Retapping Resources
It seems those in the “industry” with huge monetary outlays of infrastructure don’t take Groudplans way of adventurous experimenting seriously. What’s more they seem reticent to appreciate it when they see it. Looking like a small fry, without the showroom and staff operations compared with others having huge overhead has allowed me to experiment with design structure while passing these savings onto you, the consumer.
Others saw my designs and ran with it….many of my carpet designs that I didn’t bring to market but shared with both designers, dealers and manufacturers with the thought of monetary gain, then appropriated them for themselves without looking back to the creator. Some have become commonplace finds on the market by those lacking in innovation.
Our eponymous carpet collection, Groundplans was conceived in the late-80’s with the intent of bringing the beauty of earth’s topography indoors and underfoot. These designs from my first collection debuted over 30 years ago. Since then they have been taken up by others and spread far and wide.
Groundplans 1990 Rocks At Ise / Tai Ping 2007 for St Regis
BUFFETT to BLAME?
“Buffett?”, you ask.
Buffett, the genius growth manager, his ownership of 60+ businesses are enterprises that he bought and shrunk to eke out the most profit without considering the harm done by shrinking US manufacturing - profit being the main goal. In hindsight I see my business was directly affected. I worked with a great manufacturer called Cabin Craft in Dalton, Georgia. They’d literally ring me up (back in the day) to let me know a skin color seemed off for a series of Superman rugs I was making for Warner Bros Studio Stores.
Once the parent company, Shaw Rugs was bought by Buffett, he preferred letting the not so profitable go by the waist-side - production being sent oversees. This forced me to work with unethical middlemen here Stateside - dealers with overseas manufacturing connections who helped themselves to my designs, profits and clients. And a couple of oversees manufacturers are still profiting for over 20 years. After I shared my designs with them in the hope of receiving royalties - even having them sign Non-Appropriation Agreements and copyrighting my designs.
It seems like Warren Buffett was one of the first to figure out how to do away with ‘Ma + Pa‘ U.S. owned businesses - built from the ground up. Essentially for him to squeeze the most profitability out of an existing business and then taking it public. Thus he was able to move his shares over a generational timeframe from a couple of hundred dollars a share to presently almost half of $1million/share for the top 1%.
Bravo to the “Oracle of Omaha”, or not.
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
And while on the subject of Buffett…
If Buffett, Gates, etc. paid their fair share of taxes there would be enough to go around for public good. Instead under the guise of giving away 1/2 their billions of wealth while they’re still alive, they set up ways to give that tax money to niche organizations - universities and foreign investments. In this country when parents can’t afford to take care of their sick children the government takes them away and puts them in foster care.
Don’t these uber successful men understand a fundamental principle of economics? These people who are in such need, if given a leg up offered by government programs would in turn be buying the products these wealthy men own and sell. Wouldn't this make them that much more profitable? AND it would significantly lower our national debt - possibly helping to bring us out of being a drug infested nation with a crumbling infrastructure and mass incarceration.
How wonderful it would be if these men took a listen and emulated their women counterparts; one a now deceased sister and the other an ex-wife:
Doris Buffett set up the Sunshine Lady Foundation to give a portion of her Berkshire Hathaway stock profit to award scholarships for victims of domestic violence, college education for prison inmates, as well as making an effort to help people with mental illnesses.
Melinda Gates set up Pivotal Ventures, investing in female-led or minority-focused venture firms.
Please excuse me for getting carried away - back to my designs….
RUST rug designed and oversaw the manufacturing of for the Fairfield Hotel lobby in NYC
I now see the likeness of my RUST rug popping up all over - in showrooms, magazines and on the internet:
My BURSTS designs seemed to have taken on a life of their own
BURSTS rug I installed for 48 Lex conference room - 2004
Even though select manufactures such as Milliken + Interface Flor as well as my personal manufacturer in India signed Non-Appropriation NDA agreements…that didn’t stop them.
Mine on the left and theirs on the right.
My “trusted” manufacturer who I shared my designs with in hopes of receiving royalties, copied the design exactly and shopped it around.
Home Depot for some 20 years sold it and various iterations of it.
“Show me the money, Honey”.
and last but not least: MESH
With many look-alikes:
The copyrighted name MESH is used verbatim by Carnegie and Ruckstuhl
In the U.S. we seem to set up the look minus the content. We simply copy, dare I say - steal what already exists.
“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” - Pablo Picasso
For people who’ve seen their work pop up in various places, please do not hold on and wait - others will surely bring it to life without you. Put your creation out there asap.
It’s never too late to take back your creations. I have decided since I have been seeing the seeds of my designs elsewhere, it’s my turn to produce them. Coming out with a new collection, I want it seen as the total vision it was meant to be. Not fragmented pieces or extrapolated concepts which are then devoid of the endless hours I spent maturing them. Because if someone is expropriating them, they don’t necessarily have the capacity to evolve them.
Unfortunately for me and to the huge benefit of those copying, I found legal action as a recourse is a costly endeavor with no guarantee of winning. Our copyright laws do not seem to help - with only a slight change to the design, I am told by experts the copyright becomes null and void. With only a 3 year look back of sales no matter when or where the copying was found. I came across this old Chinese proverb: “won lawsuit, lost money”. True True.
In a Business of Home article from June 2021 it’s expressed how pervasive this is:
“We’re rich in inspiration but relatively poor in design education. Many knockoffs are not, technically speaking illegal.”
Life is certainly full of twists and turns. Some 10 to 25 years later I am revisiting my now uber borrowed designs - evolving these designs to become au current flooring. One Design Then Two…Stay Tuned Megaverse - more on the horizon….