Richard Macneil’s art has graced many hundreds of greeting cards over the last three decades and since the formation of the The Macneil Studio in 2009 (which is owned and run by Richard, his wife Judi, their two sons Daniel and Kyle and Kyle’s wife Melissa) that creativity has spawned licensing collaborations way beyond greeting cards.
However, this success story has recently been marred by the discovery of considerable IP theft in the ‘paint by numbers’ sector (as well as on other products) which The Macneil Studio team is not only confronting head on, by enlisting the services of a specialist lawyer, but are also urging other greeting card artists and publishers to be ever vigilant.
As Richard’s wife Judi told PG Buzz, Dan Robbins, the creator of paint by numbers died in Ohio, USA in 2009, aged 93. The artist came up with the idea in the 1950s, inspired by Leonardo de Vinci’s teaching system of numbering sections for his apprentices to complete. Paint by numbers proved a very popular pastime/hobby and has enjoyed great success.
“Fast forward to 2020 – the year of the pandemic and paint by numbers has seen a massive resurgence due to lockdown and people seeking ways to keep occupied and protect their mental health,” explained Judi. “However, unlike in the 1950s, we now have e-commerce. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards the digital world. The resurgence of paint by numbers, as well as other hobbies and crafts, has caused a huge proliferation in the numbers of sellers in the online marketplace,” Judi added.
While The Macneil Studio has been delighted with the legitimate licensing agreements it has forged with its licensee partners such as Masterpiece by Numbers, it was less than happy to be alerted to fact that some of its designs were being used illegally on many paint by numbers sites, on the major marketplaces, such as Amazon and Ebay as well as on all the major drop shipping platforms, such as Alibaba.
“We are incredibly angry and upset about discovering this blatant infringement of our intellectual property, not only on the paint by numbers sets, but many other products too,” admitted Judi.
While Judi acknowledges that while it is difficult and time consuming to contact and stop such offenders, especially when they are based in the Far East, The Macneil Studio team feel that those guilty of pernicious practice should be brought to task.
Having sought advice from Briffa, the London-based law firm which specialises in IP and copywrite issues, Judi sent cease and desist letters to 50 independent online operators who were selling products featuring unlicensed Macneil Studio images. This direct action brought results, with around 65% of the offenders removing the items.
“As well as keeping on top of these, it’s the main Amazon and eBay sites that we are now seeking action. Some of the companies involved operate under so many different names,” explains Judy. “But we are not going to let them get away with it.”
Although only a small family business, The Macneil Studio currently has a dedicated team member who scours the internet weekly to find such offenders who are illegally selling their copyright property. As well as copyright lawyers in the UK, the company has enlisted the help of a lawyer who lives and works in China in order to proceed with legal action there.
“We owe it to ourselves, our licensees and their customers to ensure that such theft is stamped out,” says Judi. “I am saddened and amazed by the scale of infringement of not only our work, but many other artists’ work on these sites. I Urge fellow artists and publishers alike to check sites regularly as many feature several artists’ work, without the correct licensing agreements in place.”
She feels it is unfortunate that “the UK does not have a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) like they do in USA, so artists are left to fend for themselves or employ specialist lawyers that can be very expensive. But is so wrong to let these thieves get away with stealing our creativity.”
Top: A portion of one of The Macneil Studio’s famous London scenes which has been copied, such as this example. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lachesis-Painting-Paintbrushes-Beginner-Decoration/dp/B08GFRTFM4)
