The Big Kahuna
Well-known member
They also make a direct copy of the BMW X5, believe it or not.
In my day-to-day I deal a lot with the Chinese view of copying, plagiarism, intellectual property theft etc. I have been told by infringers that they consider their "work" is a "tribute" or "homage" to the original creator (yeah, right) and that I was being "culturally insensitive" for imposing my "western" view of intellectual property.
I feel for the original artisans whose amazing work is so flagrantly ripped off...but you'll never stop it, in a culture that values the "art" of deception and fakery, you might almost be regarded as an idiot for buying a genuine article when you can get a convincing copy for a fraction of the price.
I don't think they are convincing copies.
Not good...How do the copy-cats sound?
Not good...
View attachment 55202 This is despicable, sad, just wrong... The value of Ayers public apology is neutralized by their inclusion of yet another questionable design (a Moore Bettah mermaid) right next to their posting.
But let's not indict the whole of China over this. Ayers is a Taiwan company, not China. I work with design colleagues in China everyday who are as appalled as we are about stealing design and artistic content from others. Generalizing a whole population just makes it easier for some to rationalize theft of intellectual and artistic property as a societal issue and not a crime.
This kind of theft will only stop when people stop buying it or tolerating those who do. (Or wondering how they sound) Kudos to those who got Ayers to admit what they are doing. This practice will stop when they see their sales numbers plummet because the all-powerful consumer speaks by keeping their money in their pockets and not supporting Ayers.
I've been out all day and just got home and saw this. It leaves me pretty disheartened. All of the art work in the ukes mentioned are 100% my art work. I believed I used a photo to work from with the bird uke. We have hundreds of these "mojitos" flying around the yard and I've even examined the dead ones that constantly fly into windows here. With the bamboo uke I didn't even use a pattern. I just looked at the way the bamboo grows outside my shop here and started cutting shell. Gotta tell you, this leaves my spirit pretty deflated. What happens when I sit down and put my energies into creating another masterpiece, only to have it ripped off again? That's not much incentive to be creative. At the very least it's time to protect my web site. Pity it has to come down to this.
I want to sincerely thank everyone who has expressed their concern over this. I need to figure where i go from here.
Much mahalo, Chuck
I have a mixed opinion on that. China has its right to be sovereign, no matter how unconfortable it can be. USA laws DOESN'T apply to rest of the world (unless the US government put a gun on your head - as it occurred many times in History). Things change and intellectual property is and will lose importance as time goes by and I find it positive. It avoids monopolies and economic power abuse (I'm not saying Moore Bettah does that) - that's my opinion as an economist based on market models. They are not marketing those ukes as Moore Bettah ukes.
Anyways, I don't think one interested in a Moore Bettah would but China knock-off instead of it. Almost all my ukes are American-made, but that's exclusively based on the quality.
I'm sorry if I offended someone, but it's a different point of view from a non-US resident.
Why is everyone talking about China? This was done by a Taiwanese company that (I think) had them made in Vietnam.
I have a mixed opinion on that. China has its right to be sovereign, no matter how unconfortable it can be. USA laws DOESN'T apply to rest of the world (unless the US government put a gun on your head - as it occurred many times in History). Things change and intellectual property is and will lose importance as time goes by and I find it positive. It avoids monopolies and economic power abuse (I'm not saying Moore Bettah does that) - that's my opinion as an economist based on market models. They are not marketing those ukes as Moore Bettah ukes.
Fortunately there are international laws/treaties that cover these issues. Unfortunately, they are rarely enforced in the developing world.I have a mixed opinion on that. China has its right to be sovereign, no matter how unconfortable it can be. USA laws DOESN'T apply to rest of the world (unless the US government put a gun on your head - as it occurred many times in History). Things change and intellectual property is and will lose importance as time goes by and I find it positive. It avoids monopolies and economic power abuse (I'm not saying Moore Bettah does that) - that's my opinion as an economist based on market models. They are not marketing those ukes as Moore Bettah ukes.
Anyways, I don't think one interested in a Moore Bettah would but China knock-off instead of it. Almost all my ukes are American-made, but that's exclusively based on the quality.
I'm sorry if I offended someone, but it's a different point of view from a non-US resident.
Not good...
View attachment 55202 This is despicable, sad, just wrong... The value of Ayers public apology is neutralized by their inclusion of yet another questionable design (a Moore Bettah mermaid) right next to their posting.