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over 8 years ago from Jeff Sheldon, Ugmonk
Yes, many people/brands have ripped my designs. We've even had people lift our entire website code and just insert their products. The funny thing is that one time they forgot to change the contact email code on their FAQ so we were getting inquiries from their customers which is how we found out they stole our design.
Often I'll just email the shop owner or tweet about the knockoff and they will take it down immediately. Public shaming is probably not the best way to go about it, but people know deep down when they've stolen something. People seem to think the internet is a big enough place to get away with stealing stuff, but it's pretty crazy how many people get found out. Most of the time it's my fans that send me the links to the ripoffs.
At the end of the day my true fans and customers know what is legitimately Ugmonk and what's a knockoff, so I'm probably not losing a lot of sales to the knockoffs. Still very frustrating though!
Good points. It seems like the best defense against rip-offs is to create a strong brand identity and a loyal fan base. Thanks for your answer.
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Have feedback?
Hi Jeff, Have you ever had any issues with knock-offs or copy-cats? If so, how did you address that?