1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
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  2. Dollshe Craft and all dolls created by Dollshe, including any dolls created under his new or future companies, including Club Coco BJD are now banned from Den of Angels. Dollshe and the sculptor may not advertise his products on this forum. Sales may not be discussed, no news threads may be posted regarding new releases. This ban does not impact any dolls by Dollshe ordered by November 8, 2023. Any dolls ordered after November 8, 2023, regardless of the date the sculpt was released, are banned from this forum as are any dolls released under his new or future companies including but not limited to Club Coco BJD. This ban does not apply to other company dolls cast by Dollshe as part of a casting agreement between him and the actual sculpt or company and those dolls may still be discussed on the forum. Please come to Ask the Moderators if you have any questions.
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BJD makers threatened by China-based counterfeiter / trademarks

Apr 26, 2018

    1. Also if you see BJD's for sale on ebay that are too good to be true, report it as counterfeits. These guys are all over. (I'd say report youtube videos about it but we all know how 'seriously' youtube takes things. >>)
      I just hope this all ends well.
       
      • x 1
    2. When it comes to YouTube, I usually 'dislike' any videos I stumble across that support bootlegs. I don't know if that sounds petty or not, but my hope is that the more 'dislikes' the video has, the less likely it will show up when someone searches for BJD stuff.
       
      • x 7

    3. I report Unoa recast listings on eBay, I’ve been doing that on and off for a while, now I’m going to make a little time to step it up. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Anyone who sees bootlegs of their favorite company for sale on eBay or elsewhere, are you reporting? Would you be willing to devote a bit of time regularly to reporting those sales and accounts?
      Numbers talk so it might require volume reports of the largest sellers. It is worth a try.

      I don’t think that is petty, it’s one more way to show that this kind of content isn’t acceptable within the hobby spaces.

      And well, I checked and YouTube actually does have a policy in place:
      Counterfeit - YouTube Help
      and a form:
      YouTube
      for reporting people who sell OR PROMOTE counterfeit goods. Furthermore, they link to https://www.lumendatabase.org/, which might be able to assist the companies, dealers, and reps like @Sakuli in getting counterfeiters to remove their stolen content from the internet via DMCA takedown notices.
      YouTube and other websites can terminate accounts for promoting counterfeit content.
      Maybe all it will take to get platforms to remove much of the content is making a strong enough case for it in enough places.

      No advertising, no sales, less online visibility, fewer sales, limited areas they can sell, fewer sales, fewer ISPs willing to host them, less visibility, and so on. If the biggest recaster has decided that mis-using company names and photos online is the best way to pursue their advertising, then companies, dealers and reps issuing DMCA notices everywhere he posts their digital material might reduce that visibility. eBay, aliexpress, any social media platform where he has accounts, any internet provider who hosts the stolen content he posts, they can be served with a DMCA to remove it.
      But the DMCA must come from the owner of the material or their representative.
      Authorized dealers, representatives, etc...might you be able to help the companies with this in some way?


      For fellow hobbyists...something we might do on eBay and youtube/google and fb/instagram, perhaps letters detailing the growing problem within the hobby, the story of the situation over the trademark infringement, screenshots of what the companies are saying and a list of recast-promoting channels, accounts and websites (youtube channels unboxing and/or reviewing or otherwise showing actual recasts), (eBay listing reports that are organized and ongoing), Luo’s social media accounts linked to his business, reporting all the personal accounts, groups and websites promoting counterfeits...might help convince youtube/google, fb/instagram and eBay themselves plus hopefully any web-hosting entities...to help in the fight against counterfeiting sales and promotion that is devastating the hobby and to remove counterfeit-promoting content.
      And to terminate the accounts who post it.

      I’m pretty sure posting videos or any content here on DoA from a recast-positive youtube channel, social media account etc...will earn you a ban here on DoA already, I’m not 100% certain but I’m betting yes, your YouTube channel or your Instagram accounts would count as one of ‘your websites’, so linking any content from a recast friendly one would not be allowed? @DoA Mod Squad is that correct?

      Regular doll youtubers, hobbyists who aren’t youtube regulars or anyone who makes videos on other topics or really anyone who makes even ONE video about being pro-artist in the hobby, (or does the bjd Addicts prompt #35 ‘recasts’ tag in the tag list here Updated! The complete list of Prompts!), could it help? I’d love to see a bjd prompt revival in general... I’ve been holding off starting a YouTube channel but maybe it’s time to start. And we travel a decent amount to US conventions and such in the Midwest and plan to do more of that for the Comparison Heaven website, so maybe I could incorporate some owner interview videos on the topic too. Would anyone be interested in being filmed for that if I visit your area or interested in live-streaming with me online via Skype etc...on the topic?
      Just brainstorming as of now but...could it help? Can hobbyists band together in some way and take a more active role and lend our combined voices and presence to speak out against the counterfeiting in the hobby? Make a channel about it, make an online petition asking major websites to take counterfeit doll content down? What else?

      Can we discuss these aspects of fighting counterfeits here in the hobby as long as it sticks to plans that are targeted at removing the online content where we can, continuing to make meets, gatherings and conventions zero tolerance zones and maybe finally take the focus away from recast-owner bashing and move towards a plan to practice avoidance via zero tolerance in more hobby spaces (like a DoA does here) while speaking up to remove counterfeit content in more of our online spaces?

      To be able to say ‘Yes, of course everyone can do as they like with their money and make their purchasing choices freely, coercing or bullying people is not ok... BUT the overall message is this...be mindful that the gap is closing on the ability of anyone to post and bring counterfeits into the bjd doll hobby spaces both on and off the internet and there are people willing to work to continue to limit anyone’s ability to bring the counterfeits into doll hobby spaces’

      and be able to emphasize that counterfeits are already not allowed on a large number of platforms, highlighting the fact that removal of such content and removal of entire accounts in violation of these policies...can happen in an instant if any website or social platform has any kind of anti-counterfeit policies in place and becomes willing to more actively enforce them.

      We as hobbyists also have the ability to enforce the zero tolerance policy in quite a lot of hobby spaces and always have the choice of whether to support those spaces which will stand firm on excluding counterfeit content. I’m concentrating on posting my content on and limiting my interactions to spaces within the hobby that are zero tolerance.
      What do you think?
       
      #783 mimimontoya, Aug 10, 2018
      Last edited: Aug 10, 2018
      • x 13
    4. Uh, I sure hope you do make sure it's actually really recasts before you report them as counterfeits. Not every single "too good to be true" sales post on ebay (or somewhere else) is necessarily a recast sale. It might just be that the seller's been trying to get rid of the doll for a while and has lowered the price considerably because they hope the doll will finally sell or that more people will bid on it when there's a low starting price. You wouldn't want to get legit doll sellers in trouble ...

      Edit to add an example: On Y!A, for example, I see lots of older, perfectly legit dolls starting as low as 1 Yen. There's nothing wrong with them, they're just sold by second hand sellers who're not primarily dealing in dolls and just want to sell their stuff. It's usually dolls that aren't especially highly sought-after. A low starting price gets people go "Ooooh, maybe if I'm lucky I can get it for real cheap!"
       
      #784 Khell, Aug 10, 2018
      Last edited: Aug 10, 2018
      • x 14
    5. This is a really good point. If everyone sticks to the dolls they are familiar with and concentrates on reporting the overseas multi-doll sellers that are obvious counterfeit sellers, meaning there are lots of tell-tale signs...stolen company photos, many bjd keywords that don’t apply (other doll company and sculpt name spam on a listing, for instance), a seller offering many ‘brand new’ sculpts at too good to be true prices, etc...that would be such a big step.
       
      • x 6
    6. Trust me, I do. Only sellers that are mass selling brand new to order dolls that are not known dealers. They're listed as brand new as well with options to order faceups. I've seen and tried to grab BJD's that were legit and well priced on there.

      I'm talking brand new Minifees for 95$ offered as made to order.
       
      • x 7
    7. Piracy appeals to people buying BJD cheaply, but that is disgusting.
       
    8. The argument used sometimes by recast owners is : “It is a limited doll that I bought as a recast, I can not buy from the company anymore so I am not hurting the company.“ Yes you do hurt the company because spending money on the thieves makes them continue stealing and copying dolls and you support the recasters and this is how you hurt the companies.... As we see on Oueneifs` example....

      I have been kinda neutral but now I can not be neutral anymore! While I do not support harrassing or bullying recast owners I will definately also not remain silent on this and will let them know that while they save money, thieves get money and companies may not lose money (some recast owners` argument: “If recast would not exist I still would not pay that much or a doll“) but when the thieves get supported, they will of course not stop and steal more dolls and THAT hurts the companies!
      Recast owners need to understand that! :(
       
      #788 Zomboi, Aug 19, 2018
      Last edited: Aug 19, 2018
      • x 6
    9. I've been in the hobby for years and I'm stunned at how extensive the hoops the counterfeiters will go through to make a sale :(. To not only steal a person's/ companies work, but to delegitimize the the artist(s) as well?
      I will be sure to do my part and be sure to say something if I come across recast dolls.
       
      • x 3
    10. The first post of this thread outlines what may be discussed here. The above quote was posted on the previous page.

      There are strict limits as to what kind of recast discussion we allow on this forum. There have been repeated reminders from the staff regarding the purpose of this thread. Since it appears we cannot stay on topic, this thread is being closed for the time being.

      If anyone has information or updates regarding the status of the lawsuit or information about Luo's trademark registrations please come to Ask the Mods and we will reopen the thread.
       
      • x 8
    11. The moderation team has learned that recasts are appearing on eBay which utilize the EU registered trademarks. Please remember that the inclusion of a trademark on an eBay listing does not guarantee a legitimate product.
       
      • x 13