Buyer Beware! Bogus pendants at the Hukilau...and in NZ! Major Update Pg. 5!!!

On 2008-06-25 18:31, Haole'akamai wrote:
Yeah, he's on the vendors list, but I'll bet my Forbidden Island Fugu he's not going to show up....

Oh, I hope he shows up, with the bogus copies, so Otto can shut him down, after collecting his vendor fee, and after he's paid for airfare and hotel. :evil:

HERE'S SOME ART TO MAKE SOME FLYERS/PICKET SIGNS/TEE TRANSFERS FOR OASIS...

Yelp just wrote me an email telling me they're taking down Ken's "Shame on you" pic that I posted. I did repost my review that they deleted.
Here is another avenue to let everyone know-
http://cleveland.citysearch.com/profile/7987229/cleveland_oh/city_buddha.html

[ Edited by: TIKI KAIMUKI 2008-06-27 17:48 ]

SHAME ON YELP!
:lol:

Now that i think about it...
SHAME ON PAIPO and all those other genius carvers
who create works SO ORIGINAL
and SO FANTASTIC
that sleazy vendors would be CRAZY
NOT
to knock them off!
SHAME ON YOU PAIPO!
:lol:

Visit http://www.kenruzic.com
http://www.myspace.com/kenruzicdotcom
Why are you reading this? :lol:

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2008-06-28 09:00 ]

On 2008-06-24 18:01, thefuzz wrote:
Now I feel like a scum bag for Pre-ordering the Hukilau pendent. Was that design stolen too??? Even if it wasn't still feels like a bootleg!

Well, actually it is a copy but it was done so intentionally. The Hukilau pendant is a replica of the Mai-Kai tiki that also served as the inspiration for the Munktiki mug. So other than the fact that City Buddha may have profited from it, I wouldn't feel too bad since it was done with the Mai-Kai's approval.
http://www.thehukilau.com/08PreSell.htm

That being said, City Buddha should defintely be boycotted and face all appropriate legal sanctions for its behavior.

City Buddha should be hung upside down until the profits he has made fall out of his pockets and into those who he stole from...

...also disturbing that Yipes is pulling honest commentary off its site when this happens. Someone should alert the media that freedom of speech, especially as it pertains to addressing a thief, somehow does not apply on their website. Shame on Yipes.

Paipo...do not dispare, you are in good company...Gucci, LV and VonDutch come to mind.:wink:

Well I reposted on Yelp and I encourage all TC'ers to do the same. Sucks that a site that is based on users reviews only will let you post "positive" replies. Credibility in Yelp and their biased reviews just went way down.

seems to be a pattern emerging with the lesson that you cannot trust anything you read on review pages, newspapers and periodicals(i.e. time out magazine which i exposed in another thread here).....since we are talking city buddha here, it may be appropriate to quote the buddha himself....(no silly, i don't mean larry collins)

.." believe nothing because it is written, or because it is generally held, or because some authority said so...but believe only what you yourself know to be true through direct experience for yourself"

..and i am paraphrasing wildly with that quote, but you get the gist.....

I'm stoked to see everyone is still fired up about this, and my apologies for not keeping up with it as much lately.
To tell the truth, this whole thing has snowballed into something massive, and at times, almost overwhelming. I had no idea how prevalent this is (particularly here in NZ) and I've had a huge amount of correspondence going on outside of this thread with various buyers/collectors, artists and their agents.

Make no mistake - if people keep buying this cheap crap, artists will go under and peoples' livelihoods are at stake here. It's up to retailers, consumers and artists to stand firm on this - consumers by asking how and where the product and its design has been sourced, and the artists by refusing to supply galleries or deal with businesses that support the sale of bogus goods.

I have been in touch with the vending manager of the Hot Rod Hula Hop and am yet to get any response, but as far as I know, being in Ohio, City Buddha is a regular vendor there. Otto is taking a "wait-and-see" approach with Oasis, which is all well and good, but if this guy brings a huge bag of his shitty knockoffs it's unlikely anything can be done until it's too late. I really wish these guys (event organisers) would just take some sort of ethical stand on this and realise that the vendors who sell NOTHING but imported junk are hurting all the other hardworking artists that vend at their events, REGARDLESS of where they are sourcing their designs. Let them stick to ebay where they belong!

I will also state here that I fully support (and appreciate!) any direct or indirect action (within legal boundaries) people are willing to take on this issue. The more voices that are heard on this the better as far as I'm concerned.

..it's probably a money thing as opposed to an ethics thing with these organizers....plus, how does an organizer go about broaching the subject and calling a thief to the guy they invited to buy booth space??....It can't be easy, especially if the organizers have no concrete evidence other than what has been said here...true, it should be dealt with before the guy drags all his shit out west to set up and sell......otto should politely acknowledge the issue with them and refund the booth money and say he just doesn't want to risk a scene unfolding if they allow them to sell questionable merchandise at the event.....whatever the truth is about city buddha, this thing is already out of the bag....if larry collins is keeping up with this thread he should bow out of oasis and ask for a refund...lest this turn ugly and ruin everyones good time....paipo perhaps you know a vendor that can take city buddhas place so as to keep the level of paying vendors up.....

also, city buddha has not chimed in on any level, to anyone at all, to either explain himself or defend himself.....which usually indicates guilty as charged....unless paipo takes legal action, this thing is gonna continue to get swept under the rug until or in hopes that it dissappears.....meanwhile city buddha is probably selling this stuff as fast as he can in the event it blows up in his face ......

just random, rambling thoughts on a july summer day.....

cheerio!!!

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-07-02 17:36 ]

and another thing.....seems that yelp bumped my shitty review of the infamous volcano room at the bottom lounge in chicago off their site..looks like another case of "if you don't have a good review, don't bother posting one"...yet under the same review, someone else uses the "f" word and doesn't get bumped......

The last time I checked, Yelp hadn't pulled my review yet- in fact, I got a few responses from people who agree that not just the artists are getting ripped off, but people who think they are buying original pieces are too. None of them plan on shopping there again. I know its not much consolation, but at least its something.

I have tried to sign up for Yelp on about 3 separate occasions now and it never wants to work for me, but I'll keep trying.

Tipsy, I realise it's too late now to worry about events that are already booked and have the vendors locked in, so I can understand that it could be a hassle for the event organisers. I certainly don't want anybody crying "Thief!" and potentially getting caught in a legal wrangle with a disgruntled vendor....just trying to start some thought processes that may have some effect further down the line. At least people are now aware this stuff is out there and being sold at events...

[ Edited by: Paipo 2008-07-03 01:08 ]

Paipo ,
I have tried to sigh up on Yelp too , more that once , as has Tama , and like you , to no avail .
Kiwi artists being ripped off , and Kiwi registrations being blocked ....funny that eh .

What is it with these overseas commercial interests .
Stealing Haka , Moko , Kupu , Names , and Artworks from this country.
Have they no shame , no national and ethnic culture of their own to hold dear ,
that they cannot comprehend the heinousness of intellectual and cultural property theft ?

So called civilised countries with barbaric morals

The colonial mould has yet to be destroyed

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-07-03 01:26 ]

Kinda Likey when Hoolywood makes a movie an it's bootleg on the streeets of Asia within minutes of it's opening!

"SO CALLED CIVILISED COUNTRIES WITH BARBARIC MORALS"

On 2008-07-03 04:35, TikiLaLe wrote:

"SO CALLED CIVILISED COUNTRIES WITH BARBARIC MORALS"

..as opposed to barbaric cultures with a flawless sense of morality!!!....damn, where are those barbarians now??? we would be so much better off living under their rule than where we are now......

we'd be living in mud huts right now.....but hey, at least no one would be stealing our ideas and marketing them!!! Har!!!

There are plenty of kiwis (Maori carvers included) ripping off other kiwis in this instance - I have just seen another bogus copy of that Funaki mask and reported it on a local site not 10 minutes ago. In fact from what I'm being told by people here who are writing to me, the worst perpetrators are right here in NZ and supporting this blatant theft of intellectual property on a massive scale. I feel very sorry for the few carvers who still try and make a living from Maori influenced bone work.
We also have Americans ripping off kiwis (City Buddha), and Indonesians and Philliipines carvers ripping off kiwis. Also , as far as I'm aware everyone had trouble signing up for yelp - I don't think overloaded servers disciminate by geographical location...

Let's keep this on topic and not let it devolve into some "Them vs. Us" xenophobic finger-pointing exercise. There are greedy bastards lurking under rocks wherever you choose to look, and I'm sad to say most of them are right here in our back yard!

My heart goes out to you Paipo . I was at the Tiki farm parking lot sale and we could hear a conversation going on in the booth behind us . It seems that a customer didnt like the price of a tiki he found there so he went right over to the booth behind me to see if his indonesian carvers would do it for cheaper. It sucks but its quite a compliment to your ideas and designs . Too bad you dont get a cut of it .

On 2008-07-03 14:55, Paipo wrote:
There are plenty of kiwis (Maori carvers included) ripping off other kiwis in this instance...

OK, I must have been having a psychic moment when I wrote that, because barely two hours later I discovered that yet another guy is ripping off my work - and yes, he's here in NZ. What's even worse is he runs probably the only tiki shop in the country.
It's called Eyeball Kicks, the guy's name is Calvin (anyone who knows his surname - let me know!), and he had the gall to burn me after I took the time to go into his shop, buy a mug from him and introduce myself. Note to art-stealing douchebags - if you're going to steal someone's idea, their art, and then publicise it in your newsletter and on your site, it's probably a good idea to check they aren't on your mailing list! The sheer greed and utter stupidity of the people doing this beggars belief. Needless to say, this guy had a pretty quick response from me within an hour of his flyer going out.

Rather than cutting and pasting the whole (fairly lengthy) story here, I have made it the first post on a new blog I've started. I need to get this out to a wider audience now with the way this is going. You can read about it here:
EYEBALL KICKS STEALS FROM ARTISTS!

This is tangential, at best, but it turns out that Yelp has been pulling LOTS of reviews....

edited for spelling...

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-07-04 15:04 ]

...

[ Edited by: croe67 2008-07-04 17:18 ]

Cool blog Paipo. People suck.

Paipo ,
here in NZ there is supposed protection under the law against art ripoffs .

''
In New Zealand, under the Copyright Act 1994, copyright comes into existence automatically when any original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film, broadcast, cable programme and published edition, is put into material form e.g. manuscript, audio/video recording. No registration is necessary (or even possible), nor is any other formality required for securing copyright protection.

Copyright in literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works continues for 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the author died. Copyright in sound recordings and films continues for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which they were made. However, if the work is made available to the public before the end of that 50 year period, copyright continues for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which is was first made available. A publisher's copyright in the typography of a published edition lasts for 25 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published. .......... ''

http://www.artscanterbury.org.nz/index.cfm/Copyright.html

Copyright in original works
http://gpacts.knowledge-basket.co.nz/gpacts/reprint/text/2005/se/060se14.html

Is it worth your while to pursue this avenue ?

Is the profit margin great enough to feel better about a lack of that much personal integrity!?
Gad - what's it like to BE these people? Greed, personal artistic laziness... It would really suck to be these rip-off 'artists'... you know, if they ever stopped for personal reflection or anything.
BTW, looking at that Eyeball Kicks site; I wonder if Mitch O'Connell granted permission for use of his art for their logo graphic?

On 2008-07-04 16:13, twitch wrote:

ITW, looking at that Eyeball Kicks site; I wonder if Mitch O'Connell granted permission for use of his art for their logo graphic?

..considering if you google eyeball kicks, you will see that the site has an attachment to mitch o'connell .com.......i would say it's a safe bet that mitch did this logo for them as a job.....it's legit..

and incidentally, mitch just left my house about 20 minutes ago...he was here to pick up some lamps i made for him......

from mitch's site:

Calvin and Monique, owners of Eyeball Kicks in New Zealand were a) smart or b) foolish enough to stock up their brand new store with a ton of M.O'C merchandise. If that weren't enough they also commissioned me to do their logo! When in New Zealand please stop by 47 Ghuznee Street in Wellington and for god's sake, buy something!

On 2008-07-03 01:25, Toataiaha wrote:
Paipo ,

What is it with these overseas commercial interests .
Stealing Haka , Moko , Kupu , Names , and Artworks from this country.
Have they no shame , no national and ethnic culture of their own to hold dear ,
that they cannot comprehend the heinousness of intellectual and cultural property theft ?

So called civilised countries with barbaric morals

The colonial mould has yet to be destroyed

On 2008-07-03 14:55, Paipo wrote:
There are plenty of kiwis (Maori carvers included) ripping off other kiwis in this instance...

Barbarians!!!

Is there a reason that AlienTiki posted a self portrait ?

New Zealand carvers , Kiwi or not , do not copyright a word , an individual's name , and then use that copyright to prevent that person from performing her art .
New Zealand carvers , Kiwi or not , do not steal a person's full-faced moko photograph , and then use it in a magazine advertising the sale of home security systems .
New Zealand carvers , Kiwi or not , do not use offensive parodies of haka to advertise automobiles .

Please don't get my thread locked because of pointless trolling and even more pointless responses to said trolling - take it to Bilge gentlemen.
This thread is about people stealing designs from tiki carvers and reproducing them for commercial gain.

On 2008-07-02 16:16, Paipo wrote:
I have been in touch with the vending manager of the Hot Rod Hula Hop and am yet to get any response, but as far as I know, being in Ohio, City Buddha is a regular vendor there.

Paipo,

I just read this latest part of the thread, and would like to clarify my stance on the issue as a representative of the Hot Rod Hula Hop since you seem to be calling for it.

I would like to mention that your email did not ask for my response, it was merely a heads up. At this time of year (and frankly all year long) I get a huge amount of email. Much of that is related to the event. I ask that folks interested in vending send an email with the subject line "HRHH 4 Vending" which is what you did for your email. Because your email was not a request to vend as the title would suggest, and it did not ask for any response but rather offered information, I read it and moved on to the other vending emails that did require responses.

In the interests of artists however, I did send an email that very day to City Buddha calling his attention to the thread, asking for his story, telling him that we do appreciate him vending and would like to have him back, that we are not judge and jury, but requesting that if he did wish to vend this year we would like him to exclude any designs that are currently subject to claims of forgery.

His response was that he would get back to me. I have heard nothing from him since.

So while Tipsy is 100% right that event organizers cannot play prosecuting attorney against the vendors that help us draw shoppers and attendees.. and help us pay the bills to put on these rather costly shows, I did in fact "take an ethical stand" immediately in the interests of the artists here that are crying foul..

..and it may have cost us a vendor.

I do not make the business affairs of the event public, so until reading this I saw no need to do anything more. I was not looking for kudos. I did what I felt was right and that was that.

The HRHH does not support vendors selling blatant forgeries. If we are aware of it, and there is reasonable evidence to support it, that vendor will be asked to shelve those items and not have them available for sale at our event.

And for the record, City Buddha has been a HRHH vendor only one time unless I am somehow mistaken. He was not at the 1st event or the 3rd. This would have been only his second time with us this year.

We do have a silent auction to help pay for the event this year. In light of the probable loss of this vendor, if any artists would like to donate an item to it, we would be greatly appreciative.

Aloha,

Ahu

Thanks for that - I really appreciate you taking the time to respond thoughtfully. I realise you guys are in a difficult position when something like this happens, and I don't want or expect any of you call people thieves or have to end up policing your vendors, but I do believe that if guys like this keep operating at these events you will lose quality vendors. I can see the way the wind is blowing at the moment and it's not looking good for carvers.

I've spent way too much time this year fighting idiots who are too lazy to pay someone to design original products for them. Case in point - the guy at Eyeball Kicks in Wellington is still selling bad copies of my work, and has posted a mealy-mouthed disclaimer linked to the carver's name denying all wrong-doing (and also trying to make me look like the bad guy!).
Unfortunately for him, the very lengthy written apology I received from the carver involved admits that not only did he copy my designs directly, but that he discussed making pieces based on what I was doing with Calvin before proceeding. I'm getting pretty sick of these guys just blaming the carver when they are the ones selling the work and profiting from it at events or on their site. I have yet to receive an apology from either Calvin or Larry, but I live in hope....

Paipo and NZ artists, so sorry to hear this, especially since I was vending right next to this guy at Hukilau, and they seemed to sell a ton of there necklaces. I had a funny feeling from the guy, and was looking at one of the stolen designs (which I didn't know at the time) and almost bought it, but I followed my gut instinct that something was not right and passed on it.

I'm always amazed when someone rips off a Tiki design from another person on purpose, especially since the Tiki community and market is quite small. Well, welcome to the list of Tiki artists who've been copied on a professional level! I've been copied by Trader Joes. Crazy Al, Bosko, Shag, Munktiki, and more have been ripped off and copied professionally. It doesn't make sense, it feels horrible when you find out, and it probably won't ever go away. Bringing this to light will probably turn them away from doing it in the future though.

Keep up the fight, and keep working on new stuff to show just how inventive you can be!

Looks like Larry Collins got a bunch of his friends and family to post up reviews on yelp.com. If you do decide to post an honest review of his store, don't forget to post some sort of profile pic and to review more than just one place. Whenever I see someone with one review and no photo of any kind it just screams fake and many times will be deleted.
I hope things are going well for you, Paip! I look forward to seeing more of your unique designs.

tikitony - I'm not surprised you've experienced this too, because your work is very desirable (read: saleable) - Fatutu is probably the most distinctive tiki in my mug cabinet. I'm really glad you followed your instinct at Hukilau, but I do feel sorry for those who bought one of these pendants in good faith.
I remember seeing C'Al's post in his thread documenting the various obviously-influenced through to outright-copied pieces his work has spawned, and unfortunately he must be the most copied man in Tiki. So, yeah, I guess I'm in pretty good company! It's made me realise that this will probably happen again, so I've got to learn not let it eat me up or affect my work - not so easy when I still consider myself a newbie as a tiki artist, and I've put so much effort into trying to develop my own approach.

TK, maybe those dodgy "big ups to City Buddha" reviews you mentioned are gone already? I only see a whole pile of comments about the bogus pendants still (which is great) and a couple of positive reviews predating this whole sorry mess. I gave up on trying to join YELP after about the 20th attempt, but I'm guessing anything I post will probably be deleted anyway?
PS: Don't worry - a few people have been wondering if I've been posting less because of all this (yes, but only for a little while while I figured out what to do), but I've also been very busy with other work too. Regular tiki programming will resume shortly...

Paipo, I'm sorry to hear about the RIP off of your designs and others, and I'm sorry I got in so late (back from vacation), but has this Larry Collins punk been BANNED from the Hot Rod Hula Hop and the Oaisis events and All other Events, or is he still in the Events. I understand that as Event organizers they want to make some money or at least break even but maybe in the Future Tiki/Hot Rod Events they could be specific for Original Artists who Actully create their own Art! It would be a Great start to keeping Events more PURE as far as the ART goes and people(customers) would also know that ALL the Art is orginal and not a KNOCK OFF!!!
I am not a Rich person at all (financialy) but I would be more than happy to cover some of the cost's of the Hot Rod Hula and the Oaisis BOOTHS to keep Mr Collins OUT and SEND a Message that his WILL NOT BE TOLLERATED!!!
Who ever is in charge of these Two Events please feel free to PM me and I'll give you my phone number and we can talk,Aloha to all my friends EXCEPT MR COLLINS, Mooney

On 2008-07-18 07:15, MooneyTiki wrote:
Paipo, I'm sorry to hear about the RIP off of your designs and others, and I'm sorry I got in so late (back from vacation), but has this Larry Collins punk been BANNED from the Hot Rod Hula Hop and the Oasis events and All other Events, or is he still in the Events. I understand that as Event organizers they want to make some money or at least break even but maybe in the Future Tiki/Hot Rod Events they could be specific for Original Artists who Actually create their own Art! It would be a Great start to keeping Events more PURE as far as the ART goes and people(customers) would also know that ALL the Art is original and not a KNOCK OFF!!!
I am not a Rich person at all (financialy) but I would be more than happy to cover some of the cost's of the Hot Rod Hula and the Oaisis BOOTHS to keep Mr Collins OUT and SEND a Message that his WILL NOT BE TOLLERATED!!!
Who ever is in charge of these Two Events please feel free to PM me and I'll give you my phone number and we can talk,Aloha to all my friends EXCEPT MR COLLINS, Mooney

Mooney
Of course, as an organizer of an event that I have a lot of personal stake in I care deeply about this issue. At the first few Oasis vendors were by invitation only, now that it has grown to over forty vendors, and about 40 additional requests to vend, it is not possible to monitor all products and to have personal contact with each vendor.

Keep in mind that not only does Tiki Oasis have a very large vendor marketplace, we also offer approx 10 bands, 8 DJs, 6 burlesque acts, 6 symposiums in four different rooms, a movie night, a kids room, a ukulele jam, etc. And we manage two different locations.

Please understand that I have a signed contract with Larry to supply him with vending space. Until that agreement is breached I must honor it. I have added a clause to my vending contract regarding counterfeit or legally contested products, but the wording was not strong enough in my existing contract to refuse Larry a vending space based on him currently producing/selling counterfeit product at his store and other events.

Also, this is not a matter of money. If Larry had not bought that space someone else would have. I don't need Larry's $ to pull off Oasis 8. At the moment I have a contract with Larry and therefore cannot refuse him the vending space which I accepted money for.
In the future if issues like this are brought to my attention I will certainly refuse offering space to vendors who rip off other people.

I have emailed Larry and requested that he resolve this issue and I will pursue this further at Oasis 8 but prior to the event there is little that I can do.

Any help or suggestions that you have are appreciated.

That's cool that he will come. I think a lot of folks have a few choice words for him as far as the Paipo issue goes. It would be great if he was blackballed, picketed and humiliated back to Ohio. If he loses money coming to these events maybe he will get the idea. BOYCOTT CITY BUDDHA

Somebody want I should lean on him?

I'm sure the guy feels pretty embarrassed about the whole situation, so I can't imagine we'll be seeing any knock off pendants or artwork at Oasis. If he just came out and spoke on the issue, it would probably resolve any confrontations at Oasis or future shows. Either admit fault, and offer some sort of apology, or explain how the designs got to the carvers. I don't think anybody would hold a grudge forever if he came clean. Either way, I don't think a heated confrontation will get anywhere. He will end up explaining his story a million times though if he doesn't here or to Paipo first if he shows up at these events.

I have been persuaded by several members of the TC ohana to address this on the forums. I have been resisting this for a number of reasons. At the point I became aware of this issue on the forms the hostility was in full swing. I really did not know what to do. I was angry, anxious and totally taken aback. I do not want to write an angry response which would have been the reflex. I am still very disturbed by this, but lashing out in indignation would only feed the fire if you ask me. By the way I am not yelling victim here, I am just telling you what is here.
I also want to reconcile this personally with Paipo. On July 3rd I sent him an e-mail which
explained what happened. I did not hear back. I appears that on July 11th Paipo stated on these boards that he has yet to hear from me. When this was brought to my attention I sent the e-mail again.
Here is the e-mail...........

Rhys,
After Hukilau, my family and myself took a vacation/road trip for 2 weeks. Hence my short e-mails to you at the time. I understand they were not enough for you and I am sorry I could not spend more time communicating with you in a more thoughtful manner. For myself, vacations and the internet do not mix very well. I probably should have expressed that to you at the time
I am writing this to you and not to Tiki central ohana.You and your fellow artists are to whom I want to explain. At this time I am not sure how to respond to the folks at TC. I will be taking time to absorb this.

I am no longer selling pendants of design I did not supply. They are are out of circulation and have been since I received your initial emails.They will not be seen again.
Rhys, I am not trying to pass the buck of blame on to the suppliers of the pendants. I was simply stating a fact. The bone pendants I was selling did not come from the same folks who made my wood pendants. Some of the bone designs were made in wood.
I did not appropriate, commission or copy your designs.
When I wrote “Could you please clarify which of the designs pictured belong to you or
your colleagues. I will cease selling these styles.” I was referring to the picture that showed many styles on the table. You mentioned there were more. I wanted to know what they were. I may have communicated in a way that gave you the impression that I did not receive or ignored your attachments, which is not what I meant to do.

There are numerous shops in Indonesia that sell nothing but bone and horn jewelry. The designs I bought were off the shelf. I bought them because I thought they would compliment the wood. I had no Idea whose designs these were. I do not troll TC or ebay enough to know what I am looking at.
I do not recall e-mailing you about your designs but it is entirely possible. I did contact other folks as well.
From now I plan to confirm the originality of artwork I sell however I don’t know everything that is out there and any of these shop keepers will not hesitate to tell someone that these designs are their own. The internet is there and they use it. I am sure you know it is widespread.
I will have to live with this shit storm. I am seeing this as a lesson learned. I can only imagine what you guys are feeling. I respect the work you guys do.
My apologies...BIG apologies.

Larry

I sent the above e-mail to Paipo again on July 11th. He still has not responded or addressed this here.

Now back to your regularly scheduled trashing.....

Larry, it's taken a while, but I'm pleased you've finally responded and it is appreciated. I just wish you'd posted it sooner and saved everyone a lot of time and drama - if you'd posted that here instead of via email, this would have been sorted weeks ago. I did get those emails but they were filtered into my junk folder which I haven't looked in for weeks, and they were sent when you said they were. If I had read them I certainly would have responded.

All I ever wanted was this:

I am no longer selling pendants of design I did not supply.

and this:

My apologies...

I sincerely got the impression from the last email I read (sometime in June) that I would have to spend all my time identifying every single item you sold, which in some cases is near impossible. As it was, we (several other people chimed in with sightings) found many more designs and posted the pics here, even though it was pretty much a foregone conclusion all of your bone pendants were counterfeit. Also, I had already clearly identified which ones I knew were copied at that time in the email I sent you, but received no acknowledgement or apology for that. The tone was very abrupt and you made no mention of being away on holiday. I felt I was getting nowhere, so I decided posting here was the only option left. I would have done that anyway, as this issue needs to be publicised, but I would have approached it differently had you responded as above.

Now back to your regularly scheduled trashing.....

No - this is now resolved as far as I'm concerned. I've spent a lot of time on this and enough is enough.

Thank you Larry, I really believe your response was both Sincere and a difficult thing to do, And I respect you for it. Strange that some of these things can get So Blown up because of a few simple mistakes. I am very happy that Paipo is satisfied and I'm sure All of TC will be too.
Thanks Again!

Hey Paipo and Larry (City Buddah), glad to see that you guys have made contact and worked this out amicably.

Cheers!

[ Edited by: Otto 2008-07-29 23:40 ]