Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Guest Post: Why Etsy Sellers & Mompreneurs Should Forget Trademarks & Focus on Copyrights?

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Etsy Copyright

Editors Note: We would like to welcome Matt Lowe who has kindly written this guest post about the differences between trademark and copyright and why one is more important than the other.

Matt is an in house counsel in Colorado and is the author of the An Etsy Seller’s Guide to Copyright Protection (for sale). Matt is a Graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and lives in Salt Lake City, UT,  with his wife and 2 toddler boys (and a baby girl on the way).

As a business attorney, I’d be rich if I had a nickel for every time an Etsy Seller or Mompreneur asked me “Shouldn’t I trademark my Etsy Shop or Business Name?”

My answer is always a resounding “NO.” For an Etsy Seller or Mompreneur, it’s much more important and practical to focus on copyright protection than trademark protection.

Allow me to explain why copyright protection is more important than trademark protection:

A trademark protects a brand name (like Coca-Cola) from someone else (like Doug’s Cola) using the Coca-Cola name to create customer confusion to benefit Doug’s Cola.   For example, Doug’s Cola cannot use the Coca-Cola logo on its website to trick customers into thinking they are buying Coca-Cola.

But, Etsy Shops rarely gain the national brand awareness of Coca-Cola to justify the time and money required to register a trademark.

On the other hand, an Etsy Seller should understand copyright protection because virtually every product sold on Etsy is copyrightable.   A copyright protects any original, artistic, or literary work, so long as a few elements are satisfied (explained in Matt’s book).

As an Etsy Seller, a trademark only protects your one brand name, while copyright protection covers hundreds of different products in your Etsy Shop from unlawful piracy, copying, or duplication.

And if that’s not convincing enough, consider this: (i) A copyright is much cheaper than a trademark, (ii) You don’t have to register a copyright in order to actually copyright your works, and (iii) Copyright has an appealing little symbol ©, whereas the trademark symbol is blasé at best.

And that’s why I recommend that Etsy Sellers and Mompreneurs focus on Copyright Protection rather than Trademark Protection.

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Comments

  1. I just want to say, I have seen soooo many things that the sellers say you can’t use sell or something else from one of the things they have made. I have seen the same things made, just colot has changed, and they claim it as their own. Well a Log Canin quilt is a log Cabin quilt no matter who made it or what color it is. It has been around for a hundred years, so how can someone now make it and say it is theirs and copy write it?? That goes for everything else that has been around for many many years. I have beed very upset about this subject for as long as I have been going to all the craft sites. They have no right to copywrite a pattern that has been around as long as most of these patterns have. Gerry

  2. I am sooo with you Gerry on this “subject” of copyrighting everything on earth as if someone just came up with it!! “UGH!” the majority of what is out there are things that have been tweaked in some manner for forever, and I’ve been around for 65 years – crafting for that long as well – started when I was a child and watched my mother and neighbor-ladies. So I ain’t so gung-ho on your copyright “myth” unless IT IS SOMETHING truly original and NOT RE-INCARNATED!!! Dia

  3. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is my understanding:

    While I ask on my listings that my patterns not be used to create work for sale, I am aware that I cannot enforce that under copyright protections.

    I sell patterns, and when I sell one I retain the copyright to my design, so the buyer cannot make 100 copies of it and sell it in their shop. They can, however, recreate it themselves and sell it, as a pattern or as a finished product. Ethical, maybe not. Legal, yes.

    When I first started on Etsy, a potter asked me to take down a listing that had a phrase on it similar to, but not exactly, the phrase she used. I had not been aware of her shop before I made the pattern. Not knowing any better, I took it down, because I was still under the impression that Etsy was a friendly community where everyone wanted everyone to succeed. Now I know better. It is a friendly community, but we’re there to do business.

Have you read?

Learning about Finland for Kids

Finland is a country in Northern Europe bordered by Sweden, Norway and Russia, as well as the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Let’s learn more about this Nordic country. 

Finland Basics

Finland is 130,678 square miles, or 338,455 square kilometers, and is home to about 5.7 million people. 

Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish.

The area now known as Finland was first settled around 9000 BC, and it was part of Sweden from the late 13th century until 1809, when it became an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire. It declared independence in 1917 and it officially became a republic in 1919. It lost some territory to Russia after World War II but retained its independence.

It was the first country in Europe to grant its citizens universal suffrage, and the first in the world to allow all adult citizens to run for office. It is a Nordic style welfare state with an advanced economy and is often ranked as one of the countries with the happiest people in the world. 

It has a unitary parliamentary government, with a president and prime minister.

The name in Finnish is Suomi, and it’s not clear where the name came from but it seems to have a common original with the Sámi, indigenous people from the Nordic region and Russia. 

Finland National Symbols

The flag of Finland has a white background with a blue Nordic cross (which looks like a Christian cross on its side) in the center. It is said that the blue represents the nation’s thousands of lakes (there are more than 180,000 recorded lakes in the country) as well as the sky.

The national anthem, “Maamme” in Finnish or “Our Land” in English, was originally written for the 500th anniversary of the town of Porvoo and was first performed in 1848. The song is not officially the national anthem but has been commonly used as the anthem since the nation’s independence. Estonia‘s national anthem uses the same tune. 

Finland’s coat of arms is a crowned heraldic lion on a red field, with the right front leg replaced by a human arm holding a sword. He’s also standing on a sabre and surrounded by nine roses. 

The Eurasian brown bear is the national animal, and the Finnhorse is the national horse. Finland’s national insect is the seven-spot ladybird and the national fish is the European perch. 

Lily of the valley is a floral emblem of Finland, and their national dog is the Finnish Spitz. In addition, granite, the silver birch, the Whooper swan and the holly blue butterfly are all considered national symbols. (You can read about several of these here.)

Finland Learning Activities for Kids 

Grab resources for teaching about Finland from Teachers Pay Teachers. Artsy Craftsy Mom also has a printable fact book you can purchase.

Make a tape resist Finnish flag with this idea from taidekoti. Or use watercolors to make the Northern Lights, which can be seen in Finland, with this project from The Pinterested Parent. And learn more about the Aurora Borealis in this video from Little School.

Learn more about the boreal forest/taiga biome, which covers the majority of Finland, with this resource from Let’s Talk Science. Talk about the differences between brown bears and grizzly bears, and pull out horse crafts and learning activities. 

Take a listen to some music performed on the kantele, the national instrument of Finland. 

Check out the Moomins, described as “with and roundish trolls with large snouts,” developed by Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson.

The national food of Finland is rye bread, so give it a try with this recipe from Zingerman’s. (It will still be good even if you don’t have freshly milled rye.)