BJD makers threatened by China-based counterfeiter / trademarks

Thanks to everyone who has provided information so far. It's great to see people rally behind the artists once again! It's also awful that we have to keep fighting so hard to protect them.

Please watch the News post for updates.

And of course, remember that this is Den of Angels and keep it classy. It's an infuriating development, but please treat one another with respect.

 

THANK YOU Mod Squad for helping this team effort along!


concerning spreading awareness ... has anyone put anything on deviantArt yet?

edit, I never thought that day would come, but in the light of this situation I'm actually grateful for how stuck-up German customs is. Then again, if they don't manage to stop recasts coming in, I shall take offense at the fees we're being charged and the hoops they make us jump through in order to "protect us from counterfeits".

Actually, once this long weekend is over, I might contact my local customs office and ask them about possible consequences of this whole clusterf*** ... as in, how a trademark like that would or would not affect buyers in Europe, and if there's any way of stopping that thief's knockoffs from getting inside the EU in the first place. I'm fairly sure that in the end it's the legitimacy / provenance of the goods that counts, not the question of who owns a trademark.
German customs are already extremely wary of anything from China (which makes buying from legit and awesome companies that just happen to be China based a royal pain), so maybe if they're alerted to the shenanigans of that person they can make sure none of his stuff gets past the EU border, regardless of whether or not he bought a trademark somewhere.

 

St. James: thanks for not shutting this thread down, I know that might happen soon but this situation needs to be something EVERYONE in the hobby is informed about ASAP. I think bringing this to Paypal's attention is a good idea, although we might be disappointed by their ability to do anything.

China is making strides toward bringing Chinese legislation in line with Europe/USA because they are aware the whole "Wild West" (or East???) culture of immorality and copyright theft is starting to hurt their manufacturing sector. Companies from outside China who use factories there are constantly having their good counterfeited by the very people they trust to make them and I know for a fact that many companies are now looking for manufacturers back in Europe for example because this issue is so rife and affecting everyone's bottom line. I'm wondering if we have any Chinese members who are in a position to lobby their legislators about this case in particular, because this is unusual in that, here, we have one man seeking to harm the trading of umpteen Chinese, Japanese/Korean/French/Canadian/Spanish/etc.... businesses, which accounts for more than half a market sector.

 

Oh GOOD, this has made it to DOA. here I was worrying you guys and your "never talk about a big problem" policy would mean this huge issue would be glossed over and buried too. So thank you for actually posting something. Though I might be inclined to bold this and make it more obvious as important, as this IS something everyone needs to know about.

I hope the companies involved can come together and kick this scumbag to the curb, and I hope those who've supported him and people like him over the years are feeling massively dirty and guilty and reconsidering their morality.

I can't really be polite about the subject though, as many of us can't. it's hard to be civil to people who harm others for their own selfish entitled desires.

I stand with the idea that we should stop using the rather odd term "recast" and just call them what they are, counterfeits. It'll make things far clearer to new people as the current terminology is quite alienating and bewildering to those outside the hobby or just dipping their toe in.
Maybe this is the kick the hobby needed to actually take more action rather than shying away and trying to bury heads in the sand and ignore a growing issue.
Well we can't ignore it now, so let's fight it instead.

 

Is there no way we can contact patent offices to inform them of this situation? He’s basically importing counterfeit stuff, which is illegal, but the patent office may not be aware of this.

 

for the US: https://www.stopfakes.gov/article?id=Report-Fake-Goods

 

I think the best thing we can do right now is... if this recaster is registering trademark in our area, local BJD owners are encouraged to make a report about it or finding out how to cancel the trademark. It'd be great if the local BJD owners can find out how to register a trademark in their respective country, to help the official BJD companies to do so.

I guess we'll hear more from the companies on Monday, since it's weekend already, none of them is checking email/Q&A.

 

AYEAAAH, finally, I'm glad an official post was made.
Still, I feel like many are dismissing the case as if its something easy to prove (I've literally seeing comments like "x company is registeres in usa and s. korea, so nothing will happen", uh, is not that easy), how can they be so chill? Teach me

 

Can we inform Disney he’s using their font? They are notorious for suing the hell out of people for copyright violations...

 

HAH! There's an idea ...

 

Disney font is handmade, but typestyles are not copyrighted in usa... I do think its worth trying anyway, as you mentioned, they are notorious for this!

 

Unfortunately you're going to find people like that everywhere. Unless someone is literally saying "there will be no more bjds ever." Or someone goes into their home and takes their dolls, they're just not going to grasp the scope of importance. It's like dealing with someone that has no sense of urgency. Yes, they know something bad happened, but they can't be moved to do anything about it until it immediately and directly affects them.

The best thing we can do is stand together with the people who do understand and hope that eventually others will come around. And keep providing information so that everything is clear in black and white as to the situation.

 

Wow, some of the comments (not only here) are frightening.
I'm not sure if this sounds crazy or what. But hostility (such as some posts shared on insta etc.) and threats of deletion(or 'negative social consequences') are what have never stopped people buying recasts before. In fact, the isolation has probably only driven them further into their own community/more pro-recast than ever.

Haven't you ever noticed that shouting at someone who disagrees with you only cements them further in their own beliefs, no matter how wrong they are?
I think this has been the wrong approach all along. If you really want people to stop buying recasts, isn't it more useful to actually reach out to them, and treat them as people? Because that's what they are, they're just people who made mistakes.

Edit: So making them aware of this issue is very important, but I don't think it's wise to include "threats".

 

solarsenshi, I really don't see any "threats" here. And as far as I know the recast community, they will not listen at all, because they do not care about companies and BJD hobby in overall, they just want cheap dolls and it's the only one thing that matters to them. They won't change their mind, unless the companies give them their dolls for free.

And I personally think that a total isolation is a good think. They are not part of the community, so they shouldn't be able to post their dolls' photos or go to meetings. It's good to make clear that they don't exist as owners of BJD dolls.

 

I don't think we should be discussing this here because thats kind of the reason why doa has the no recast rule, and it wont solve this problem. But I have to say I disagree. I know many people that left the recasts to became a legit only supporter when they gained more knowledge. Generalizing they all as bad and selfish and this and that wont help the problem. Shouting and calling names doesnt work for anything, doesnt work for dolls, doesnt work for childs, doesnt work for politics. Anything. And although I agree is a good thing to segregate legit and recast, total isolation? Is that even possible? I feel like you trying to control something you don't have power about.

 

This is utterly despicable. I can't believe this guy! He's putting these legit companies and artists in danger for his own gain. How can he justify that?! I was recast neutral, but especially now, I can't condone it in the slightest. I'm flabbergasted at how awful this truly is.

 

flornosertao, I wrote "as far as I know" and my opinion is based on my knowledge and my personal experience.

I agree that it's not a place to talk about it in overall, I just replied to solar's message.

 

You just mentioned a very clear threat, the threat of "isolation".

Furthermore, you just dismissed an entire group of people, which I cannot say I agree with. I believe there are certainly people who have changed their minds about this in the past, and will do in the future.
So there are certainly people willing to listen to a reasonable and well thought-out argument.

 

Isolation isn't a threatening here, but pro-recasters own decision. They usually do not want to have anything in common with us. Some of them want, but since they don't own real BJD dolls and do not want to talk about recast problem, they shouldn't be welcome.

And yes, there are some people, who will change (and already changed) their mind. I just meant that their community already know our arguments, so they really don't need to be "educated" (and they don't want it, seriously). I think it's better to target newbies in the hobby, because they can buy a recast unconsciously.

And I think that we should end this discussion here and back to the topic of this conversation.

 

Not trying to betitle your experience, but you know you are only a spec of dust in a big universe, right? There is a lot more to the word than what you saw, than what I saw, than what humans can see. Thats whats so great about a forun, the exchange of knowledge, of experiences... You see, there is a lot of people here from USA, you are from another country, I am from another one, thats what so great about an international community like doa, how many things have I see inside my country that you cant see in yours and the opposite?