Fan Dolls of...Other Dolls?

I think that imitation can be sincere flattery, but replication is rude. For example, I want to doll like one someone else has on here, but a lot of things about it would be different- different size different wig, different clothes, different name. So there would be no more than a vague resemblance between them. I also have my own interpretation of one of Soom's monthly dolls planned. It's more like "Great idea!" than "I want a copy of that" for me.

 

If someone came up to me and asked if they could copy the look of one of my dolls - I'd be incredibly flattered and I think it shows a great deal of courtesy and respect.

I gladly tell people where I've bought my items, who did the face up, etc. whenever I'm asked.

For me this hobby is about exploring and encouraging creativity.

 

That's very nice that you like their doll so much, but to me it's not a question of weird or creepy... I just don't understand why you wouldn't want to come up with your own idea. :/

Make a doll that's *roughly based* on their doll, if you must... That's called Inspiration, which is cool IMO. But don't be a lame copycat, please. I personally would be really disappointed if someone tried to copy me like that. Not offended or creeped out, just... disappointed.

Be original! It's not that hard, and you will feel so much better about it.

 

Honestly, if it was just for you, with no sale/photoshoot, I'd rather you just did it without asking me, and if anyone saw it in person then I'd like it if you told them you copied it from me, but really I'd rather just not know about it.

If you asked me, my thoughts would range between 'aww how sweet, you like her so much you want one of your own', to 'really? there are a million ways to do a doll and you have so little imagination you just want to copy mine?', but I know that legally you can copy away, and that practically my enjoyment of her wouldn't be in any way diminished just because you had one that was identical, so I'd rather simply not know so i don't have to think about the icky feelings I might have, and I could carry on enjoying my doll, and you could enjoy yours.

 

I'd say taht getting mad over your doll's being copied is a bit stupid. Yeah, you created a character and made this and that, so what? We have Harry Potter minimees and all that, dolls that are characters from video games and such. But you don't see HP fans running wild around here screaming that we can't recreate and steal the authors ideas, right? Nothing is new, everything is borrowed after all.
I think, if you ever post anything on the internet you have to come to terms with the fact that someone might use it for something, and that goes for anything really. I'm not saying it's ok to grab someone's photograph and claim it as theirs, but a doll design? Gah, people, be simpler.
Either don't post pictures of your dolls if it bugs you that much, or deal with it. Not everyone is imaginative, not everyone is original and the world is not going to change just because we want it to. Let's be happy and eat cake.

 

Okay, I realize that being copied is a given risk of sharing your ideas... but likewise, that doesn't make it okay to just gank whatever because 'it's on the internet so it's fair game'. Some artists might not care at all, and fine, that's their business... but I don't appreciate spreading the stigma that art/idea theft is okay just because some people are indifferent to it. It isn't always illegal, but it is still insulting and lame. And if someone is such a hardcore fan anyway they should just ask the artist/owner, and respect their wishes either way.

Anyway, I agree with simplicity 100%. I think the simplest thing is to just come up with your own dang ideas, instead of stealing other people's. There. Now we can eat cake.

 

Thank you, Panbow. Excellent points!

When reading the last line of Cyanide Aza's post, was anyone else reminded of Marie Antoinette's famous quote (let them eat cake)? The revolutionaries beheaded her... so yeah, that went over well! As much as I love cake, it is not going to solve all the problems caused by people with no morals. I'm pretty sure that throwing cake at a burglar isn't going to make him (or her) suddenly grow a conscience and decide not to rob you anymore.

In any case, the entitlement mindset of people who run around the internet just taking whatever photos/ideas/etc. they feel like taking because "well, it's there, so it's fair game" is just plain disgusting. Just because I post my photos on the internet for people to enjoy (for FREE), does NOT mean that I forsake all ownership of those photos and that it's suddenly magically okay for some lazy person to come along and steal my work without asking or giving credit (Just for clarification: It's not okay). The same goes for any written art (poetry, prose, etc.) that I post, and that includes my characters.

Honestly, it's really not that difficult to come up with your own thing, especially in this hobby! If you aren't very creative, just use default stuff (after all, the company is profiting off your purchase of their default doll design) or just look around for clothes, wigs, & eyes that you like. You like the look of my doll? Great, go ahead and make your doll look similar to mine! But don't think that it's okay to then use my doll's name and/or back story too. It's both disrespectful and lazy to outright steal someone else's character design. Use a name generator or go to one of the many baby name websites on the internet. It's not hard. Dolls don't need elaborate back stories. I like making them because I'm a writer and that's part of the fun of this hobby for me, but if you're not a creative person, then it's no big deal. Heck, you don't even have to name your doll if you don't want to, just call it by the sculpt name. See? Easy, and no one gets hurt.

You wanna be happy and eat cake with me? Then don't plagiarize my characters and don't go around acting like it's totally fine for other people to do so. It's not.

 

I should hope that if someone likes my dolls enough to want to copy, they would have the basic decency to at least copy them correctly or not at all *laughs*. I mean, I spend whatever amount or time, energy, money, and practice it takes to get my dolls to where I like them, and I don't feel they'll ever really be "done". Yeah, when I got Aoba and Levi's clothes and wigs and faceups all figured out and finished (because they are based off of well-known, pre-existing characters that anybody could make a doll of; I know of three other doll owners with Aoba's outfit, commissioned from the same person, and far more with Levi's as it is more widely marketed) it was a huge step toward my endgoal vision, but there is always room for improvement. More than a blatant copy, I would hate an "old version" of my doll floating around somewhere; my dolls are unique to me not only because of the choices I made and the hours and dollars spent, but because they are always changing in one way or another, even if it's just plans in my head for the time before I act on those urges to improve.

That being said, I would hate to have *any* exact copies of my dolls down to the sculpt/clothes/wig/eyes/accessories/faceup/etc., because it is, to put it in one word, tacky. It's super tacky. I'm totally not the only person to have a boy doll in feminine fairy-kei inspired clothing and accessories and a fantasy hair color. Not by a long shot, but like hell I'm gonna spend time getting my faceup amd clothing and accessories to match someone whose doll encouraged me to make my doll in the first place.

On the other hand, in the realm of original characters, there is often a very thin line between having something actually 100% original (at least as far as whole aesthetics go, using the feminine fairy-kei fantasy colored boy as an example again), and suffering from "special snowflake syndrome" (example: believing wholeheartedly that you were the very first person to ever have put all those things together in the first place when there is no actual evidence proving that you did; also who cares).

[dolls] in a sense, are microcosms of our exposure to culture. Culture is memetic, it gets passed on quickly and widely and nobody has a claim on it. You see lots of dolls with elf ears because the first person to sculpt a doll with elf ears was inspired by culture to do so, which in turn inspired other sculptors to make dolls with elf ears and bam, look at all these dolls with elf ears they're everywhere. It's why we don't get angry when someone comes along and makes another doll with elf ears.

TL;DR: don't copy, it's bad but also don't be a butt and get angry about people having dolls similar to yours, yet not exactly alike. It's all a delicate balance

 

I would be flattered in a way, but also a little unhappy with someone having the exact same doll as mine. That being said I get why you'd be tempted. I was pretty obsessed with a certain doll for a while and I tried to buy him when he was for sale. The person selling him could not or would not budge on payment type even though the doll was listed for months. I tried several times to negotiate that, let her know I was really interested, but it was just a no go. She finally actually did sell it but unfortunately not to me.

As it turned out the seller had apparently altered the original face up quite a bit anyway. I actually liked the original face up better, so I went back to the artist figuring maybe I could get this person to do something very similar sans the later alterations for me if I got the same doll. In the end I didn't do it, but I could have, easily. Honestly I was new to BJD's then and I didn't realize how common that type of face up is. The artist who did this one was very talented but it was pretty much a standard goth face up really.

I really doubt that had I asked her to recreate that face up that anyone would have even noticed it was the same or at least very similar. I've come to understand it was the type of faceup that got me in the first place, not that particular doll. Him I'm pretty much over, that type of face up I really like and I plan on using a goth face up on at least one of my dolls.

I would suggest getting the doll and doing something similar but not exactly alike. You should have fun with your doll, maybe even do it in a very similar style, but also customize it more for you. That way you'll feel closer to it and you won't offend the person who's doll you like so much. You can likely have that type of look for a doll while not making it exactly identical but making your doll a virtual clone of the doll you like, that might cross the line for some people, and the owner of that doll might get upset.

 

IDK.. I'm thinking if anyone copied another doll, it really wouldn't look the exact way. Too many variables. That said, what about full set dolls? If you bought one the chances of meeting up with another exact same are there. Do you freak out? Hardly.

I'd be flattered of course but also think, "Go ahead and try." Seeing as I make most of my dolls clothing, it's never going to be the same. Even using the same face up artists, there will be things not quite the same. Just the nature of it.