Artists Take Up Fight Against China Knockoffs

[Patrick Lane]

Heard a story on the radio this morning. A group of New England Craftsmen and Artists are sueing a store called Christmas Tree Shops, which is owed by Bed Bath and Beyond if I remember correctly. It seems that agents for Bed Bath and Beyond go and purchase original works from independent galleries and studios. They then send them to be massed produced in China and then sell them through discount stores in the same market. One example was a stained glass craftsman who found what was an identical copy of one of his vases made of small pieces of glass sodered together. Not only are they copying craftspeople's designs, they are putting them back into the same market through their discount gift shops "Christmas Tree Shops". Another woman found a copy of her original work. She said a molded glass she found at the Christmas Tree Shops store fit her original mold perefectly. So they didn't just make a similar design to mass produce, they bought one of hers and made a mold off of it. They are filing a lawsuit, but since most of them don'y hold copyrights on their work, it will be hard to win.


They don't have the transcripts available yet, but you can listen to the segment for free at the NPR website under the title "Artists Take Up Fight Against China Knockoffs"