her as I progress their face-up and clothing, but I would deal with it and soon invest in another, just as beautiful and original doll to showcase.

 

Skimming through this thread makes me think that I'm in the minority opinion. I seriously don't think I'd be able to keep it knowing that it was a bootleg. In fact, if this ever does happen to me (probably not- I plan on sticking with reputable dealers), I seriously hope that I would be bold enough to destroy it, no matter how much the original price was or how attached I was to it.

Perhaps I'm just too much of a black and white thinking person. In my mind bootlegging is stealing and I do not want stolen objects in my possession, nor would I feel right giving someone else a stolen possession. If I loved it and never would be able to afford the real deal as it was a bazillion dollars now? Well, tough beans. That's life. There are many things that I would like to own and will never be able to afford.

As for the hypothetical "she" that starts out this thread and what she should do: it's her mind to make up. I only know my mind. Just as I don't get on the case of my friends who illegally download movies and games from the computer, I would never tell the hypothetical she what needs to be done with what's in her possession.

 

Oh god, reading that scenario made me so sad! I feel like it wasn't her fault that she bought a fake, so she shouldn't be penalized by anyone for it. I mean, if she had deliberately bought a fake to save money, I would frown upon that, but a girl in her situation can't really be blamed for a mistake like that. She should keep her doll and be happy if she wants to.

 

Well, people are usually angriest about the owner paying for the knockoff doll, because it pools money into a knockoff brand, which is bad in their eyes. But this girls' already bought her doll, and had it for weeks. The damage is done. I'd keep the doll, probably buy another so I could talk to people in the forums about it. (Don't get me wrong, only if I fell in love with another.) But selling or getting rid of the knockoff would make little sense. So yeah, I'd keep it.

 

Wow people are getting really worked up...@-@

Uhh in my opinion, the girl shouldnt be punished for something thats not her fault as she didnt KNOW it was a fake. now the doll being off-topic and banned from being talked about? thats the rules of the forum i think she should adhere to even though it sucks for her =((( but destroying the doll or something?! i couldnt even IMAGINE!! D: especially after so much time of getting close to her and loving her so dearly.

So yeah, if other members were to be all GRRAAARRRRGHHH YOU HORRIBLE DOLL-COMPANY HATER that wouldnt be cool at all

 

If I were this hypothetical person, and I were THAT innocent when I bought the doll that I had no idea, I would feel SUPER guilty for having bought my illegal doll, but our love would be another one of those Romeo-and-Juliet stories, forbidden, but lasting. Without the death, obviously. ( xP )

In short: I would keep him/her. And if someone unwittingly buys a recast, it's not their fault; if they bought it with full knowledge that it wasn't an original, it was a recast, then shame should fall upon their head.

I know how people can be about copies, not that I've had personal experience, and I'm rather there with them. I hate that people feel the need to recast dolls and pretend they created them. It's obnoxious. But for this Girl to be THAT in love with a doll, and to feel that strongly about it (I can't imagine there's one doll THAT perfect for anyone), I just as equally cannot see destroying it.

Our love would be kept a secret, and it would continue forever! T_T And I would live with the guilt. In silence.

And I think some of you are looking at this wrong. I realize it's hypothetical but I don't think the girl was all that concerned with buying the doll to save money; it seems more like she bought it because she loved it. It just HAPPENED to be inexpensive. Can't fault someone for that.
If the reverse were true and she bought the Copy Doll knowingly to save the money, then I would definitely fault her.

 

I for one don't support the act of buying fake dolls, but because the hypothetical girl bought one by accident and put so much hard earned cash into it, not to mention the adoration, the love for it, I say she should keep it.
I agree with others who say that it would be waste to just chuck the doll, and that just because the doll is a fake, it should not limit the person's love for the hobby; just because of the limitations brought on by the doll. She could still share her little darling with other communities and still look for others possibilities in the hobby, perhaps look into getting another doll not so much as to replace the first one but to share concepts that she would have from the first doll.

 

There's a huge difference for me here between what should happen and what I think would actually happen. Legally, she should turn the doll over to the police as evidence of a theft, assuming she's living in America. There are ways to track international crimes, and the American government can ban the trade between these companies who produce illegal goods. They can also often inform the local government of wherever the bootleg company is from of what's been done and legal action can be pursued by that country based on their laws. Also, it's likely that the detective assigned to the case would inform the original company whose product was stolen and they would also pursue legal action. Needless to say, the girl would likely not see the doll again, but she would be preventing other people from having to endure the kind of heartache that she suffered and she'd also be helping the company whose hard work was being reproduced.

No amount of love for an object can justify the theft of someone else's work.

(Edited for typos)

 

I actually unknowingly bought a recast off ebay. The owner didn't check the inside of the head and the doll had been sold to them under the company name "babydoll" The sculpt being called "Shark" In fact it turned out to be a recasts of the Chiwoo elf with the ears modded back to human ears. It was marked as a 60cm doll in white skin but the resin had turned a very mellow yellowy cream color. The head and body were both recasts of luts with the same weird neck mechanism. The cast wasn't very good as there were bubbles all along the er, crotch and a bubble in the toe that was quite visible. The resin wasn't very nice and had the same powdery feel to it as thai garage kit recasts if anyone is familiar with garage kits. (Thai kits can be quite brittle.) ANyway, I didn't like the look of the resin and it bugged me that it was a recast so Icontacted the seller and was able to get a refund and shpping fees to ship it back. The seller handled the situation very nicely. I feel bad about what happened since the seller basically lost out a bit of money and found out they got duped when they bought this doll.

I generally do quite a bit or research before I purchase so this would normally not happen. I did ask the seller before purchase about the doll's history since I coudlnt find anything online about "babydoll" . Personally, I would not purchase a doll if I knew it were a recast and if i accidentally did and couldn't return it, iwould still keep it but I probably woudlnt display it much or take photos much. I would use it as a practice doll for mods and etc.

 

If I accidentally bought a fake...I think I would have to get rid of it. I mean, even if I would be sad to let it go because of any emotional attachments, I feel like it would slowly disappear anyways whether I wanted it to or not. If a person is going to be stigmatized or isn't allowed to post pictures of their beloved doll or even talk about them in forums or bring them to meet ups, I feel like they wouldn't be enjoying the experience to the fullest.

 

If she did it unknowingly, there is no reason to get rid of the doll; it belongs to her, she loves it, and she paid for it. It would also be appropriate for her to honor the policy that her doll is not on-topic for DOA, and not post about it here. However, harassing someone for such a thing, when she was innocent of wrongdoing, is morally terrible. If she feels guilty, then by all means she should contact the original seller (it's always best to give the benefit of the doubt; maybe they bought it thinking it was real, too), and alert them of the problem.

 

I have a (slightly off topic) question, which I think should be answered for all BJD newbies: How do you tell if it's a fake? You say this hypothetical girl posted pictures on DoA, whereupon the other members informed her that it was fake. But how do you know? Is there some sort of a tell you can look for? Does it depend on the seller? I really want to know this, because I can easily see myself accidentally purchasing a fake.

 

I have to say, if I had done something like this and became alienated from a dolly forum, I'd get so ticked off I'd probably come up with my own dolly forum for rejects. ^^; That's just because I'm hot-headed sometimes.

 

I'm going with so many others and saying she should keep the doll, but not post pix or anything else about it here. It is not her fault she unknowingly bought a bootleg. I know it has been mentioned that she should have researched first, but a lot of newbies don't know enough about the hobby to research things like that first. I hadn't researched anything when I got my first doll. Well..very little. I had never heard of recasts or authorized dealers or anything of the sort. I had never seen a BJD irl. I first saw BJDs on ebay and started searching from there. 4 years later, I'm still not sure if I'd recognize a recast/bootleg until it was very badly done. If it was not a company I was familiar with, I probably wouldn't notice. So, it's very possible this girl could have bought this doll without a clue. Even though the low price should have been a red flag, not neccessarily. She may be familiar with other OT dolls. It's not unusual to find a Barbie on Ebay listed at $200 (but not selling....or no bids) and the same thing listed by another seller for $40. She may not have realized that BJDs of the same sculpt typically don't vary that much. If it was listed with a fake name, she might have just thought the sculpt was similar, but a different company.

As for what to do with it...reporting the seller is the best thing to do. If they were not already known here, make it known. If they are, add that doll to the list of known fakes. i don't think she should sell it, even if she does list it as a fake, because selling bootlegs is ILLEGAL. Even if you do list it as fake, it's really no different than buying a stolen TV, then reselling it after you found out it was stolen...and you know the victim it was stolen from. I know this case is a bit different, as you can't really return the stolen art to the owner, but it still isn't right to resell it. If she keeps the doll, it should be used only for her pleasure and as a reminder to do research before buying again.

 

There are several signs but there is no DEFINITE way to tell. A ridiculously low price is a warning but even then people can still sell fakes for the original price. If you are buying second hand, you can make sure it comes with the original box and paperwork, however that isn't a foolproof way because many things can be copied. Your best bet would be to make sure you check all feedback when buying second hand, or just purchase straight from the company.

As for in photos, I have no idea x___x

This isn't meant to say "YOU CAN'T TRUST ANYONE" just be careful and do your research first

 

I think part of the difficulty in spotting a fake is that unless you were brought into the hobby by RL friends, there's a high chance the first BJD you will ever see is your own, and even then you will have bought it based on the company pictures online. There's no substitute for research though...would you buy any other expensive luxury product without researching it first?

It's not so much about rejects, it's about artistic integrity. A few bruised feelings are a small price to pay to protect the interests of legitimate companies without whom there would be no hobby at all.

No one owes anyone a doll, after all, and the only people who deserve to profit from the sale of a newly cast doll are the company who produced it and the artist who sculpted it. Recasters are not helping the hobby to become 'more accessible' to people with less of a disposable income. It is not 'sticking it to the man' to buy a bootleg doll. Most companies are small and the money they earn off dolls goes towards the development of new lines. Without the money from their work, there will be no more innovation in the hobby because companies aren't going to want to put hard work and engineering expertise into dolls who are just going to get recast and sold at prices that undercut the original company.

There are a few threads in the Buying and Shipping Questions sub-forum which discuss bootleg dolls and how to tell a legitimate one from a fake. There's also threads about some eBay sellers to absolutely avoid.

If you want to buy a legitimate doll, do your research and if you aren't sure about second-hand sales, buy directly from the company for peace of mind. I think I would always recommend to a newcomer to the BJD hobby to buy a doll direct from the company so you'll know what to expect from a new doll in terms of packaging and factory fresh quality, but also have the peace of mind that your doll is genuine.

I tend to avoid places like eBay and recommend eBay only for doll clothes, wigs and eyes, I wouldn't recommend it for actual dolls.

If you purchased a fake doll that was being advertised as the real thing, you should be able to return it and get a refund because what you bought is not what was advertised. What I would also do is report the seller so that they can't scam anyone else - and yes, it is scamming if you falsely advertise what you have for sale.

 

if I ever bought a doll and realized it was a fake only after it arrived to me, I would freak out so bad!!!! a part of me would want to destroy it but another part would probably be "but you're so prettyy ;___; ILU "

there isn't much you CAN do, I think. once the person who sold it got the money, whether you keep the doll or burn it won't really change a thing. however you MUST give that seller bad feedback, post about it on the forum so people will be warned not to buy from him/her!

 

I would not be angry with her. Even though it rips off true artists we should not be nasty to someone who accidentally bought a ripoff. I would keep the doll if I were her. After all, if she loves it so much so what. As a whole we should not be mean to people for such silly reasons.