I feel I MUST post this

curly2003 Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:46 PM

I feel I MUST post this

I have NEVER experienced these feelings before. I in no way think ANYONE is attacking me (because Lord knows I am fully capable of defending myself) but I am TORN and utterly DISTRAUGHT at the fact that LA Productions may suffer, in any way, a negative back-lash form this (b/c of something I posted). There is more than meets the eye going on and the word unethical is being thrown around like spaghetti. SHE IS A NEW VENDOR WHO WAS JUST TRYING TO PLEASE A BRIDE. She is AMAZING and super ETHICAL. PLEASE DO NOT HARBOR ILL WILL TOWARDS HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jennbaby Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:48 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I'd still use Laura, I have met her and she IS sweet, caring and talented. She is making my Thank you Bridesmaids cards & I love her work.

natasha Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:50 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

She has done wonderful work for many on this board, and that speaks for itself.

Sassy Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:55 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I have met and spoken to Laura at length. She is wonderful, very sincere and genuine. She did NOTHING wrong. If Stef or anyone else doesnt want anyone but Brides copying ideas, they should not post in a Public Forum and share instructions. Laura is very new to LIWeddings, and she should not be punished for doing what a customer asked her to do. Also, she never tried to take credit for the original design.
Curly clearly gave Stef credit and said she took the idea from Stef. She being Curly.

Also, just b/c a vendor is a member of LIW, doesnt mean she's all over threads on BHB.
Anyone who has dealt w/Laura I'm sure will agree with me about her integrity.

cw0904 Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:56 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I am using her now and will continue to use Laura. She is a very sweet person and means no wrong in what she does. I love her work and creativity and above all her services and prices can't be beat!

alina Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:56 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

Curly, honestly, as much as I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, I do think that the more proper way would have been for them to acknowledge that Stef made the original design...

And although there is no copyright, copying someone else's work and not giving them credit is at the very least unethical...

karen32 Posted: Mar 07, 2003 01:58 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

Laura has done fantastic work for myself and countless other brides on these boards. Any issue that remains is between Stef and Laura and only them.

HappyEverAfter Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:14 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

Can we get real for a second here, I mean we all know that we are very involved in wedding planning and this website, but that does not mean that a vendor that advertises on here should be familiar with every posted product. Yes, Stefanie did post a lot on here, but that does not mean that Laura had seen it, or knew that the example she had worked off of would cause such drama. We do not own the boards, they are a public forum. And when you place non-copyrighted items on a forum, and welcome people to use them as templates, then that can happen. Its up to the bride to decide if she wants to pay for the services of a professional product modeled after something posted here.
And for my two cents, aside from the basic layout, the two are not that similar. I dont think anyone can copyright using their e-photos for a cover, or listing the bridal party and a thank you note. My friends programs looked almost exactly like Curly's. And she has never even been on here.

michele31 Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:52 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I don't think that you owe LA Productions an apology Curly. I have spoken to Laura a few times and she has also been nice and helpful to me. I do believe that she knew the design was Stef's, mainly because it was Stef's name and photo on the sample. I think if she acknowledges that she had an error in judgement then that is fine. We ALL make mistakes. Not one vendor or bride is perfect.

Betty Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:53 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I did not use Laura BUT I've heard great things about her..and this would NOT stop me from using her

Latina511 Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:54 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

Adrienne, I completely agree with you 100%.
Its just 3 pictures infront of a program, anybody could think of that. Its not a creation that I bet somebody else has not thought of.

WithThisRing Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:55 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

dont know what happened, but i won a GC at the 1/17 GTG and it was for LA Productions and I cant wait to use it. I won 100 free match books and its actually something I wanted to do so winning the GC really made my day

I cant wait to use it

Marcela1654 Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:55 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I have never seen anything but beautiful work done by Laura. And this fiasco will not stop me from going to her. She does amazing work.

Fletch Posted: Mar 07, 2003 02:56 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

Well said Hmichick.

reallybehind! Posted: Mar 07, 2003 04:04 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

i'm not really sure what happened here. i must have missed the original post, but i didn't want to add that just because something has not been officially registered for copyright does not mean it's not protected, it is. in fact everything is protected by copyright as soon as it's created whether it's ever registered or not (of course this only applies to stuff that is in fact copyrightable, which i'm not sure if what we're talking about is). anyway, my job is copyright research so i just wanted to clear that up for people.

starhead Posted: Mar 07, 2003 04:33 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

That's true but to get statutory damages in Federal Court is almost impossible without registering the work with the U.S. Copyright OFfice.

minniebride14 Posted: Mar 08, 2003 09:29 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

What is everyone talking about? Please fill me in on this. Thx.

Tammy5-03 Posted: Mar 08, 2003 09:55 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I agree with everything that Adrienne said. I don't know Laura personally but I've seen her samples and they are always beautiful. I just wanted to add that although the sample had Stef's name on it, it does not mean that Laura would then have to know that its supposedly 'Stef's design'. She would have no reason to think its a supposedly 'original' idea by Stef that she would need permission for since its a variation of a pretty standard program idea. I think anyone would assume Stef also got the idea from somewhere else and made her own version of that idea. Laura then in turn also made her own version of the idea. Again, I love the idea and it was a very nice program but I'm sure Laura has done many similar programs over the years. She does custom work, anyone who has had custom work done knows that the customer brings in samples and says I'd like something similar to this. If you're so creative that you can come up with a unique idea by yourself, you probably wouldn't need the services of Laura. I really don't understand the drama.

lilmrs Posted: Mar 08, 2003 11:00 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

don't apologize but I think its time this issue is laid to rest.

Jenn524 Posted: Mar 08, 2003 11:59 PM

Re: I feel I MUST post this

I wasn't going to respond to the other posts, but I feel a need to put my 2 cents in now. I have to say this is totally insane. If I had something that I created and I posted it here for others to see, I could only hope that they would use it. Unless Stef said that she does not want vendors using her ideas (which maybe she did, I honestly don't know because I don't read all of the posts), how would any of us know that we couldn't take someones idea and go to a vendor with it? And why should the vendor suffer for this? It was a simple mistake and I don't think anyone was trying to steal an idea. If I saw a really cute idea on here for a scrapbook or thank you cards, should I FM the person who posted it to ask permission? I mean we'll all be getting and sending FM's all day long about this!!

Please everyone, let's not let this get anymore out of control. Otherwise we're going to have girls afraid of sharing ideas and more importantly people afraid of using the suggestions posted here. I can't understand how we can call this a Brides Helping Brides board if we're not going to be able to use other people's ideas.

Stef I can understand how you might be annoyed about this, but unless you posted that you don't want people taking your ideas to vendors, I really don't think you can blame LA Productions or Curly for this. You have so many great ideas and I'm sorry that you're upset about this. I hope the three of you can figure something out so that everyone is happy in the end.