Copy Cats! - does it bother you if someone tries to copy your doll's style/looks?

Frankly I've delt with people who are so quick to lay the copying blame because they believed what they did was their original thought and that everything i did was to copy them.

Was a bunch of hoo-ha and has led me to become so desensitized to the whole 'you're copying me' thing.
Looks, clothes, style, everything i come up with and like has probably been done before and there are probably dozens of people who like the same things so who am i to scream 'copy cat!' if they end up with a doll similar to mine.

Frankly my doll is my own and the only way you would get me to react to a doll similar to any of mine is if someone copied and pasted his profile and claimed that as their own. Otherwise.. meh. Coincidence most likely. I'm not so conceited to think that someone is copying me constantly.

 

I agree completely chibinezu.

In my Master's program my professor once said to me, "You will be lucky if you come up with one original idea in your career." That is so true. There are so many people and ideas out there that it is very hard to be original. I could really care less if anyone (including friends) have dolls like mine. Actually, the closer their dolls style is to mine the more clothes and wigs I can borrow!! ^_^

 

I totally agree with you. The whole "OMG, WHaaaaa!!!! ur copying me! Copycat!" thing just gets downright annoying. I have twin shiwoo vampires. They share two sets of eyes, so each one has a red and blue eye. I know the two-toned eye thing has been done. I know that twins have been done. And i know they will be done again. In a hobby with THOUSANDS of fans, creating something totally "original" is very difficult to accomplish.

Frankly, i think it's childish and silly. I've had dolls that have been extremely similar to other people's dolls, and we didn't know it till we met. I think it's kinda cool that we were so like minded!

 

Last year I was contacted by someone who saw my doll at a meet and wanted to know if I minded if they made, to paraphrase, a replica of her looks. I said that was fine and explained her eyes, wig, and who did her face up. I saw the doll recently and unless I had been looking for it I don't think I would've seen much similarity, except for the mold and eye color.

If someone tried to copy their personalities that would bother me, because they're characters that I wrote. But even if someone tried, based off of my few and far between photostories, it would be like comparing a gif to real life; a shallow copy. No one else can create your dolls like you can. If they claimed it was their doll on the other hand...

Honestly what would make me kill more than anything would be if they took my photographs and said those were theirs. To me my dolls are an assemblage of ingredients, many of which I did not make from scratch. However photography is my second job - because I don't want to do weddings - so if someone pawned my work as their own I would be livid.

 

Meh I dont care if another doll has the same name or the same faceup or the same fashion sense... BUT If they were the same doll, same fashion sense, AND the same personality I would be slightly annoyed. but the chances of that happening are so slim I dont think about it

 

My thoughts exactly! *^^*
A close friend and I share very similar taste in ABJDs to the point that two of mine are on his wishlist and two of his are on mine! *^^* When I find a new sculpt that I've fallen in love with, its nice to know that I'll have someone to gush over it with!

...but some of the other attitudes expressed in this thread come off sounding a little... infantile? Perhaps among younger members it's more of a necessity to be entirely unique at all times? I think it would be interesting to critically examine specific instances in which a person claims to have been copycat'ed with respect to one of their ABJDs. I mean, there are only so many stereotypes you have to choose from for your doll's appearance!

 

I like to think a lot of my ideas are unique... and I take pride in my origional ideas... but then when I find another person who has a similarity... (especially by chance) I tend to get excited about someone with similar taste. ^_^ If it were after I told someone about my idea, and then they copied it very precisely, and without permission... then it would bother me. Just 'cause someone was trying to pass my character off as theirs. But that rarely happens, if ever. Everyone has something new to add, and characters have a way of diverging with the person who creates them.

If someone asked and tried to re-create my doll... I'd be flattered beyond belief. I'd wonder why they wanted to copy MINE, but I'd be flattered! "It's A-OK with me, but you're crazy!"

 

I know that when buying a new doll I look around the gallery for ideas in eyes/wig combination on a particular model cloth style and so on, of course i never copy a doll but i definitly find aspiration in others, as we all do here more or less acknowleging it. A doll that resembles one of mine wouldn't at all shock me because I think its so easy to end up with two similar dolls by pure chance.
however I'll be more shocked if someone had the exact same twns as i do (but that would be hard because they would need the same fcs face up, the same homemade cloth ect...) and I couldn't believe anyone would go throught such a ot of trouble to copy because after all, the interest of this dolls is that they are your own

 

theres quite a few ppl i find awe-inspiring who has amazing face ups and awesome dolls will remain nameless but i feel inspired by, but not at all to copy their style

 

Hmm, the first time I see a doll in person, however that doll is customized greatly affects the way I see that doll mold. Therefor, if look in to buying a doll, the image I have in mind will always be in some way connected to the first one I saw. I can't help it. In my defense, my dolls are never from 'stories', and while they develop 'personalities', they never start out as 'characters', so I don't make their 'souls' like the first one i saw.

Mmmmmmmmmmm, Carltonsig's Soo... A lovely and natural Bellmer girl!

 

I think it depends on what is being "copied".

When it comes to basic traits that real life people exhibit (ie: two toned eyes, a twin, freckles, scars) it would indeed be silly to say that someone copied you because just about every other person on the earth exhibits these traits or knows someone that does.

Now when it comes to copying someones style that I think is a whole different story, and by style I mean distinctive custom face up and custom clothing. Yes different face up attributes have been done and will continue to be done, (ie: smokey eyed makeup, red lips, blushy cheeks, black hair, white hair, and so on) but as I said before it’s how these are pulled off with the style of an individual artist and with what combinations that makes your doll look unique.

I think it's very possible to have a doll that looks totally unique, and I've seen quite a few but I wont name drop in case they don't want their gorgeous boys to be digitally groped . You just have to have a big enough imagination to step beyond the default and basics to create your own variations and eventually your own style.

 

I don't care about being copied. It's not flattering nor frustrating because as posted before... with the limited resources for eyes, wigs and such, there are bound to be many similar dolls roaming the board. Maybe we should start something like "Long Lost Twins: Dolls Seperated at Birth" thread

There are many dolls here that I absolutely adore and wouldn't mind having a "copy" of, but that soon fades and I'd end up changing the doll anyways. I love pale skinned, deep red haired dolls. Normal skinned white haired guys with smirks on their faces, come on... how many dolls fit into those catagories?

I would think that if you truely wanted something no one else has, that's where the customization in this hobby fits in.

 

Somebody actually did try copying one of my dolls last year. She had seen photographs of her taken at a doll meetup and fallen in love. She wasn't able to make a perfect duplicate, because the maker had modified the head mold since I had bought mine, but she came close. I wasn't offended, in fact I was sort of flattered. Although I love all my dolls, this one is my favorite, and I couldn't blame anybody else for falling in love with her.

I have to add, though, that the person who did this is someone I've never met and who lives on the other side of the country, so I probably won't ever meet her or her doll. I might feel different if somebody I knew well copied one of my dolls.

 

I can't remember who the other owner was, but I remember seeing a pair of twins on this board also named 'Haru' and 'Haku'. I only found out way after I'd named my twins those names as well, but the thread was a database thread and by the date she'd gotten her twins before I had.

It made me feel a little weird, like I'd stolen her set of names or something (which I obviously hadn't, since I'd never seen them before), but I suppose 'Haru' and 'Haku' are such similar-sounding names that if you choose one, the other would be quite easy to think of as a match.

Hers are both MSD boys (if I'm not wrong), while mine are a boy and girl tiny.

Anyway, my twins are possibly due for a name change. I hadn't really decided on their characters when I got them, and now I think I'd rather have them Chinese instead of Japanese. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the same-names thing, they're just changing race and thus need suitable names ^^;;

 

Hm, as someone who looks at a lot of art, is friends with artists, and draws herself (not wonderfully, but I do my own thing), I've come face to face with this subject. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but it is really frustrating to have your own ideas taken and reiterated through someone else, especially if the characters you have created hold a special significance to you. But, on the other hand, it's so hard NOT to somehow copy SOMETHING from someone else. Nothing is original anymore. Doll molds, wigs, clothing style, eyes...it's all been done before, but how you personalize your doll is what will make it original. Inspiration, even "copied" elements from another is impossible to avoid, and so long as you aren't making an EXACT replica of someone else' intellectual property, it will inevidably be different and original in its own way. If a person is concerned with whether or not they are treading on an artist's/doll owner's/etc. toes...it might be helpful to ask that person and then maybe figure out how to get the style you want while not having someone else feel as though you are stealing from them. There's a difference between copying a style and outright copying a person...or something like that.
Anyway, thats how I think of it.

 

No, because nothing is new under the sun. I would take it as a compliment. Afterall, this isn't a competition.

 

Yes, this is true. If you've thought of it, I can guarantee you, someone, somewhere has also thought of it. If someone loves my doll enough to want to copy them, GREAT! Have at it! I'd simply ask that you do not NAME the doll the same thing, with it looking just like mine, and that you do something to make it your own.

I am a comic book artist, and some of the biggest name artists mold their style after famous artists such as George Perez (drew Wonder Woman for the LONGEST time) Or Micheal Turner (WitchBlade, Fathom). These men have INSANELY popular art styles and are very famous artist in the comic book industry. I cannot tell you how many times i've seen people who duplicate their style, to the point that you could put the two different artists work side-by-side, and not tell the difference.

Flattery comes in all forms. Even duplication of style or design.

 

I think that, despite it bieng silly, I would get alittle suspicious if somebody named their doll Grendel, too, especially since I haven't (or don't think I have) seen another doll out on this site with the same name. But like others have said, thats just the whole "Gasp he's mine!" thing.
Now, if somebody tried to copy his looks and personality, I would be seriously angered, especially since I cut his wig, did his faceup, made his clothes, and came up with his character on my own(well, I guess when I got him that helped--he isn't exactly as I wanted him to be...he just turned out that way).
But hey, I have seen many dolls with the same eyes as him, and many other similarities, but because of the fact that we know our own dolls best, backwards and forwards, it would be hard to replicate another's doll completely.

 

LMAO My Mecha Angel Sabik is named Grendel! LOL But I named him Grendel because he's a bohemeth LOL (80cm doll) Not to mention that Grendel was my favorite literary character. My Grendel is awkward, and doofusy, and in my story, he's supposed to be a whopping 7'10 compared to my boys 5'9 LOL

 

PFFFT!!!
COPYCAT!!!XD
So that just made my day(but not my Grendel's)--our Grendels are complete opposites! Mine is a kelpie (former knight) banished from the unseleigh court!
But thats just the start of the story. And I am so not typing it.
My Grendel is totally NOT awkward and doofusy. Though I did get the name from the same epic.

*laughsselftodeath*