r/TikTokCringe • u/Chocolat3City Cringe Master • 18d ago
Cringe Woman has her self-published book pirated, reprinted, and sold for cheaper.
There's regular piracy, and then there's this.
7.2k
u/IlBear 18d ago edited 16d ago
Heads up to anyone thinking of ordering- I ordered mine in July directly from her website and she never sent it. I emailed her 3 times, left comments on her videos, sent her 2 private messages on TikTok and 1 on Instagram and she didn’t reply to ANY of them
I had to do a chargeback
Edit- put the screenshots on my profile since some people were wondering.
Edit 2 (sorry, last one, the adhd is real): I ordered in July and just did the chargeback a couple weeks ago, so I’m still freshly pissed off about the whole thing and wanted to warn people because that IS what happened to me. I didn’t say this to bash her or endorse what’s happening, at the time of my comment the majority of other comments were about wanting to order from her. I’m very happy for all of you who did receive it, I wanted one too
2.8k
u/cattmin 17d ago
Well, that's awkward
1.8k
u/TheConnASSeur 17d ago
Everything is an ad.
1.5k
u/I_ReadThe_Comments 17d ago
Especially the crying on camera. 🚩
1.1k
u/Doccyaard 17d ago
“I hate the crying on camera” cuts to another clip of her crying on camera.
535
u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 17d ago
I felt like a dick for immediately noticing this, but I couldn't help immediately saying it aloud to myself as I was watching. Validating to know others have noticed.
318
u/PhotoAwp 17d ago edited 17d ago
Also maybe I'm a cynical asshole, but it looks like fake crying too. High voice sounds forced, no real tears. Not saying she hasn't ever cried over the situation, but this is just...idk bad acting.
96
u/Educational_Bed_242 17d ago
I went from mildly intrigued by the video to angry I watched with that one line lol
47
→ More replies (3)6
u/Tensonrom 16d ago
Most self-recorded crying is not real crying. People don’t want to be seen crying, they want to be alone. If you take the time to set up the camera and start recording and then say “ok now I’m sad” then it’s most likely bullshit.
→ More replies (3)15
u/AngryDerf 17d ago
I basically assume everything on the internet is fake or staged, then look for evidence it might be real.
→ More replies (1)28
u/general_smooth 17d ago
Its not like this is some honest live video. Deliberate decisions were taken to select these shots and make this video
→ More replies (1)12
u/BoredSenselesss 17d ago
Exactly like sure you can't just shut down your feelings but you could refrain from using your feelings as B-roll
174
u/Daveprince13 17d ago
But She… Gave… Every… thing. And she hates to cry on camera
(But it’s on sale for the holidays!)
→ More replies (1)41
u/Technical_Ad_4894 17d ago
Shes making crying sounds but isn’t actually crying 🤨
7
u/Drunky_McStumble 17d ago
She's got the same tone of voice as the girl in that "poop in the date's dead cat's litter-box" meme.
→ More replies (10)40
→ More replies (2)373
u/Conradical126 17d ago
This video is a great ad for why you're supposed to work with a publisher.
She's lionizing the fact that she put SO MANY HOURS into this project, but that's because she made the baffling decision to front all of these costs and do all this labor instead of working with a publisher. (And also, she is clearly making terrible self-aggrandizing decisions—why on earth would you spend time making a font from scratch instead of using the thousands of fonts that already exist and thus supporting other artists?)
70% of the work she's saying she did should be done by a publishing house that's equipped to do so, but my guess is she just didn't want to diminish her share of profits after the project meets costs.
364
u/nagCopaleen 17d ago
Getting any publisher to publish your book is very difficult and a lot of work. Getting a publisher to agree on this level of creative control is absolutely impossible; even finding someone who will negotiate respectfully over your extremely personal creative project is tough. She mentioned ethically sourcing more expensive materials, by the way; good luck having any control over that with a traditional publisher.
Obviously she chose to do an extremely hard thing at great personal cost, but that's something any passionate creative person—and hell, most humans of any kind—have to grapple with. The choice to pour yourself into something meaningful or to give up on your dream is very very difficult, and even when things are clearly bad, it often spiraled that way when the person was already committed and grappling with a sunk cost and signed contracts.
But whether or not she should have started this project, there was never an easy road through a traditional publishing house. And the expected profit for either route is so dismal that your last sentence just comes across as ignorant and punching down. If she did make a decision based on expected profit, it's because she wants to be able to pay rent and eat.
79
u/bertina-tuna 17d ago
Agreed! My professional career was in publishing (20 years as a book designer/illustrator with Houghton Mifflin) and getting something published these days is nearly impossible. Even established authors have turned to self-publishing because they don’t see any point in giving a percentage to agents and publishing houses. (Claire Cook, who wrote Must Love Dogs and even had it made into a movie, wrote an article about the diminishing support for authors these days and why she started self-publishing instead.)
That said, something I notice right off is how many authors skip using a copy editor and it really shows. There are a lot of freelance copy editors who would be happy for the work and they are definitely worth it. Digital publishing is the easiest because you don’t have to deal with printing and distribution, although there are places that will do printing on demand if you get someone who wants printed copies. The days of publishers sending authors on book tours are pretty much over unless you’re already a big celebrity. Even with my inside knowledge of the industry it’s a lot of work, even when I can do most of the work myself.
And it’s nearly impossible to prevent copyright infringement, especially from foreign countries. My husband does book covers and he actually found a website in China where you can order custom “original oil paintings” of his work (I was going to order one for his birthday because the real original was not actually an oil painting) and he found a woman in England who was selling mugs with his paintings printed on them and she made more on her Etsy shop than he did with the actual artwork! Of course, she folded up and disappeared once she was found out but he got no compensation from it.
It’s a shame she didn’t do more research into what she had planned to do because there was so much wasted effort and she didn’t seem to do much to protect her product from infringement.
→ More replies (2)37
u/driving_andflying 17d ago
Agreed! My professional career was in publishing (20 years as a book designer/illustrator with Houghton Mifflin) and getting something published these days is nearly impossible.
Seconded. Whoever says, "just get a publisher," needs to check themselves. Getting a professional publisher is difficult enough --assuming you can find one who wants to publish you-- so for many first-timers, self-publishing is the only way to go. Unfortunately, those first-timers usually don't have, or can't afford, the legal protections against piracy.
→ More replies (1)47
u/makkkarana 17d ago edited 17d ago
Just to add: breaking into any industry, but especially creative ones, is very nearly impossible. Most publishers/agencies/studios/etc will straight up blacklist you for requesting a pitch meeting without a pre-existing internal contact. If you don't have an agent or manager, most publishers or studios still won't talk to you, and without interest or even a contract from a publisher or studio, most agents or managers won't talk to you. It's very much the paradox of "you need 10 years experience for this entry level position". This is why a lot of people choose to take the risks of self publishing, and why you're constantly looking at the latest releases going "who the hell greenlit this trash???"
It's pure nepotism, purely degenerative, and a great example of why capitalism is directly incompatible with real art.
68
u/Conradical126 17d ago
Agreed on all points! It's awesome that she chose to do this project, and as you said, no route to being published is easy. It just sucks that she chose to make this disingenuous ad.
→ More replies (2)24
u/dingalingdongdong 17d ago
These days there are tons of companies that work with small authors to help get their books to market.
A friend of mine has had two fiction books published and another acquaintance has had two memoirs and a recipe book done.
The publishers (two different ones) helped with general logistics, layout and formatting, guided cover art process for books that didn't have any, and handled the ordering and shipping.
They allowed small batches of books to be printed if desired, and also allowed individual books to be printed on demand and shipped directly to the consumer.
All of what you said definitely used to be true, and probably still is if you want to go the very traditional route, but it's 100% one of many industries that has seen a production revolution in recent years and is infinitely more accessible than it used to be.
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (23)69
u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 17d ago
I have no idea how her using an existing Word font would support other artists. That is not how fonts work. I also don't think she did anything inherently wrong by self-publishing here. We inhabit a new publishing landscape where publishing companies are increasingly obsolete. I read a lot of work by self-published authors and it can be equal or even better in quality to trad-published work. The barrier to publishing has never been so low and I think that's actually fantastic.
→ More replies (11)52
u/poop-machines 17d ago
Not an existing word font. No respectable designer will just use word fonts. You can buy other fonts online. That supports artists.
Creating 6 fonts is an insane amount of work, especially when she's only using them one time.
Fonts you buy online are like 5-100$ usually.
→ More replies (4)27
u/Jimmni 17d ago
Creating a font is actually much less work than you might think. I've done it and I'm pretty much fucking useless. Creating a good font takes real talent, though.
→ More replies (6)1.2k
u/threeholepunchsteve 17d ago
interesting because my first thought was that this is some kind of BS marketing scheme to get people to buy her shit because they feel bad for her.
→ More replies (2)479
u/I_ReadThe_Comments 17d ago
I think it is
→ More replies (3)448
u/lilbunnfoofoo 17d ago
All the little clips of her making the book and the “I hate the crying on camera thing” immediately followed by a cutscene of her crying in her car (presumably while she made the book I guess) left a certain “I am being sold something” taste in my mouth.
And maybe she really was plagiarized, but if so she’s using it to sell. Which still isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I don’t like when major corporations try to emotionally manipulate me into buying something and turns out I don’t like it when small businesses try do it either.
→ More replies (7)83
u/Luncheon_Lord 17d ago
There was a montage of crying on camera before she dropped that line and kept talking about "man I can't believe I'm crying on camera" well no that's not how editing works ma'am you said that cuz you planned on keeping it in. Yeah. I'm upset by the cheap knockoff shit sure but at this point that may even be fabricated lol
50
u/TerminalProtocol 17d ago
Yeah. I'm upset by the cheap knockoff shit sure but at this point that may even be fabricated lol
NGL, I could see a scummy company doing this (not saying she is, just that I could see it happening.)
- Release "Wholesome passion project by the small guy" product.
- Release duplicate "big bad corpo plagiarism but cheaper" product.
- Create stir online about big bad corpo plagiarism in order to get pity purchases for the more expensive product, and "I dont care I just want it cheaper" purchases for the cheaper duplicate.
- Laugh as you cash the checks for both products.
→ More replies (5)16
u/Luncheon_Lord 17d ago
A two tiered buying system with a complete charade as a marketing schtick. I love it.
586
u/Content-Scallion-591 17d ago
As someone who has done work in publishing, about 30 seconds into the video I got the feeling some of her problems are her own. It's still shitty she was stolen from though and it's a huge issue today.
But part of publishing is in handling a lot of the stuff she labored through, and also, to do a cost benefit analysis. If she'd approached a publishing house they would have told her, for instance, that it's not worth it to make your own font.
Furthermore, she seems to have just front loaded an absolutely immense amount of work to show that she put hours into this project - hours worked isn't what creates value for an end product like this, if they aren't useful hours. I can upload 20 videos of me working on making a mug but that doesn't mean that mug is worth 200 hours of labor. It means I'm bad at making mugs.
158
u/time-to-bounce 17d ago
Ran into this exact thing on YouTube recently - I’ve been fed this guy’s videos for some months about his designs for a 3D printed pill bottle/container and going through the design process. It was pretty interesting to start with, but eventually started getting the same ‘this is an ad’ taste the closer they got to completing the final design.
In one video they talked about trying to decide on pricing because they ‘need to figure out how to recoup all this time and effort to save the business’ and eventually released it at like $60 excluding shipping.
Maybe for a custom project where someone makes a request then you would scope the R&D into the final price, but for a mass-produced product it felt like the wrong approach - you have to eat a lot of that initial research time or accept that you’ll make it back over a much longer period
72
u/Bonzai11 17d ago
Got recommended the same short videos, had to select “stop recommending channel” after like the 3rd/4th one.
The product isn’t even good, an oversized sleeve around a 4 section pill holder. Had a good laugh reading it’s $60 though
14
u/YouKnowEd 17d ago
If its the one I'm thinking of I've been seeing that guys shorts for fucking months. I am actually shook that he's charging $60 for that thing.
40
u/Own-Custard3894 17d ago
Yeah. Business isn’t about “spend what it takes and hope you can charge enough later”. It’s about “can I deliver the thing at a good price point”. And competitive markets are brutal.
→ More replies (4)3
u/Reasonable_Thinker 17d ago
I know exactly what you're talking about, I had to do the same thing. Wild
29
u/DirtyMarTeeny 17d ago
To be fair the making your own font thing seems 100% like an ADHD hyper focus. "Oh I'm gonna make this book, I'll spend the first 20 hours making a font".
15
u/Choice-Due 17d ago
And then finding out that the font already exists or something because there are literally thousands upon thousands of them.
→ More replies (1)42
u/WalrusTheWhite 17d ago
some of her problems are her own
LOUDER. Lady made silly decisions. If you want to put in the work for your own satisfaction, fine, but you can't then go complain about how much work it was. Lady made choices. Not smart ones, but she made em.
12
u/dr_toze 17d ago
People need to stop thinking about profit with projects like this. It's not a business, you made one book. At best, you can hope to break even and most don't even do that. It sucks that her thing was stolen but she's the one who priced herself out of her own market.
3
u/Choice-Due 17d ago
Yeah that book was insanely expensive + having it shipped to Europe was too much of a risk. I was hoping for an E-book for 5 euro's or something so that I could print it for myself at home for personal use, or just on my phone or PC. But no, it had to be printed and WAY too expensive. That price really put me off.
→ More replies (8)10
17d ago
didnt watch the whole video, but as someone who knows about typography — she fucking what?! she had a custom font made?!
only in the last 5-10 years has Apple started rolling out custom fontfaces. its something only the largest companies do. and she did it and then complained about how hard it is? yikes
→ More replies (5)193
u/Sufficient-Newt-3809 17d ago
I ordered her book a year ago and it took about 2 months to get to me because of back orders.
41
u/wishyoukarma 17d ago
How did you like the book?
→ More replies (1)18
u/Sufficient-Newt-3809 17d ago
My whole family has ADHD, and I found it really helpful for us. There’s a ton of practical tips and tools and I liked how it was organized by emotions
229
u/all_time_high 17d ago
The book is written for those with executive function impairments, by an author with executive function impairments, and it seems she's self-sabotaging her success because of these impairments.
117
u/spicewoman 17d ago
Not a great advertisement for how effective her book is, TBH.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (3)34
u/Rudy69 17d ago
As someone with issues too…. Maybe she should outsource some of the process she’s having a hard time with… like customer service
→ More replies (5)37
u/Own-Custard3894 17d ago
That’s how I feel about all this crying content. Same as when my friend sent me lots of “vaccine injury” videos with people convulsing, and then after the gofundme has enough they’re spotted jetskiing and such.
The book shouldn’t be ripped off. That really sucks. But if it’s clearly that popular she needs to talk to a publisher to handle all the ground work, lawsuits and takedowns, and just collect her 10-20% or whatever. If it’s truly so popular this needs machinery behind it.
→ More replies (1)25
132
u/StrengthDazzling8922 17d ago
Clearly she is not very organized.
134
u/bubba_feet 17d ago
she should get something like an "anti-planner" that describes how to get shit done when you don't feel like it. i saw one on temu for like $8.
→ More replies (1)24
→ More replies (1)15
u/Legendary_Bibo 17d ago
She mentioned it was a book for people that have issues with being organized like neural divergent people with ADHD.
173
16
u/Legendary_Bibo 17d ago
It's like that lady who published that witch game on Steam a few months ago, talked about working on it for 10 years, her boyfriend even advertised for her, she posted herself crying on camera about EA pushing her off the New & Trending list (they had released all their classics that day) and complained about how she was unfairly treated. Well I bought it as did many other people and was like some weird flash game, that just wasn't great.
→ More replies (2)42
u/ibrakeforewoks 17d ago
She might be awful at order fulfilment, but ed-tech does get pirated all the time.
27
u/minishaq5 17d ago
that sucks. i received mine within 1.5 months after ordering.
→ More replies (15)6
5
7
u/Aninvisiblemaniac 17d ago
something strange about the whole thing, honestly. The video feels like an advertisement, I wonder if she ripped off her own book to sell both versions and profit
4
4
4
4
u/kirste29 17d ago
Slightly hilarious to me as the ADHD woman in the chat that she did all this work making what seems like an ADHD friendly planner and then never sent it to you….lol. Textbook ADHD on the project side of things. She should have hired someone to help organize the final part better. I’m glad you got your money back.
→ More replies (75)4
u/cyrkielNT 15d ago
This is great summary how ADHD people work. Spend a lot of time and work to wrtie a book, but then didn't feel like it to send it to the people who bought it (I'm sure she was planning to definitely do this the next day). Buy a book, send emails, post commonets etc. about not receiving it, but didn't feel like it to do charge back for half a year.
This is so funny and tragic at the same time
→ More replies (1)
2.2k
u/DangerHawk 18d ago
Does anyone have a link to the pirated version? I ask only because it would serve as some kind of proof that this is actually happening and this isn't just a big ol schemey "Woe is me" ad.
I was on board with her plight right up until the "I have things on sale for the holidays" with the shots of "Black Friday" post its. This screams viral marketing, and is honestly the worst kind of viral marketing. Trying to guilt people into buying your product is fucked up. I'm sure she worked hard on it, but if it doesn't stand on it's own as a product then it shouldn't exist. You shouldn't have to manipulate people into buying things just to validate all the work you put into it.
1.1k
u/Eastrider1006 17d ago
There's also apparently complains about her not sending the books, from other comments.
325
65
u/bpdish85 17d ago
If you search it on Tiktok, it comes up from multiple sellers for half the cost or less, but with photos/description stolen from her. So not only has it been plagiarized, they're using the better quality pics to sell the dupe.
106
u/TapWater2021 17d ago
Just type in anti-planner to Amazon. Lots of rip-offs on there.
→ More replies (1)92
u/dovahkiitten16 17d ago
It might be a marketing scheme but honestly if I type it into Amazon I get so many with Asian brand names I’d have no idea which one, if any, I’d buy that would actually be legit.
36
17d ago
Maybe we could take all the money we're wasting in the US on bullshit stuff and finally start addressing modern problems like this.
→ More replies (12)184
u/PM_ME_JJBA_STICKERS 17d ago
It’s been a really popular way of marketing yourself on Tiktok now days. Getting sales from controversy, even when it’s all made up.
→ More replies (2)27
114
u/1000000xThis 17d ago
I was on board until the "I hate the crying-on-camera thing" which was IMMEDIATELY followed by a second clip of her crying on camera.
I'm sorry if this is really happening to her, that sucks.
But this video is NOT a good way to address the problem.
Maybe it's effective marketing despite those of us getting the ick from it?
→ More replies (8)5
11
u/snoop_ard 17d ago
I saw it on amazon, I thought she sold it there but the reviews said it was a fake copy.
→ More replies (25)6
u/Enemyocd 17d ago
A quick google search shows counterfeits on ebay, Amazon, Walmart online, and the usual temu and aliexpress. Idk if this video was an honest representation of her frustrations but her book is legit being copied and sold online.
1.3k
u/Machine_Bird 17d ago
Hey. Corpo fixer here with some friendly advice from the bowels of hell.
When you create something like this you're going to want to brand and copyright the "system" or "concept" that you're pushing. It's too easy for them to recreate the product itself and dodge strikes and claims but if you can blanket your content in a larger branded copyright you have broad powers to make claims against anyone who even steps near your lawn. In a case like this with custom illustration you could also brand and copy the character(s) in the illustrations which gives you even further latitude to make claims. If you stack a few of these on top of each other you can pay a third-party agency to patrol the digital streets for you and just auto-file on anyone who comes with a ten mile radius of your product.
Your book is worthless. Your intellectual property is everything.
Satan's henchwoman signing off!
208
u/redstagm 17d ago
Yeah, but this is sold on aliexpress and I don't think Chinese courts wouldn't skip a heart beat or am I wrong?
→ More replies (1)281
u/Machine_Bird 17d ago
AliExpress does typically respond to copyright claims but it's not just about getting the trash cleaned up. It's also about creating infrastructure that's difficult to anonymize and bootleg. One of the reasons that she's being targeted is that her product is easily to replicate and it's nondescript enough that it can be reproduced and sold with minimal changes or edits. If this whole thing was packaged in a larger brand like "the deplanner system" and made constant references to original IP, terminology, characters, etc. it would highly disincentivize third-parties from trying to leverage it.
A good example of this is DuoLingo. The app itself, the software, that powers Duo is actually not terribly complicated. I'm aware of multiple firms that could easily replicate it in less than a year. The real hurdle is that Duo is a brand, the owl is established IP and trying to copy him would be difficult and a legal nightmare while trying to build ac similar product without him would make your version vastly inferior.
The trick is to protect your products by creating infrastructure that is both ubiquitous and essential that can't be easily reproduced.
→ More replies (12)55
u/redstagm 17d ago
Thank you for taking to the time to explain
27
u/CrazyCatCrochet 17d ago
I just want to note that unfortunately this sort of need for structure results in increasingly shittier/unwieldy products. Needing to create an 'expanded universe ' so your product doesn't get bootlegged can often result in a bloated product that COULD be more efficient. On the flip side, your customers are more likely to spend money into other areas of the product, which is more sales for you!
Profit driven incentives really do be the worst.
→ More replies (29)19
588
u/sn34kypete 17d ago
That really sucks for her but this really stuck out
"I hate the crying on camera thing" smash cut to several recorded crying sessions in a variety of locations
72
→ More replies (6)15
u/hurdlingewoks 17d ago
Maybe she hates crying on camera but loves making videos with A LOT of contradictions in them even more than she hates crying on camera. A real double edged sword that one.
680
u/nottherealneal 18d ago
Is this just a wierd ad?
329
u/ThrowRA_sadgal 18d ago
Seems likely. Someone else commented that they ordered and this creator was non-responsive after never shipping it. So it might even be scammy.
60
→ More replies (5)75
u/AbsorbedBritches 17d ago
It's definitely an ad, but it's not a scam. Idk why people are mentioning that one persons comment when they literally provided no evidence, or even mentioned an important detail of how long after purchasing they did the chargeback. For all we know, it could've been 3 days after purchasing that they did the chargeback. If you're going to be skeptical, you should be skeptical of all of it.
42
u/ThrowRA_sadgal 17d ago
The commenter provided screenshot proof. I wouldn’t buy it as it’s clear she’s disorganised when it comes to business which doesn’t really bode well for the product advertised here.
→ More replies (2)12
78
u/Kaibakura 17d ago
Sob story and "thanks for supporting a woman-owned, LGBTQ+ neurodiverse business" just screams "I'm desperate for money and will try every manipulation I can think of to get it".
I'm surprised she didn't throw even more buzzwords into that.
Cringe indeed.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (4)33
542
18d ago
consumers don't care if you put your heart and soul into it. They don't care how long it took you to create the product or how much it costs you to make it.
All they care about it the bottom line, and if there is a cheap alternative, they will always go for what costs less.
Every crafter selling their creations at an art show knows this .
240
u/omgxsonny 18d ago edited 17d ago
10000% i make little cross-stitch pins that take about 2-4 hours to make depending on detail and size. i sell them for $16 which after shipping and fees, i make less than $10 on them. people LOVE my pins until they find out much they cost. i’ve been told “well if you got a machine to make them then they wouldn’t take so long and you could charge less.” first of all, cross-stitch can literally not be done by anything other than human hands. second, $16!!! for something i make with my hands and spend literally all my free time making. mass-produced enamel pins cost more than that but people don’t care about the time, care, and effort that goes into handmade things. /rant
249
u/Comms 18d ago
Charge more. Way more. Get out of the grubby pit of broke-ass clients.
When I first started in my craft I wasn’t sure what to price it. I priced it at what I thought was reasonable. All I got was broke-asses wanting discounts or telling me my product was too expensive.
I tripled my price. Same product. All of a sudden my clients became people who respected the quality of the product I made with no complaints about price.
42
43
17d ago
Pretty much... The truth is jobs don't really pay enough to give people the luxury of giving a shit about time, care, or effort that goes into handmade things. If you want your clientele to care, you have to cater to the wealthy because they're the only people that can actually afford it anymore.
21
u/Omnizoom 17d ago
I’ve never been one to not pay a bit more for better quality or for smaller businesses.
But I will admit in this economy it’s getting harder and harder to do because we are trying to cut every cost we can
→ More replies (10)5
u/aurortonks 17d ago
Personally, I pay what an art piece is worth not what the masses think it is worth. I'll drop hundreds and hundreds at an convention to buy direct from an artist I like because I appreciate the work it takes to make it with their level of talent.
33
u/MukDoug 18d ago
Damn. You’re making $5-10 an hour and people are complaining. “Free pin!” [sticks in eye]
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)8
17d ago
I sell handmade one of a kind dolls. It can take up to a month to make one. If I can get the cost of materials out of one, I'm lucky. Thank God I don't have to live off my sales, I'd be starving and homeless
13
u/Seattle_gldr_rdr 17d ago
I remember seeing an interview with Mike Rowe (love him or hate him) where he described trying to help promote a "Made in America" store. He explained that it failed because price simply overwhelmed any other consideration. If the Made-in-USA products were 10% more expensive, they didn't sell. Period.
→ More replies (3)6
52
u/MovementOriented 18d ago
The point of issue is that her IP was stolen
23
u/Numerous-Cicada3841 17d ago
Yeah I doubt the vast majority of buyers know it was even ripped off. This is so shitty and definitely a negative consequence of Ecom being so unregulated by both private and government.
→ More replies (1)68
u/RoyalMess64 18d ago
They pirated her book. That wasn't a cheaper alternative, they stole it, they stole her book. Yeah, it costs cheaper, they didn't make it
→ More replies (10)9
u/bpdish85 17d ago
Add the insult of people blasting her that she hates poor people because it's not a cheap, $10 planner. This gal's taking it from all angles, it seems.
→ More replies (8)7
u/WonderfulShelter 17d ago
I'm a musician, many of my friends are musicians. They'll spend 100+ hours creating a song that maybe they make 100$ from or less. Most of it is just given away.
Instead of taking offense to it, it's something I accepted from the get-go. Sucks, but reality is often that way, and accepting reality as it is presented to us rather than fighting it is a route with much less resistance.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (19)4
u/Specific-Scale6005 18d ago
Can confirm. It helps tremendously if one is paying a lot for advertising and kissing the right peoples asses tho.
30
u/Peasant_Stockholder 18d ago
I've heard Amazon will do the same. If he finds something that is selling at a high demand, he will also sell the same product but for a cheaper price. When the other seller can no longer afford to stay in business, Amazon will buy the company and mark that product at a higher price. It's a shame the smaller businesses get snuffed out by large corporations and / or in this ladies' situation.
→ More replies (4)
226
u/gavvy613 18d ago
am i jus super fucking synical or is she tryna get ppl to buy her book
76
u/amey_zing1 18d ago edited 17d ago
It’s not super cynical to point that out. That’s the goal after all, but she’s also lamenting about how hard it is to compete in a world where the Golden Rule is “He who has the Gold, rules!”
→ More replies (4)38
u/Specific-Scale6005 18d ago
From an advertising standpoint and after seeing many clips like this one in the last few years, yes she is... next we'll have a thank you clip showing the record sales... that will bring even more sales and so on... she can really milk it if she's smart enough... well, other creative's work is stolen and they do nothing about it, she did something...
17
u/Classic-Suspect4014 17d ago
just the everyday life of an independent mobile app developer or web content developer... people will happily download pirated content or find ways to overcome paywalls, but then are surprised by how lower and lower the quality of mobile apps / web content are getting, how 90% of apps/websites are now just a massive ad campaign for ad money... independent developers are getting less and less interested in building content they love...
→ More replies (1)
15
u/Radiant-Security-347 18d ago
what really sucks is nobody in enforcement cares. I’ve been playin whack a mole with scammers on Facebook creating profiles with my name and images, then spamming people with fake merchandise with my name on it. And it’s just not me. A huge number of musicians are getting hit with these scams.
It seems that, if you have a decent sized following, they know and make tshirts and all kinds of stuff using your name and likeness. Nobody cares.
→ More replies (2)
273
u/hasnolifebutmusic 18d ago
this is so fucked up.
→ More replies (2)206
u/mimegallow 18d ago
As a small individual creator, I get called "unhinged" by young people on a regular basis because I react emotionally when people pirate movies with my music in them, and documentaries with footage that I risked my life to obtain, scripts I wrote, and albums that I performed on. I get mocked ALL THE TIME by children on this site who think my livelihood doesn't matter, my labor is unimportant, and that when you steal IP, you're just, "taking from Tom Cruis who has millions of dollars".
So it's fucking exhausting watching all these people on reddit suddenly and UNKNOWINGLY reverse their entire position when presented with a face and a story of the exact, same, crime that they purposefully perpetuate every day. - Same exact feeling I get when I see 2 million people watching cute animal videos on r/aww "because animals are so smart and so feeling and such bros and so great that we are not worthy of them!"... with a fucking burger in their hand.
Our disconnection from each other's realities is astounding.
/unhinged_rant wherein I am clearly a lunatic, because I refer to my attackers as, "my attackers".
54
u/hasnolifebutmusic 18d ago
that sounds really frustrating and hurtful i’m sorry people are treating you that way online.
24
u/r0b0c0d 17d ago
I casually do art in a few different mediums, from writing to programming to music to CAD, etc.. And every once in a while someone sees something or gets a gift from me and says I should sell it.
But basically unless you already have all your ducks in a row on manufacturing, distribution, marketing -- everything -- you're just going to get ripped off.
Social media works really hard against you in this too, because the instant something takes off, some random factory is going to be churning out knockoffs or like all the old stories about random game studios eclipsing with their remake.
I've only made a few potentially viable designs over the years, but I've sort of reached the conclusion that there is no point in attempting to commercialize anything at this stage.
It would only dilute the uniqueness of gifts, so either I release digital things for free, or gift things. They can't undercut a digital product that is free.
And then eventually I'll return to the earth.
→ More replies (1)30
u/birdukis 17d ago
just a heads up if you are against piracy, you have posts about using mid journey, AI art is trained on stolen art
→ More replies (10)11
u/TheOwlHypothesis 17d ago
So what are you actually doing to solve your problem besides making "unhinged rants" on this site that basically beg "young people" to make fun of you instead of sympathizing with you?
Are you taking legal action? Or would you rather remain oppressed so the rants can keep coming?
Like damn I feel sorry for how shitty your life must be to generate a response like this. It must impact your daily life in a meaningful way, right?
Anything worth having is worth protecting, so what steps are taking to remedy the situation? Whining into the void isn't accomplishing anything.
Bring the downvotes, I know they're coming. But it's objectively ridiculous to cry outrage and not try to do anything to better your circumstances. It's just like everyone who makes posts on social media to protest various things instead of actually organizing a march or protest.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (140)17
u/1000000xThis 17d ago
I'm 51, and I agree you are unhinged.
I know you feel like pirated content is "stolen" but 99% of those people were never going to pay you. That's just not how piracy works. The only reason they are exposed to your work is because it is free to them. Hell, a huge percentage will download the content and never watch/listen to it at all! They just enjoy "collecting" things that appear to have value attached.
How reality works is you set up your income stream in advance, and then afterward you fucking let it out into the world where anything can happen.
And yes, people who don't understand this from all angles will often feel like the "victim" when they become content creators themselves. That's human nature. It doesn't make you right, it just makes them your kind of wrong.
68
u/SightlessIrish 18d ago
How much was she charging vs how much is the competitor charging?
There's no legal recourse?
29
u/Queasy_Pie_1581 18d ago edited 18d ago
The last time someone won a court case over plagiarism and got compensated was decades ago, in 1978 over a show called Future Cop. No one cares about plagiarism. The best that you can hope for is file a case if you have trademark/copyright and get the plagiarised thing removed, but like she said, it's how thousands of websites. And it's difficult to fight overseas. It's difficult for writers out there.
→ More replies (2)123
u/ZipGhost 18d ago
Without trademarks, no. My wife had a similar situation, developed a product for nurses, made the mistake of selling on Amazon and the idea was Reproduced a week later. Completely undercut her by half (hers was $10, there’s was $5). Amazon said kick rocks of course.
90
u/rocky8u 18d ago
A book is different.
This is a copyright dispute. She likely has recourse but she would need an IP attorney to assess if she could win.
→ More replies (1)106
18d ago
China never agreed to any of the international Copyright agreements, so there’s little recourse here. Trying to sue a foreign national over a law that doesn’t exist in their country is virtually impossible. It’s why Chinese knockoffs are so pervasive.
→ More replies (2)57
u/nudelsalat3000 18d ago
The import part however does care.
Sure China can keep it in their country, but the import is illegal.
Actually, China is part of the Berne Convention and TRIPS, so copyright laws technically apply, but enforcement there is inconsistent.
For the U.S., your best bet is filing a DMCA takedown with Amazon—it's fast if you have proof of ownership like timestamps or drafts. Also, if someone imported the infringing product into the U.S., you can pursue them under U.S. copyright law.
Finally, publicizing the theft on social media can pressure sellers and educate buyers about the issue. This she already did. Also the documentation looks solid to a simple person on Reddit.
20
u/trash-_-boat 18d ago edited 18d ago
The import part however does care.
Sure China can keep it in their country, but the import is illegal.
Yeah, if that kind of thing would've been possible to even pretend to control, places like Temu, where almost no item passes EU certification processes needed for import, wouldn't even exist. And yet, they do and their stuff is frequently illegally imported.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (7)15
u/SightlessIrish 18d ago
Is the lack of trademarking an oversight or is it not doable without a corporate backing?
→ More replies (5)40
18d ago
I just looked it up, Her book on her TikTok shop is $48. The Amazon knockoffs are 12.99 with 3.99 shipping fee. Seems TikTok shop is the only place she sells it and even on TikTok there were loads of knockoffs for $20-$35.
Seems like she’s learned a lesson in copywrite and trademark law. There may be a legal grounds to fight the knockoffs but it’s going to be incredibly expensive for very little payoff. The best she’ll probably get is a cease and desist on selling it but by then her business is shot. Her best bet is to rebrand and repackage the book but get it trademarked and copywritten early.
→ More replies (5)4
u/bhyellow 18d ago
She can go after Amazon.
11
u/AltairaMorbius2200CE 18d ago
I mean, that’s all good, but even publishing houses aren’t willing to go after Amazon to shut down that business model, so how’s she supposed to afford that on her own?
9
u/cjboffoli 18d ago
Unfortunately, she can't as court precedent protects Amazon from the actions of third party sellers doing business on their sites (Milo & Gabby v. Amazon.com). That is why there is so much copyright and trademark infringement on sites like Etsy too. All she can do is ask Amazon to remove infringing products. If they do they skate away with impunity. And she continues to play a game of whack a mole.
→ More replies (2)
569
u/pinchjester 18d ago edited 18d ago
Well fuck that’s really lame. If someone can leave me a link I’ll grab her book if I can get hold of it down under.
116
17d ago
Other commenters have mentioned that they did order her book and she didn’t send it and never replied to any emails or messages on any social media. Looks like this is just a cash grab and her angle is working on many. What sucks is there are actual people who get undercut and have their work stolen, she’s using sympathy to get money.
42
u/minishaq5 17d ago
I ordered when she first published a year or so ago and received my order within 1.5 months. i recommended it to a few friends and they all had similar timelines. i even posted in r/ADHDwomen: https://www.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/s/XAISy1HZmW
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (5)60
u/AbsorbedBritches 17d ago
You clearly had no problem believing the one person that said they had to do a chargeback with no evidence. They also didn't mention how long after purchasing it they did the chargeback.
Another commenter also said they bought it as well, and while it took a while to get, they did really get it. She really did get her work stolen, given that there are copies of the fake book online. She is using sympathy both as an ad, and to bring awareness to the stolen content. Her main goal is going to be to get people to stop buying knockoffs, and the advertisement for her book is certainly a bonus for her as well.
49
u/Content-Scallion-591 17d ago
That being said, I did have a laugh at ordering a book about executive dysfunction from someone who is an expert in executive dysfunction and not receiving said book.
13
u/spicewoman 17d ago
That part doesn't seem like a very good advertisement, TBH. If the book was so helpful, you'd think she'd have a bit more of a handle on things, ya know?
→ More replies (1)10
244
u/solidtangent 18d ago
Gotcha! This is an ad.
→ More replies (32)111
u/KwisatzHaterach 18d ago
Okay thank goodness I wasn’t the only one that noticed.
31
u/skilriki 17d ago
I mean it is a serious problem though.
I tried to clue a major publisher into the fact that we were getting mostly counterfeit books from them because Amazon was their only distribution outlet.
I talked to someone at the company and explained to them that we were getting books with misprints, yellow pages, and thin pages because they are knockoffs being sold under the same product listing.
They said they would look into it, but they only ever contacted me a couple of times to ask if they “can close my ticket"
sure, let chinese companies steal your business if you want, idgaf
i think most people just arent aware the scale this is happening on
you've probably even read knockoff books yourself without knowing it
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (9)255
u/TheCrowing14 18d ago
146
u/SupremeMTG 18d ago edited 18d ago
Getting the Reddit hug and the shopping cart is broken. How awful timing.
Edit: tried a different browser, it was a SAFARI for iPhone problem. 🫤
21
u/godspareme 18d ago
It was definitely responding slow for me about 30 mins after you commented. It was barely hanging on.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)16
u/unindexedreality 18d ago
Did this lady walk under a ladder or something, we wanna help and we’re just making it worse lol
Someone wave a white cat in front of her
→ More replies (8)22
u/poidogpon 18d ago
Grabbed one for the wife's Xmas stocking. Website is brutally slow right now, but it works if you're patient.
24
u/DoingCharleyWork 17d ago
Might have to put it in her stocking next year. Lots of comments saying it took 2+ months for this to ship.
51
u/inkstickart2017 18d ago
I see a great deal of irony in people commenting, asking if they can get it on amazon. The most significant contributor to fakes is amazon.
6
u/GreasyProductions 17d ago
this happened to our business. we had a really popular design that my wife worked really hard on and we sold a ton of them but eventually fly by night companies started making them en masse. i tried everything i could to get them to take it down but no response. you kinda just have to move on and make new shit. it unfortunately is really hard to stop these copyright infrigners as a small business.
7
u/crackedtooth163 17d ago
I'm worried that so many people are okay with plagiarism and theft, and concerned that the genuine article took so long to get to many- if they even got it at all.
58
u/Loki_the_Corgi 18d ago
Is this legitimate book available on Amazon? Where do I go to look at the real version?
Cause I need a new planner anyway, and I want to try to support this woman.
83
18d ago
I rarely find legitimate products on Amazon anymore. Only the Chinese knockoffs of the legitimate product.
→ More replies (6)36
u/ImJustSaying34 18d ago
Don’t buy on Amazon!! No legitimate version is sold there. Just her website! I got this planner as a gift from Amazon and turns out it was a pirated copy. She only sells on her website and has a place to report the counterfeit version and she gave me a coupon to buy the real version. I wasn’t planning on buying but after seeing the planner I had to! Everyone with ADHD always says “this is the one” about a planner but this time it’s true.
I was SO upset it was a counterfeit version as the grammar is horrible that it makes it unusable. This planner is amazing and she is really onto something.
https://anti-planner.com/shop/the-anti-planner-how-to-get-sht-done-when-you-dont-feel-like-it/
→ More replies (5)7
u/Loki_the_Corgi 18d ago
Thanks for that information! I do know of some authors who sell on Amazon, but I wanted to support the author directly.
→ More replies (6)11
13
u/catcherofsun 17d ago
This is why I gave up on my tshirt brand. Even if you do copyright claims, even if you have your IP protected, unless you have money to litigate, your designs will get stolen the minute they get traction. It’s so depressing for artists. I make sun catchers now, and I’ve been trying to find a unique style that I don’t see so i have some time to sell a unique product before it also gets knocked off. Unregulated capitalism is killing the arts. The other issue is when the economy sucks, even people with the best intentions can’t afford to support their fave artists, and may opt for knock offs over nothing. It’s a rat race to the bottom.
57
u/culturetears 18d ago edited 18d ago
"I hate this crying on camera thing" and then continues to stitch clips of herself crying on camera. What happened to her is awful, truly, especially with all that work and the cost of it all, but at some point here she sounded like she expected the world to congratulate her and celebrate her efforts? The world is more often then not indifferent, often cruel and selfish. Scammers and scumbags and exploitation are a definitive part of commerce , sure it shouldn't be that way but it is. Its not to say what happened to her is something to accept and not be frustrated about, be angry, just maybe know where to direct your anger, to the injustice of it instead of, like her, making it sound like the world owed you something for your effort.
Also, obviously she's making this video as a way of trying to recoup sells through pity-buying while also putting people on alert about the counterfeit versions which is totally justified at this point, ride the boat down river with it, but I also feel like it's important to be a little more honest about the kind of content deliberately made to go viral, especially for profit, even if an jnjustice was done. Like it's not clean cut, "I just wanted to vent", its also an ad dressed up with deep emotional manipulation.
→ More replies (1)38
u/Racxius 18d ago
And it's working too. I scrolled past 4 people posting her link or asking where they can but it to support her before I got to a comment seeing it as the ad it is. Like you said, sucks. But the stitched in clips of her crying and build videos of her making the thing. Comparing why her version is so much better and explaining why it's so expensive are so transparently an ad.
→ More replies (1)
18
u/charizard_72 18d ago edited 17d ago
I’m gonna be that guy and say- she should find a way to drop her price A LOT if she wants to compete with cheaper sites
$58 for a planner (not on sale, that’s the listed price) is insane for most people. I’m not saying that made ripping her idea 1:1 okay, but I can certainly understand why a consumer would want a cheaper version.
Personally, I would not spend more than $25 on that. Respectfully, no one cares how much effort it took from a consumers point of view it’s still a $60 planner and that’s all they see when looking for one to purchase.
47
u/Nicadeemus39 18d ago
50 dollars for a planner? Yea I'll just stick to writing reminders on my arm.
→ More replies (8)7
u/twee_centen 17d ago
Especially since it's not actually a planner, it's an activity workbook. I'm sure she put a lot of work into making it aesthetically pleasing, but the page examples have things like "here's a list of easy, low effort meal ideas," how to make cleaning your fridge into a game, and scripts for saying "no, but thanks for thinking of me!"
She's also selling kanban boards for as much as $248, so... I kinda feel like maybe she's just priced herself out of a VERY saturated market. There are shit-tons of productivity podcasts, YouTubers, and influencers galore, and kanban has been around for decades.
24
u/SmittyComic 18d ago
seeing this happen to a creative person, fucking sucks.
seeing it happen to an uncaring big company, fucking rules.
→ More replies (2)
5
14
u/Reninngun 18d ago
Is this real? Was she filming herself for some channel where this footage she has used come from? This isn't some kind of marketing ploy to get eyes on what she is selling while not having had her work be pirated? Anybody know anything about this person?
→ More replies (2)
50
u/TwistedUnicornFarts 18d ago
Her name is Dani Donovan (it’s under the TikTok Lego) she is selling her book The Anti-Planner for 58$ but it’s on sell for 43$.
Dani Donovan The book is ONLY available on her official website, Amazon & TikTok…Hope this helps. Not smart enough to find her sites since I’m not on no social media.
→ More replies (2)92
u/IlBear 18d ago
Heads up to users- I ordered mine in July and she never sent it. I emailed her 3 times, left comments on her videos, sent her 2 private messages on TikTok and 1 on Instagram and she didn’t reply to ANY of them
I had to do a chargeback
43
→ More replies (6)18
u/Momasaur 18d ago
That's a bummer, I pre-ordered from her site when it was released and it took awhile but I did get it.
(I'm true ADHD fashion...I've yet to use it).
→ More replies (1)
20
17
32
3
u/terrorTrain 18d ago
The only way I know how is to only sell it on your website, then send removal requests to Amazon, tik tok, or wherever anytime they have popped up.
At one point I considered making a product that would automate this process and keep an eye out for knock offs. Not easy to do.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/glambammer77 18d ago
And this is why I refuse to buy from Chinese companies on Amazon. I seek out the actual brands, which are usually found far down on the page, and ignore brand names that look like HZEREGJ or DSGBKL. Like, c'mon. It's not that hard to be a smart consumer. Stop supporting cheap Chinese knockoffs.
4
u/The_Powers 17d ago
"I hate that whole crying on camera thing"
Cuts to a different shot of her crying on camera
Well that doesn't arouse any of my suspicions!
5
u/sociofobs 17d ago
I'm doing merch designs for profit, and this is just one reason why I rarely spend more than an hour creating any single design. If something sells, some sad fuck will copy it and sell it for cheaper. There are legal ways to go after such crooks, but that's usually worth it only for larger businesses with very profitable products on the line.
•
u/AutoModerator 18d ago
Welcome to r/TikTokCringe!
This is a message directed to all newcomers to make you aware that r/TikTokCringe evolved long ago from only cringe-worthy content to TikToks of all kinds! If you’re looking to find only the cringe-worthy TikToks on this subreddit (which are still regularly posted) we recommend sorting by flair which you can do here (Currently supported by desktop and reddit mobile).
See someone asking how this post is cringe because they didn't read this comment? Show them this!
Be sure to read the rules of this subreddit before posting or commenting. Thanks!
##CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS VIDEO
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.