What a week it's been at Luna Wolf HQ!
As you may know from my previous blog posts, I have been having problems with the ongoing theft of my patterns/tutorial set by an Etsy seller going by the name of Happy Moon Pads. She bought the pattern/tutorial set on 19 April 2014, and shortly afterwards started selling it on Etsy and on her own site, with her business details inserted in place of mine. She claimed full credit for the 15 page PDF file, even selling a $25 licence for people to sell pads made from the patterns, as long as credit was given to her shop. (You do not need a licence to sell items made from a sewing pattern - this is bogus.)
I reported this brazen theft of intellectual property to Etsy, as did several other people, but Etsy weren't interested. Happy Moon Pads altered the listing photo to make it slightly less identical, but a year later the original listing is back on Etsy, and people are still unwittingly buying it.
Meanwhile, I had been having terrible problems with my website after attempting to migrate it, and could not get my shopping cart set up correctly to sell the tutorial anymore. Happy Moon Pads was profiting from my work, and my site was too broken to sell it myself. Even if I did manage to fix the shopping cart, or broke my Etsy boycott and listed the pattern/tutorial on Etsy myself, I knew that whatever I priced it, she would undercut it and continue to rip me off - and frankly I don't have the time or energy to continue pursuing her.
After much deliberation, I decided the best way forward would be to
offer the pattern/tutorial set for free, or for a small optional
donation. This is the best way I can think of to stop her from
profiting from my work. You can't undercut free. I have done a complete revamp of my website (the broken shopping cart is gone!), and you can now download both the A4 and US letter versions of the tutorial, plus templates for wider versions of the pantiliner and 8.5 inch pad. There is a donation button on the website if you like the patterns and want to say thanks. (A massive thank you from me to the people who have already donated!)
Here are the free patterns!
A4 version
US letter version
Wider versions of the pantiliner and 8.5 inch pad
You can help by sharing the pattern/tutorial set with its Luna Wolf branding far
and wide, and speaking up if you see it being sold on and/or claimed as
somebody else’s. I am happy to provide the original high resolution
photographs from the tutorial photoshoot (including the many that didnt
make it in!), photographs of the original patterns drafted on cardboard,
screenshots of the original tutorial files on my PC date stamped 2009, a
screenshot of the Paypal transcation from 19 April 2014 when Samantha
Hughes (AKA Happy Moon Pads) purchased the pattern from Luna Wolf, or
whatever else it takes to prove this is my work.
If you have previously bought this pattern from Happy Moon Pads
without realising it was stolen property, I suggest opening a dispute
with Etsy and/or Paypal, although I have little faith in the former.
I have been overwhelmed by the support I have had from the cloth pad community. I wasn't sure how people would react to seeing a pattern they had previously paid for become available for free, but generally people have completely understood and supported my decision, and I am so grateful for that.
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Hi, so sorry to hear about all your troubles with the tutorial. that's terrible what some people woukd do. I would like to make a donation in exchange for your download. How much did you used to charge?
ReplyDeleteHi, so sorry to hear about all your troubles with the tutorial. that's terrible what some people woukd do. I would like to make a donation in exchange for your download. How much did you used to charge?
ReplyDeleteHi Meg, that's really kind of you. I used to charge £5.99 when I was selling it through Luna Wolf, but that was when Luna Wolf was my livelihood, which it isn't anymore. These days I'm genuinely delighted to get £1 or £2 for it. :)
DeleteHi Vicky,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Anna and I volunteer for an organisation in Australia called 1 Million Women (www.1millionwomen.com.au). We're a movement of strong, inspirational women acting on climate change through the way that we live. I think what you have done with your business and tutorial is fabulous and I'd love to get in contact with you. It would be wonderful if you could send me an email to anna(at)1millionwomen.com.au. Looking forward to hearing from you! Kind regards, Anna
I'm new to cloth pads and will attempt to make my own soon! Thank you so much for the patterns! xoxo
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I are so grateful for the free access to your cloth menstrual pads patterns. I am so sorry about the issue with Etsy, but we thought you might like to know how we plan to use the patterns. We are very involved in Operation Christmas Child a program of Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse and create several boxes to donate each Christmas. This year my sister's class has a goal of creating 200 Samaritan's Purse boxes. We realized that many of the women in 3rd world countries are not allowed to attend school once they begin their menstrual cycle. We plan to make 100 boxes for young women and include at least 4 pads in each box. We just completed a prototype of a pad using your instructions. It turned out pretty well and will be working with other ladies in Sunday School to achieve this challenging goal of making 400 pads. Thank for sharing the pattern. We just thought you might like to know how the free pattern is making a difference in the lives of young women across the world. Thank you. Debbie and Jamie
ReplyDeleteI thought you might like to know that your pattern is being made into pads that will be given to a orphanage in Cambodia and also will be distributed to those in need who live (literally) on garbage piles in that country.
ReplyDeleteHi Luna. I'm new to this,but it seems the download link is broken. Is there a way to get it please?
ReplyDelete