Really, Dollmore? Blatant Kuroshitsuji rip-off

Ooof. This thread is full of interesting theories and lack o' ethics galore, but for me I'd put the shock and offense at blatant umm, stealing, a few notches below the horror, disgust and nausea I felt when I saw Dollmore's recent Porno Dollie offerings.
New highs in low. Go Dollmore.

 

okay bad example then Thanks

A blatant copy is a bad thing one way or another. Just the other day I was really peeved cus I saw someone copying a DOD outfit on eBay and selling it as their own design. Yet for some reason this Dollmore copy of Kuroshitsuji didn't bother at first. The more I have thought about it; the more I now think; it is cheeky of Dollmore but at least they have given some reference to the anime (I think...?) I guess we are all presuming that they haven't had permission but my suspicions is that they haven't if all they have said is that they were inspired by it.

ETA: After looking again at the dollmore page I see that they did not credit the manga in anyway. Okay- well there isn't really any excuse for it as it is stealing someone elses design. Irregardless of the fact there is copying of intellectual property all the time in this hobby doesn't make it right.

 

Well.... I know it's a total rip off (even though there are some inaccuracies) but to be brutally honest... I'm kinda glad they made this so it saves me time in actually making this or hiring someone to make it for like $XXX.XX lolz

But everyone steals from everyone in the fashion industry :P

BTW this totally reminds me of the incident with LUTS and the Superman shirts lol~!

 

Srsly, I don't see what the problem is.

After the whole fisaco with Angelic Pretty and Bodyline over in the lolita community, I see people complaining for no reason. Look around. Everyone "steals" from everyone. Its how we (as humans) function. Someone comes up with something, others take it and remake it or better it. Stop complaining. Its going to happen.

And hey, if the author of Kuroshitsuji has a problem with DollMore Marketing her design, then I'm sure she'll sue or something.

But before you go bashing DollMore and calling them thieves or whatever, take a look around you. I'm sure that you have one or more items in your possession that was ripped off from another idea.

 

Then shouldn't people who cosplay get in trouble too? They rip-off anime outfit and make them into human size and then a lot of them sell for profit.

Personally, I really don't care. It's not like they stole and actual pattern from someone one and then said they made it.

 

I . . . think it's a really cute outfit, I love Kuroshitsuji, and I'm having a hard time stopping myself from buying it. Moral dilemma, what moral dilemma?

 

.... They have to have permission to full out copy a dress from an anime ..
BUt maybe somewhere some dolly cosplayer is rejoicing xD

 

2D cartoon drawing of a dress that appeared once =/= 3D fabric doll dress made from an original pattern.

Having drafted patterns for humans and dolls alike, I know it's no easy task. As a matter of fact, it's much, much harder to get right and requires a lot more resources, patience, in-your-head rendering, trial-and-error waste material and time, than a simple drawing of the same garment. (Do both, definitely prefer drawing over pattern-drafting.)

I've done a few character designs myself. I honestly hardly see an issue. It's kind of like... if someone decided to take my characters and do those "characters as dogs" renditions of them - and made them well enough for people to buy - hey, I don't care. I'd never do something like that, I'm not interested, so if they have the skills and the time to do that, all the power to them. I might actually even find it flattering - it would mean there's interest in my art. Hell, even if they re-drew the characters in their own style and sold them I don't think I'd care, provided no claims of originality are made.

This entire thread reeks mostly of old grudges fueling new ones, to be honest. And I used to like Kuroshitsuji. I'm actually rather annoyed with it now, and it has nothing to do with Dollmore's dress.

 

I see nothing wrong with it.

 

This.

As some people have pointed out, they aren't taking trade away from anyone. When Forever21 made the exact same dresses as some high-end designers, they were taking business away from said designers (people who would otherwise get the original would rather get the cheaper F21 one.) But in what way does this hurt the Kurowtfhdka creators? If anything, it'll make the series more popular, when people who haven't seen it yet try to track down the design. Unless it's an actual Ciel doll, and they're marketing it as such, they aren't really doing anything to take away profit from the franchise.

That, and the fact that people commission seamstresses for stuff like this all the time. If that's OK, then why isn't this?

I see no problem, really.

 

Okay, I have read through every single response to this thread so far, and I'm having a difficult time coming up with a convincing argument for why Dollmore is wrong. How is their dress a problem? I guess I just don't get that this is really that offensive.

 

haha oh wow, hello Ciel indeed! to be honest, i'm not bothered by it. if i ever wanted my doll to cosplay as Ciel, i wouldn't have to look far for an outfit

the only issue i can see is copyright. but that's a matter of law, not my own opinion.

 

The person who could afford the designer dress probably wouldn't buy the forever 21 one, as the designer one would be a much higher quality.

 

I did have something to say, but I think you've said it for me.

 

The original thread is here: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171242

I remember that debate pretty well... they released two dolls with the same names as the manga characters, and the same outfit/wig/etc. It seems there was a big miscommunication and the outfits were actually not going to be released for sale. The dolls were to be sold as basic dolls, and the outfits/manga-based photos were from a recent convention or show where they had displayed the customized dolls as a promotion.

In the end, they didn't so much withdraw the dolls as clarify that the photos were just for display, after which they took down those images.

 

Ugh. Theres nothing wrong with what they have done. This "ripping off" happens all the time. Fake designer bags. Fake designer jewery. Fake designer clothing. Bodyline making replica of known lolita brands. Artists being "inspired" by other artists. If it was sush a serious issue, then bodyline would go under, artists would be nothing, etc.

Nothing is original anymore. Everybody takes inspiration from somewhere, and in this case, a company wanted to make a real life version of a dress.

 

I know this can be no big deal to a consumer it just opens more windows to choices which is what consumers like.

Although I believe if you're directly taking it from anime, making ton's (billions) of money from selling that artist's design a year some percentage or royalty should go to the original artist I think that is most fair. But if you're making little money, it's no real big deal.

But if they are from korea and this character is from japan. It is ok for them to make this outfit since japanese law does not affect korean law. Unless korea has a law about stealing/selling ideas from other countries.
So law wise they are safe.

But will the buyer buy? or throw an uproar because of their morals or injustice to the original creator?


angelofdeath, although this may be true, fake designer bags, fake designer jewelry may look the same but cannot use their brand name/logo as the original designer bags/jewelry. So it has to be significantly changed a bit.
Can you really say nothing is original anymore? I think there is original things out there in the world we just haven't heard about them or seen them.

This one's a good example of what I mean as far as getting into trouble, the reason why cosplayers who sell anime outfits here in the US don't get in trouble is because most people who make cosplay do not mass produce and make billions a year. Even then, I don't think we have copyright protections for japan here.

 

Sometimes, the only thing different from the original is that it doesnt have the brand name on it, but yeah, sometimes they do change it significantly. The greatest example I can think of is the lolita rocking horse shoes. There are so many different...."brands" out there.

Everyone takes inspiration from somewhere, someone, or something. NOTHING is 100% original. A good example is clothing that looks similar or whenever you say "hey, I've seen something similar before!"

 

This. I think this bothers me less than Minimees, because the character image IS copyrighted in a way that usually includes possible future uses of the image. Daycare centers have gotten in trouble for having copyrighted characters painted on the sides of their buildings - I'm frankly shocked that the Kingdom Hearts Minimees haven't caused a huge legal mess, I guess they're flying under the radar. A drawing of a dress being made into an actual dress is different, unless they planned to (and had copyrighted the image to) produce it as a dress. That seems more like cosplay to me. Fake clothing typically only can be prosecuted if it uses the actual logo fraudulently.

 

I'm really surprised at home many responses are on here saying they see nothing wrong with it. As I understand it they used a design directly that they did not create and did not give credit to the creator? I would be pretty upset if that were my design.
Cosplay is a person saying, look Im this character from this manga! They aren't claiming to have created the design.
If the anime design also was copied (as opposed to inspired) that's just as bad on the anime's part.
Even if it's a 2d design, making it into a 3d dress doesnt make the design yours.
Take a look at the ABJD Books and DOA thread in rules, it clarifies these things rather well.