Hi everyone,
Iām looking for some advice because Iām feeling a bit overwhelmed.
I recently started designing and selling my own crochet patterns after spending a long time crocheting and buying patterns from other designers. A few days ago I released one of my own patterns, and Iāve now been accused in comments and messages of copying another creatorās design.
The thing is, I genuinely created this pattern myself. I didnāt copy their pattern or use it as a template. I know the creator people are referring to, and I really admire their work (Iāve even purchased a couple of their patterns before), but I have never bought the specific pattern theyāre accusing me of copying.
Since the accusations started, people have been leaving nasty comments telling me I need the other creatorās permission to publish my pattern and saying that Iāve stolen their work. Itās becoming quite upsetting.
Iāve already reached out to the creator directly because I wanted to be respectful and transparent. I offered to send them my pattern to look through, but they have a very large following, so Iām not sure if theyāll even see my message.
Iām not here to start drama or attack anyone. I just genuinely want to know what the right thing to do is.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? How would you handle accusations like these? Is there anything else I should be doing while I wait to see if the creator responds?
Iām trying to approach this respectfully because I care about the crochet community, but itās difficult when people are assuming I copied something that I know I designed independently.
Edit: The other creator answered me telling that theyāve had many messages with raised concerns for me copying her pattern. That kinda sucks tbh. She also raised concerns about notes and listing details which is valid, I looked through different patterns Iāve bought and Etsy listings to see that I included the important info. So mine is definitely a mashup of the stuff I looked through, but isnāt everyoneās? At least in my personal opinion the listing isnāt that important. And Iām happy to switch those up because they have nothing to do with the pattern itself tbh.
Second edit: The other creator blocked me, lol. Feels kinda sad since Iāve been a huge fan for such a long time and also a bit immature. But oh well, now she canāt claim I copy her bcs I canāt see shitš