Looks like BHLDN ripped off Elizabeth Dye (who makes beautiful wedding attire).
http://elizabethdye.blogspot.com/2011/05/just-saying.html

while I have seen Urban rip off designers WAY too often & agree that's what they're doing here, this is a common enough design...I've been selling them on & off etsy for years- http://www.etsy.com/listing/62629518/custom-state-necklace

and I've seen other designers do them as well. UO is doing a shoddy job on theirs though!

For what it's worth, The Koerner design looks much better, the UO looks like a cheap rip-off. Probably because it is.

Okay, not to defend UO (b/c lord knows I hate that corporation), but this happens all the time. I had a friend that use to work for GAP in their textile design department and she told me that instead of making new designs they would just take another artist's work and change it by at least 20% and it was theirs. As an artist, that is a huge disappointment for her when she realized that this is how the industry works. Look its called style trending, because unfortunately most fashion (like most furniture) designs cannot be copyrighted.
This also happens at a vendor level. Besides, Stevie Koerner particular design isn't exactly original considering I inherited one that looks similar from my mom (she got it back in the 70s or 80s).

I used to post about UO and Anthropologie (and their right-wing CEO) but people found it too PC. Of course, I'm ambivalent about knock offs. Sometimes, it's the only way to afford a "look" but UO and Anthropologie are blatant about ripping off current designers and not iconic looks.

Why folks still spend money at UO and Anthropologie is beyond me - Most of what they sell is cheap-quality imported garbage.

As an artist/designer, it's lame. As a consumer, I have the same ambivalence as ebrown because I have expensive taste and a v.low budget!

And also, it also goes both ways - Anthro sued Forever 21 for knocking off dresses (last year, I think?), so the knock offs have knock offs too. (of course, then it's EXTREMELY unethical if they ripped someone off to get the design that they ended up suing over!)

Anyway, I do find it annoying, especially because there are artists out there really trying to make it, who have fresh ideas, and when they get ripped off my sense of justice flares and I get really peeved. but I don't really shop at UO anyway because everything I buy there falls apart or stretches oddly after one season.

I'm with bepsf.

Type in urban outfitters + offensive in your search engine. They suck. Just add this to the list of reasons not to shop there.

Anthropologie ripped off artist friends of mine straight out - not for something they sold but for an installation they did in a store. A *massive* installation that was a clear case of intellectual property theft and copyright infringement.

Why have this topic on AT? I Try Racked.

Thanks for covering this! I love that it was on Gothamist too. Are you all friends? Once upon a time the courts decided that one could not copyright designs and the furthest anyone has gotten is with print designs (like a trademark; not like what we see here). Without court support it leaves artists somewhat helpless... all is left is to raise awareness. That's why it's okay that this seemingly off-topic post is on AT. There is literally nothing else to do about it.

I agree with Rachel, this is a fairly common design - do we know for a fact that they got it from HER? Maybe they got it from someone else or came up with the idea themselves (just saying - cuz it DOES happen, I've seen it and experienced it myself with friends who are designers).

This kind of stuff happens across all design areas. Check out this Crate and Barrel table and this Bludot one.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/dining-tables/walker-cherry-95%22-dining-table/s661743

http://www.bludot.com/modern-dining-tables-chairs/strut-table-medium.html

Aside from the color (and the C&B one also comes in white and grey), they're virtually identical in style. The quality may be different and the manufacturer might be different but Bludot, as a smaller company without the millions that C&B has, is not in as much of a position to defend itself.

That's not to defend UO, but it does happen. What this really does is help the independent artist to get some publicity and hopefully the people who support her work through their words will buy her products.

Anthropologie has a nice habit of doing this also. I actually read a post from a jewelry designer who used to sell her work to them, until they told her they were "going another way" and started selling imported knock-offs of her exact work from Taiwan for the same price.

I've definitely heard this about them before. Looks like I will be continuing not to shop there. Anyway, I'm not the kind of person who likes to buy my quirk factor mass produced from a big overpriced chain.

Urban might do this often, but this is a bad example of their copying. Even James Avery has been doing jewelry like this for FOREVER. States with hearts in them? This isn't anything original.

C&B's Walker Table is made by Blu Dot.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/03/blu-dot-strut-crate-barrel-walker.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef014e86997092970d

Ha! They've even ripped off Miffy!!
http://tinyurl.com/urboutmiffy

that's the way it is.

I have a pendent like this I got from a gumball machine at Disneyland 20 years ago. it's not in silver, but white plastic on an oversized white plastic chain.

It's a shame designers can't get more protection for their work, if only to keep crap stores from knocking off mildly interesting ideas.

It sucks for the designer in question, but seriously $55 for those pendants, half of which don't even look like the states they're supposed to represent. That's foolishness.

I agree with Bepsf.

As an aside, this "trend following" thing is very strange. I once bought Martha Stewart's magazine, halloween edition. WONDERFUL costumes for kids and instructions for sewing them yourself adorned the pages. Then, I saw the very same costumes, every single one of them, right down to the colors and patterns, being sold, pre-made and mass produced for a fraction of the cost of making them by hand yourself. It wasn't the Martha Stewart line selling them. :(

I could tell you similar stories about popular blogs being ripped off this way, too. Sad.

Huh, I had no idea that Bludot made the Crate and Barrel tables. The more you know...

It's happened to other companies before, so I didn't think it was a different case this time.

I agree with Sudlow Jewelry this is quite a common design. (My mom purchased a version of this for me, out of a jewellery catalogue over two years ago.)

Still, UO is blatantly ripping ppl off and that sucks. The fact that they have a very similar product name and some of the description copy is the same is what makes this one super shady.

However, this also reminds me of the conversation in Devil Wears Prada where Miranda Priestly describes how fashion trickles down to stores like the GAP et al.

Oh no, where will all the hipsters shop??

Protecting yourself is as an artist is not easy. I see this sort of thing happening to other illustrators a lot. It is costly and difficult to fight back against, but luckily we have organizations like the graphic artists guild to fight for artists rights. It's a start, anyway. The digital/internet age makes ripping people off easier than ever. No respect, I tell you.

I'm glad to see this covered (in concept) by AT editors, but I find it very ironic when less than a week ago more than a few knock-off shops were pimped in an affordable furniture post.

As trend-spotters and trend-pushers, AT owes it to the design community to take a more firm stance on this issue and set an editorial example: it's not OK to knock off (and it's not OK to take money from folks that knock off in the form of ad dollars).

OK, so here's what I don't get and someone is going to need to explain it to me. I just counted at least six other very similiar necklaces from "Indie" designers selling on etsy right now. So what we are saying here is that it's OK for indes to knock off indies? Why is no one talking about this?

I'm glad to see this posted, and i agree with redneck modern, almost every trend watch post has something from anthropologie.

I'm still pissed off about them funding anti gay republicans.

have you seen the owner of anthropologie and urban oufitters? hip and stylish are the last things that come to mind.
There are a lot of independent designers/companies and companies overseas that I would consider much more worthy of supporting than a corporate chain that pumps out millions of the same item.
I get the "i dont have a lot of money" thing, often used by wal mart shoppers and the like, but it's very important to know what your shopping is supporting.

I actually looked at that designer's necklaces for my sister awhile back (she has a tattoo with a heart inside of Texas) and she told me James Avery had a pendant just like that. Obviously, based on the many anecdotes here, it's not this artist's original design either, though maybe she thought it was.

I understand the designer's perspective, but I'm not convinced that much is really ever original anymore. I'd love to be able to spend hundred's for an original designer shirt or thousands for a high quality chair, but I just can't. I think no matter your budget, you should be able to live in a home that's aesthetically pleasing to you, even if it's filled with knockoffs.

ebarrett3, love the mention of The Devil Wears Prada convo about how fashion trickles down-this is excpected and is it really a such bad thing? Not for the people it's trickling down to who could never afford the original in the first place.

I agree that this "state w/ heart" design is not extremely original in theme. I think Stevie Koerner does a really great job at making these necklaces & hers are very well executed, she should be proud of her quality. As a jewelry designer I have been ripped off via manufacturers in China, which sucked, but in the end it is part of the fashion/design world. How will you learn from it & how will you get your story & designs out to a larger audience? What is your goal as a designer? Being an indie designer with no money is a stuggle & you do not have much "power". I have worked with UO. UO ordered thousands of my designs in 2007. I along with friends & family we completed the full order out of my home. It was a huge task, crazy learning experience, & completely exhausting but I did it. UO also gave me full credit for my designs which listed my company & website on the jewelry tag. Yes people will be ripped off, Yes UO has "taken" designs, but they have also supported indie designers and paid for their work. Please remember this- UO has reached out to indie designers and paid them for their ideas & given them full credit.

She said in her original post that some of her exact copy from her descriptions was on their website.

So..

LOL my "so.." looked like "SO??" I mean so, they did rip HER off explicitly - copying the design and then straight up taking her description of the product and putting it as their own. Sick.

It's not just big boxes that do it too, Erin Wasson also appeared to copy another independant, Bliss Lau in her jewelry line.

Many etsy artists are also doing inspired by pieces based on designer items or other items the've seen on etsy.

I think if a big box is going to do this, they should contact the independant artist, cut a deal with them and feature them as an artist on their site. Would actually increase sales as it makes the piece more interesting as well.

Some pieces are really difficult to tell though, the truly original design is rare. But using the copy too? Blatent.

I'd rather buy from the Etsy seller...if the Etsy seller weren't overly expensive. $55? I mean really.

Also, Regretsy has an excellent post showing the billion designers who are all selling this same design. http://www.regretsy.com/2011/05/27/urban-outrage/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+regretsy+%28Regretsy%29

@missbellahell - THANK YOU! I was so going to post this also. It's hard to say UO is stealing that design when apparently everyone has a version of it.

this is so hard for me... really, because i want to support independent artists and designers, but i can't afford to do it. what do you think about this? i mean, i don't shop at walmart for ethical reasons, so why do i dress and decorate my place with UO and Anthro? i guess i want my self and my space to be pretty/fun... a poor justification, but i'm just being honest.

I know that Handmade Detroit (also on Etsy) has had a Michigan-with-heart logo for years. This designer's heart is in the exact same spot (over Detroit)... so perhaps this design isn't all that clever or original.

Oh dear, I just bought a rug at UO. It was such a great price.

@Daleth, I hear you (although Anthropologie is not cheap). I have been ordering more from Etsy lately.

I am an Anthro fan of old. Fairly recently they did a show called Man Shops Globe which follows an Anthro buyer around the world sourcing goods for their retail stores. It's fascinating to watch. I'm a lawyer, so when I noticed that the buyer was doing like 90% antiquing, it occurred to me what was really going on. Anthro, on a reality show produced by them, makes no bones about the fact that they source random antiques and send them out for mass reproduction. They often can do this with antiques because the things they're finding are random and therefore an intellectual property dispute would be unlikely. In fairness, they also highlighted their work commissioning local artists for retail goods (they have a somewhat well-known partnership with the Beekman farm, for example). It definitely feels dirty, especially if you're not a fan of knock-offs in general, but it's not that surprising. This is why I am so adamant with my artistic friends about safeguarding their IP.

Coincidentally, I requested one of the aforementioned Etsy seller's necklaces for V-Day last year. The Etsy ones are definitely better executed.

The Council have released a statement.

http://goo.gl/ItPK8

regretsy chimes in: http://www.regretsy.com/2011/05/27/urban-outrage/

Most artists I know recognize that the copyright law does permit changes of only 15% (I think -- possibly 20%) to modify something enough to claim it was "inspired" by not "copied" from... This is part of "fair use". So the way artists REALLY protect their work is to change it constantly, improving, upgrading, perfecting... A lot of newbie crafters seem to have no conscience about copying, either -- they just want to sell. It's a tough world for original artists and crafters. And the Law isn't much help.

Oh c'mon. She assumes she was copied, its quite possible the design is just the same coincidentally. Its a pretty simple design, as others said ... its been done before. And she says they even stole her name ... her product name is "I heart" .... sorry, but again, far from original - easily a coincidence as it is the obvious extrapolation of a concept. Lastly - she says they even took some of her text/copy ... I read thru both I had a hard time finding it. The only part I see similar is one line that says "Wear your locale love" on UO's site and hers says "Wear your love". Again - I'm not convinced that this is a rip-off.

Has there been any comment by UO? I'd be curious to see their response. How do you even defend yourselves against stuff like this, especially when your brand tries to hard to be hip and cool and young.

Regretsy again: http://www.regretsy.com/2011/05/31/state-of-confusion/

And UO's response btw: http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/urban_outfitters_responds_to_false_allegations_by_necklace_designer