The internet makes it very easy to steal other people’s ideas. The internet makes it very hard for people to protect their own ideas. How often have you liked a craft idea you saw online? What did you do? Most folks immediately download it, or copy and paste it, and in an instant, it’s on their hard drive. Most folks do not bother to save the URL so they know who authored that idea. At the least, they should save the name of the author.
If we see something, and it sparks an idea within us, and we end up with an entirely new item because of it, that’s different. Here are three examples - two good, one bad.
I wanted something to do with money, a money tree, for a novelty gift. I did a search. I found several ideas. Some were shaped like trees. Some were “seeds.” Some used origami. Between all the ideas, I realized that pennies were like “seeds” and could add up to real money. I made my little Money Tree Seeds and it was a new idea, not resembling anything out there.
Another good idea was when I searched for free gag gifts. I found one that had about six items in one little baggie or gift sack, a friendship packet. The last item was a mint, with the comment, “MINT:because you're worth a mint!!!” That sparked a deeper idea. I wrote a four-line verse that ends with the last few words. This one is borderline. There is no way to find the creator of that idea, and if I ever do, I can put a line saying “inspired by idea from Mary Smith.” Hopefully, Mary Smith would give permission.
Finally, I’ve seen the Exercise Block done many times. Problem with that is that I’ve seen it commercially, in Walgreens. That means somebody, somewhere, probably patented, trademarked, and copyrighted everything they could about it. It’s one that might cause grief it sold at a craft fair.
Lord, help me to know how to be fair about what I copy and use.
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