Rating all the Knock offs of my Dragon Hat - Alexandria Masse

[@aaronbalder50]

"Not everything needs to be mass produced" 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@Brian-wx4ig]

Unfortunately, people don’t take intellectual property theft as seriously they should. Your anger is totally justified. A $20 piece for something that is hand crafted for at least 5 hours is abysmal.

[@ThirstForRae]

Hi Alexandria, I fiercely commend you for speaking about this blatant transgression publicly. What an absolute mess to find yourself in as a creator. You’re so immensely talented and clearly a visionary in your craft-learning that the dragon design has familial roots was even more heartbreaking. From human to human, I’m deeply saddened that you’ve been the victim of intellectual property theft on this scale and I truly hope you receive justice. Whatever that looks like for you! Be gentle with yourself during this time and just know that they can never replicate the creative essence within you. Nourish it always ❤

[@alexandria_masse]

Thank you, this is such a sweet message! I’m honestly not worked up about it. Just disappointed my design is being used to exploit peoples labour :(

[@kassafrassa]

I know exactly how you must be feeling right now 😭 I had dollskill and shein steal top designs from me and I got so discouraged I haven't posted an original design online anywhere since. It was devastating and I agree the added unethicalness of it all makes it 100 times worse

[@alexandria_masse]

I’m so sorry that happened to you :( I’m more upset about the fact my design is being used to exploit peoples labour unethically than anything else

[@imhelenzhou]

They not only stole your designs and manufactured them, which is wrong on so many levels, but they also used ur photos! I’m on your side in whatever you want to do with this. Love your designs and art❤️❤️❤️

[@ao-zr6it]

ugh im so sorry this happened. i was looking forward to your tutorial!!! its so sad that they ruined it for everyone :( you literally made FREE patterns and tutorials and they were amazing!!! im sorry that got taken advantage of :( as a textile artist, i totally understand your frustration. thank you so much for sharing your work and your creative process :)

[@hellenn9631]

came for the dragon hats but its im glad you talked about plagiarism and exploitation as well

[@Caydi3]

i’m so sorry this happened to you. and to post YOUR pictures on the websites… the AUDACITY 😭

[@ekaterincastlegrove9353]

And the most sad part is people would still say "sorry but I would rather buy it on Shein it is cheaper 🙄"

[@annasafner6200]

Gotta say i saw the hat somewhere else, there is massive gap in quality. I always get mad when they sell knock offs of sth, and they advert it with original pictures 😩 it would be better if they at least gave the option to buy it from original creator or designer. Btw it's no point to sue, it's very difficult to prove that it is a breach to copyright law. There are lot of cases where they basically copypasted the art and scribbled over it and managed to come out from the court as winners... unless u have someone who would surely manage to make u win, it could make more damage

[@alexandria_masse]

I may or may not have gotten my hands on a knock off so my next video will be comparing the 2 ;) Unfortunately you are so right, I’ve had some friends in a similar situation and it’s a lot of money to spend before anything happens.

[@alexfitz2540]

the mic is fuckin amazing hahahaha. quality is totally good and fine

[@alexfitz2540]

SILVER DRAGON LORE!!!!

[@alexandria_masse]

swag thank u alex

[@fionaflorissax]

I hate these companies sfm. I completely understand why you don't want to do a tutorial any more--in fact that was my first thought when I saw you post about this on IG! You have all my sympathy and I think the way you have handled this nightmare is commendable.

[@ellafriesen5443]

This is so unfortunate to see. I have been following you on TikTok for a few years now and I’ve always loved your style and artwork. I can’t imagine how this feels. Props to you for making this video and educating more on this topic

[@tamagojiken8672]

Such a great video. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@iamkid_a]

your tutorials bring us so much joy for people who crochet and fill us with lots of inspiration!! but it's fair you feel this way! all this work and $10-15 for that hat is so ridiculous - even when i made the headphone covers it was $20 in yarn bc i used wool from a local shop!! it's unethical too because the dragon thing is unique and special to you

[@Ilovetheskunk]

Holy crap the sound is really good! You're voice is very calming! Shein is horrible for this and it's great that you're keeping a positive attitude about it!

[@jordanmcshannon8458]

I totally feel your pain, that’s horrible. Overseas market are well known for doing this. The only take away you should remember is that your craft and quality cannot be compared to these cheap copies. People recognise quality products and will pay for your efforts. Keep doing what your doing and don’t give up. I’d say promote yourself not just your product that is key, they can’t copy you.

[@giselle9026]

This is just messed up. Even by looking at your pieces you can tell you put a lot time, effort, and money into it just for it to be stolen by a popular clothing store that’s probably going to make more money from it than you. I hope they’ll take it down and notice what they did. Love your work btw ❤

[@vi1ija]

YES ALEXANDRIA TALK YO SHIT

[@bgummeson]

I am such an admirer of your creativity and originality. Sorry this happening to you and other artists. The first time I heard you speak was on Fiber Chats, and I think you have important and interesting things to say, so I would love to hear more.

[@coolboykev1]

Capitalistic-corporativism is the issue!! People don't have enough money to actually value and properly compensate the artists. We will always prefer to spend less bc not many of us make enough Love the microphone

[@carpa8062]

I'm so sorry this happened to you... I honestly couldn't believe my eyes the first time I saw your original white piece ✨️so fckn cool✨️

[@DaBomb3rd]

Oh, bummer. It’s a really cool design. I personally crochet and after my brother had an incident with his prop rubber rat bursting and basically guts spilling out, I had freehand crocheted a rat and top hat for his next D&D session. I also play D&D and play as a kobold. When I heard you made a hat, I thought it would be a cool thing to wear to get into character. I’ll probably have to find a design somewhere else.

[@andilengcizela]

I'm sorry they're stealing your work. Yours is literally 1,000,000 times better, and I'm not being hyperbolic, it's a statement of fact.

[@viencuvo0302]

Hi girl ❤❤❤. I look forward to a video tutorial from you. It looks so cool.

[@bgummeson]

The sound is great and your mic is innovation at its best!

[@cataclysme7287]

Wow, this video definitly convinced me to never buy on these sites ever... How can they be so shameless. Great hats btw, i loved dragons so much when i was a kid/teen, i have plenty of book about them.

[@aureliadelgado7089]

La gente así es de envidiosa Tu trabajo es muy genial Yo cuando hago algo siempre digo busque el patrón o seguí un tutorial nunca digo es mío. Saludod

[@myishaherrell4532]

I’m only half way through and I’m literally lmao,

[@slugore]

This theft totally sucks. I think I still have a magnet somewhere from your grandparent’s restaurant, somewhere. Your uncle gave it to me.

[@MeanBlackKitty]

That is intellectual property theft!!! Did you sue them??????? I definitely would!!!! 😡😠🤬

[@user-go7jp6sp7s]

we stand with u

[@taleef1760]

It's one thing to be inspired by something someone else makes but it's such BS when they completely copy your design and hard work. I love the story and history behind the original hat's design and your family's history that so interesting!

[@robinmorehouse1265]

I’m gonna report all these companies

[@DisabledCursedPrince]

I hate how every aspect of this is predatory. Not only does it take away from you, but it preys on the sweatshop worker doing it, it preys on the consumer as well. I'm glad I was able to track you down from pinterest, but just KNOW that I had to do some digging to find you (I hate how normal it is to not credit on pinterest.) I am someone living in poverty, so as someone who is currently only dreaming of owning one of your original pieces someday- it preys on people like me. These type of websites aren't just benefiting from (can I say this?) Mass- buying from rich, privileged, usually girls, on tiktok or youtube. The truth of the matter is, there's people like me, where maybe you haven't bought any new clothes in a few years- so it's really important to make smart financial decisions. The problem then, which we know, is you might be drawn to purchase say- a cute top for 5$. But then, it's the horrible quality that keeps that top from being.. useful? For example, I've bought from places like this in the past, back around 2017ish, and some of the items were so poorly made- they wouldn't even hold up to one wash cycle.. like as in holes, parts of the item literally melting, prints coming off. It only took one time for me to get the short end of things, before I started educating myself about these products and where they truly came from. I LOVE your style, I love so much how passionate you are, I love seeing your new creations, and I hope some day I'll be able to commission something from you. I just hoped to offer a different point of view. That these types of things- the only winner is some big corporate guy somewhere. I recently TRIED to pick up crochet- honestly- mostly because of you. And I now understand just how much work it is to even be able to get on your level lol. I don't have much patience, and my hands are quite clumsy, but I'm still happy you inspired me to begin with. I really appreciate the work and detail you put into your craft. I think what this type of scenario relies on, is for people to be poor consumers. They might not even look you up or know your name, they just see the product in advertising, think "that's neat!" And buy. Or possibly, they rely on people like me, who don't have funds to do something we do desperately crave: supporting artists work- and they might be tempted to go for a cheaper option, but of course, since I've taken the time to educate myself about being a better consumer, and I've done some works in art myself, (and had a whole ass concept stolen by a major company: League of Legends Riot actually stole TWO skin designs from my small blog at the time which only had around 2k, but RIOT was known to stalk the smaller artists anyways, it happened to a few friends of mine too..) I digress, because I've been around the block, I wouldn't personally fall for purchasing something like this, but I could easily see how someone else might.

[@paulahillman1100]

I would be so upset…. Ugh I’m so sorry 😢

[@des8082]

this is so upsetting i can't imagine how you feel, i was looking forward to a pattern/tutorial but its 100% justified you won't. it's so unfair how these sites and stores just so easily steal things from especially smaller artists .... has happened one too many times

[@christinaperez208]

Do you sell, i cant find a website?

[@Vix2066]

Surely there's something you can do about this? I know the company is in China but does that matter when it comes to art theft?

[@daisyhenry-antonio5246]

Can't you send a cease manufacturing order?

[@zahraasafwan5333]

I mean yarn is expensive and they r making it trash looking u got all the right

[@DaBomb3rd]

Also, you might be able to contact someone at DMCA about those photos with your watermark and claim those as your intellectual property and how you didn’t sell your photo to them and have them removed. I’m not a lawyer, just frustrated.

[@toprotectyoux3]

Fashion doesn't have IP protection/Copyright protection, and I firmly believe it shouldn't have it. There is brand protection however. That being said I don't agree with what Shein and Alibaba are doing, especially when there are human rights abuses. People shouldn't buy products from totalitarian/non-democratic countries at all. I recommend supporting the original artist/seller by buying from them and advertising who the original artist is as much as possible. Here is a ted talk on why fashion has no copyright, and how it's mostly beneficial for many many reasons: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX24q5qNdqp6oLs P.S: You could copyright your clothing/designs but all someone would have to do is adjust it by a few millimetres.

[@candiceswanepoelcanmurderm5160]

I love this type of videos! U should make it a series tbh. And I’m sorry ur designs are getting stolen. It Literally pisses me off. Maybe u could try to get the law involved somehow?

[@AudreeAdam]

You are so right, the worse part is that people are exploited and underpaid... But your art being stolen is also terrible. The fact that you have Hong Kong roots and that Chinese people are exploited just makes it that much worse to me. I recently discovered your work and channel and man, I'm just so sorry. I hope you keep posting, I really enjoy your videos.

[@_sam]

😮

[@tinagradinaru1662]

I have one question... How did you not swear while filming this? Actually, you edited out the swear words right?😏 I went through the same type of thing and eventually had to accept that there are always going to be knock offs. The most important thing for you to know, is that your brand on your product (that you created with such originality) that you handmade yourself, is most valuable. Even if you have someone make them for you, your branding on each item sets them apart from all the other copies out there. Imagine having an original Chanel hat, that her actual hands made. That’s priceless, right? Even to have a real Chanel hat from the fashion house is pretty cool. If you buy a baseball cap with the Coco Chanel logo (double C design) on it, from the flea market booth that sells all kinds of knock offs, that shows that you love Chanel, but maybe can’t afford the real thing. So when you see people wearing cheap imitations of your creation, they are complementing you. If your design is trending, many will buy real and fake to be stylish, but the branded ones are the be all and end all. Lastly, just know, the copy cats will have a hard time keeping up with you because if you keep creating, there are a lot more where that one came from! If you can be grateful that your idea is trendy and is being mass produced, know that it’s like free advertising for your brand. You may not be getting credit for it now, but you will reap the benefits down the road, provided that you keep coming up with original designs, making and branding your product and getting it out there. Hope this helps you to be ok about being copied, because you are a creative force. Keep creating original, high quality products, with your brand on them, and enjoy the ride!👊💥

[@thebunny9388]

Holllyy shiii sue them. Do you want help finding a lawyer who will work pro bono because this makes me gag it’s so gross.

[@sages101]

Lol rekt

[@zuch7787]

this is so frustrating

[@soliloqvy]

ugh im really sorry this happened to u :(

[@Kaalokalawaia]

That's horrible. I'm sorry.

[@ValentinaLimited]

it could just be a coincidence and or they made it before you and you copied shein. your acting as if shein billionaire company noticed you. LMAO doubt it

[@c3meterygirl]

I’m so sorry :(

[@moxum8855]

when you get a Shein ad on this video 😀🪦

[@c3meterygirl]

All the remakes that ripped you off are so ugly 😭😭

[@ASquareGranny]

horrifying that this could even happen…you are a class act & handled this so much better than I would! ☺️🫶🏻🧶