

Ask HN: My physical goods social enterprise may have been cloned by a for profit - kelu124

RickshawArt.org got cloned as Rickshaw Canvas. What should I do?
======
thekevan
I don't think there is much you can do. Your idea is not unique and they did
not copy some individual business method. When I read the headline with the
word "cloned", I thought they copied your web site or business model. You are
selling something that exists and so are they.

That being said, I wish they were not doing what they are and am rooting for
you over them. I just don't believe they have really infringed on anything.

~~~
kelu124
Yep, right, nothing can be done -- no patent, nothing, just execution (let the
fittest win, I know, it what makes the difference =) ).

CLONED, because they used pictures I took, pretend to have the product I sell
(it's original art, so I'm pretty sure they don't have another copy) and re-
used without changing the tag-line I used.

In this context, my question would be: what's the strategy to follow to
interact with them?

~~~
elemeno
If they're using pictures that you took, and thus have the copyright to, then
you'd presumably have grounds for a DMCA takedown request to their hosts.

------
wtvanhest
You should be excited someone validated your idea. Then you should turn it to
for profit (and be one of the rare examples of for profit social enterprise
that may actually work.) Then you should raise money and ramp marketing.

Or do nothing since your original goal was to do some good which by creating
the idea and frame work you have accomplished.

~~~
kelu124
Humm .. understood point #1. Yes, the original goal was to bring money to a
fund through sales.. but if the sales are diverted to a for-profit, ultimately
beneficiaries will not enjoy it.

~~~
eragnew
I think you may want to examine the assumptions in 'but if the sales are
diverted to a for-profit, ultimately beneficiaries will not enjoy it.' Is that
the truth, or is that what you think the truth is? There is an important
difference between the two.

~~~
polyfractal
Agreed. There is a very real chance that being a for-profit company can propel
to you making more money for both the company and for your beneficiaries since
you can hire more talented individuals.

It's pretty well known that non-profits often starve for top talent simply
because a lot of the top talent also wants to make more money than a poor
college kid.

Making money doesn't have to be orthogonal to doing good things in the world.
There are plenty of companies that manage to do both.

------
seiji
Talk to the couchsurfing guys about how being cloned for profit feels.

~~~
marquis
I understand Couchsurfing in the process of monetizing, wish them well.

------
Turing_Machine
What's the URI for the other site? Google turns up a lot of sites for
"Rickshaw Canvas".

~~~
kelu124
Started as a Facebook group

Edit: addition

# if you look at the album, pics are from us

# The tagline "We offer you the best Bangladeshi ..." is exactly the same...

# and the worst, they managed to catch clients (maybe i'm just jealous?

edit2 # their content as well :/

~~~
Turing_Machine
If it's on Facebook they will definitely shut it down if there's a valid
complaint.

Here's the information you need:

<https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=157024904418383>

