Someone is making (wonky) replicas of my art pieces, taking screenshots of pictures I've posted and posting them as their own, and generally creeping me out. I'm looking for suggestions on how to proceed.
I have a public art account on Instagram which has gained momentum over the last couple of years (currently around 70K followers). I run a one-person printmaking business and post images on Instagram several times a week. I also run an online shop where I sell printed goods.
In December 2017, a friend reached out and showed me an Instagram account that seemed a bit off; the person behind the account was making their own prints, very clearly based on my work. (I'm talking EXACT copies, but hers were more derpy looking). She had taken my designs, carved her own rubber blocks, and printed them. I went through her account and found handfuls of copies, as well as screenshots of my Instagram stories (and screenshots from my personal Instagram account, yuck), which she had posted as her own, with her own captions. She even posted photos which included my own hand! (like my hand holding a pen and sketchbook, for example). I then found that she had an Etsy store, where she was selling her (crappy) versions of my work. She even made her own version of a t-shirt that I designed for a clothing company, and it was for sale in her shop. This person had a small following, somewhere around 300 followers on Instagram. I'm not sure if she sold anything on Etsy; she took down her store before I could check.
I was pissed off and creeped out. I called this person out publicly on my Instagram stories (this may have been a little rash) and then messaged her, asking what she was doing. She immediately apologized, promised to take everything down, and seemed very sorry for what she did. She took down her Instagram profile and closed the Etsy shop, and I thought that was the end of it.
Last week, five months after all this, I was thinking back on what happened, and I wondered what she was up to. Since she has me blocked on Instagram, my roommate offered to follow her and check it out. She has several "story highlights" posted on Instagram, about 80% of which are either direct copies of my work (again), or screenshots taken from my own Instagram stories. She also posted her version (copy) of another artist's work (an account on Instagram that is similar to mine).
The picture that made me feel the ickiest was a photograph of this person's desk, where in one corner she had framed a crappy copy of my work, in the other corner another crappy copy, and on the desk were a handful of prints drying (you guessed it, a third crappy copy). I have screenshots of everything.
I'm not sure how to proceed. I've told this person to please stop, and I thought she had. Apparently not. I know her name, age (around 20), and location.
I don't know if this is relevant, but I've recently received notifications about attempts to get into several of my accounts (Instagram, Facebook messenger, and my dept. of revenue account). This could be completely unrelated.
I have not registered an official copyright for any of my work. But I will consider it if it could help with this kind of situation.
Am I overreacting? I feel pretty violated, and I want this person to realize that what they're doing isn't okay. I also want her to get help because this doesn't feel like healthy behavior. I just really want her to stop. I know this kind of thing is common, especially when my art is on such a public platform. But this has gone on for at least 5 months (probably longer) and just feels so icky and personal. |