The first theft

 

Our knitwear came "to the vastness" of the Internet back in 1998, when we did not yet have a computer, and our first website was created on the basis of the Chelyabinsk Internet company, where I had to go weekly to replenish and update the information on the site…

As the Internet "matured" and publications about our knitwear creativity expanded, two trends were formed related to the "publicity" of our knitwear. The first, positive, is, of course, the responses from all over the world (literally - from Alaska to New Zealand), which I have received and am still receiving (despite the fact that I have not published anything new since 2017). Over the past two decades, I have received thousands of similar responses: "My goodness, your work is spectacular!!! I love your designs! Did you manage to find somewhere that would exhibit your work? Really, I'm in awe of your collection, and so pleased to explore another way of looking at the art of knitting!"

Naturally, this pleases and inspires, this is, so to speak, a positive aspect. The negative aspect of the presence of our knitwear on the Internet is also exist. And it is obvious — these are thefts of ideas. I do not know how many of my ideas were stolen. But most likely, I know which of my designs was stolen first. And I know when. In 2009.

In 2003, I developed a sketch of a sweater decorated with a camera, and in the 2006 we made such a sweater: 

Photos of this sweater appeared on the Internet no later than 2006. At the same time, I wrote to the headquarters of the Nikon company with a proposal for cooperation in the production of such sweaters. They didn't answer me.

And 3 years later, in 2009, the small Singapore company (for the production of t-shirts) has registered the copyright to this design:

Certainly, I wrote to them. The indignant letter. They (of course!) didn’t reply. 

Now, in 2021, the number of companies producing t-shirts using this idea is estimated in the hundreds. The idea went widely to the masses: