Protecting Your Art

Its 2 in the morning, and you bolt wide awake with that Ah Ha! moment.  You are convinced your idea is the next best thing to sliced bread, and you only tell a chosen few of your idea, maybe even going as far to make your own Grandmother sign a non-disclosure agreement.  Then you rush out to file a patent or whatever necessary paperwork for protection.  How do I know this?  It happened to me a long time ago, in a completely different career.

In the art world, its a little different.  Certainly I can become inspired with a new design of a necklace at 2 a.m., such as combining tiger's eye and lapis (this happened two nights ago).  Or, I can come up with a new line after racking my brain of a unique niche so that I can get into retail stores.  That's how The Healing Pet was born.  I was tired of retail stores telling me that Anosia Custom Jewelry was nice, but "too similar to an artist that we currently have in the store."    Only in Boulder...

Certainly The Healing Pet pet charms are unique.  After consulting with an attorney, I found out protecting art design is a little different.  Whether you are a writer, sculptor, or in my case, a jewelry designer, when you create your art and publish, it is automatically protected by copyright laws, whether or not you have a the written disclaimer with the copyright symbol saying to the effect of "All Rights Reserved."   One can even go as far to register the works of art with the U.S. Copyright Office, which makes it more official in protection.

Being the responsible person that I am, I quickly registered my copyrights of each of my nine main pet charm designs.  Unlike filing a patent, filing to register a copyright is fast, easy, affordable (only $35/application) and one does not need to hire an attorney to file. 

From another start-up of mine (that Ah Ha! moment I referred to earlier), I filed a software patent of which I spent thousands of dollars and five years later, am waiting to hear the decision on the appeal to the office action of rejection.  Sounds complicated, right? So, can I tell you how happy I was when I received 5 of my 9 copyright certificates on my pet charms?  And it was only 6 weeks after filing the application.  I thought all was good with the other 4 applications, until last week, I received an email from an officer at the U.S. Copyright Office asking numerous questions.  To be helpful, I cited my other certificates, hoping it would help my case.

Noting could have been more of the opposite.  She called me several hours after I sent my email, and yes, this is a real life person that I was talking to in Washington D.C.!  Apparently, long story short, I was infringing upon myself as the to-be registered designs were too similar to those already registered.  As I mentioned above, I have a pretty decent knowledge of I.P. (Intellectual Property) so after I hung up the phone, I just had to laugh. Was I going to send myself a cease and desist letter? Sue myself?  The one good thing that came from the conversation and is that I got my logo registered.  I guess the $140 (4 apps @ $35 each) wasn't wasted after all.

The point of me writing this blog is to encourage artists to educate yourself as to how you can protect your art designs.  Your work is your own and while most artists are respectful of originality, big business may not be so nice. 

Yours in inspiration and creation from the soul,
Jen

Moving into the 21st century

Now accepting credit cards!

I believe there are two groups of people when it comes to technology: those that jump at the latest and greatest gadgets that are released, and those that defy these technological advances until they can no longer resist.  I tend to fall into the latter group.  I do not have an iPad but rather a laptop that I bought in 2006 without any upgrades.  It wasn't until last year that I got an Mp3 player. Heck, even my 1997 Honda Accord has the stock radio and....a cassette player!  I guess I was always spending my extra pennies on sporting equipment or pretty shiny crystals and minerals to make beautiful jewelry.  In the end, its all about perceived value.

After several recent shows, it dawned on me that an increasing amount of customers were whipping out plastic before cash.  I embarrassingly had to say "Oh, I only take cash or check."  Now I don't know too many people that carry their checkbooks around, myself included.  Cash is often a limiting factor for purchases.   So, my defiance to move into the 21st century when it comes to technology was starting to wane.  I looked at leasing a credit card terminal, and with all the fees, it would be over $100 a month just to have the darn thing.  Scratch that idea.

I thought, "I do not want to get a Smartphone! I do not want to be one of those annoying people at lunch or waiting in line with my nose to the screen trying to touch-message or find the latest "app." Or worse yet, driving like crap.  I have, on more than one occasion, wanted to throw my friends' phones out the window because they were obviously not interested in what we (or should I say I) were discussing.  And I liked my simple phone that was the hottest thing in 2001.  But, sometimes circumstances can drive one to change.

After several long hours of research, outsourced on the phone to India, and several visits to retail stores, I am reluctantly proud to say that I now own a Smartphone (gulp) and have the Square to accept all credit card payments.  I had a recent experience with the Square as a customer at an apparel outlet sale, with Annie O. Boutique.  The process was fast and easy, and the charge appeared in my checking account within two days.  Square is secure as all customer's data is processed via their software, not saved on my phone.  The reader was free and the fees are nominal.  Win-win.

I better sign off so I can learn how to set up my voice mail, and get the latest "flashlight" app.
Cheers, Jen

Top 3 Reasons To Buy Handmade and/or Local

With the downturn in the economy, many people are reinventing themselves and following their passionate pursuits.  Many of them are becoming independent artists and/or business owners. Combine this with the current state of affairs of Occupy Wall Street, there are several important reasons to vote with your pocketbook and buy handcrafted and/or local items:

1.  Buying local enables you to keep your tax dollars in your city of residence.
2.  Buying handcrafted items are typically better in quality and are made with care.
3.  Buying from independent business owners vs. corporations, you are directly supporting that person's livelihood.

We can all take a little fiscal responsibility, especially with the holiday season upon us.  So, buying local, organic produce at your farmer's market and/or handcrafted items for gifts on websites such from Etsy, you are making this world a better place.

October's pet charm of the month: Citrine

Each month I will feature a pet charm and talk about the healing properties of the stone in more detail.  Although Citrine is the birthstone of November, since fall is here and we tend to find ourselves a bit more tired and disheveled with the change of seasons, citrine seems like a logical choice for October. 

Citrine is associated with the solar plexus charka (3rd Chakra), the "power center" of our spirit.  Animals as well as humans have chakras, or energy centers.  If one of our chakras is out of balance, behavior changes and disease can begin.  The color of citrine reminds us of the sun, and often invokes a happy, lighter feeling within us, thus lightening our spirit. 

If one is feeling depressed or lethargic, then Citrine may help balance out those emotions and help to increase energy.  Also, I have been asked about which pet charm is most appropriate for pets suffering from cancer.  Since Citrine is associated with the core well-being, as well as it being a powerful total body healer and energy balancer, this charm may help to gently heal your furry loved one. 

See below for a few of The Healing Pet's Citrine pet charms.  We also have matching earrings available (for female owners).  Charms and earrings can be sold separately.  Click here to view our online store.

10mm faceted citrine pet charm

10mm faceted citrine earrings with sterling silver earwire

Example of display tag for set

Triple Citrine pet charm on display

Matching triple Citrine earrings with sterling silver earwire

October Events and Sale

For both Anosia Custom Jewelry and The Healing Pet, I will be running a 30% sale on all my items at the following October events:

• Lafayette Farmer's Market, S. Public Road at the Pavillion, 3:30-7:30 p.m. October20
• Central City Harvest Moon Festival, Mountain Tool and Feed (I-70 and Exit 242), 11-5, October 22

If you want to get a head start on your holiday shopping, these event sales will help you find unique, high quality and affordable gifts!