Artistry Betrayed: Nobody Tries That On Hive.

Have your ideas or creativity ever been stolen from you before? How did you feel?

This brings me back to memory lane when I volunteered to help a friend who was also a fashion designer make her sister's outfit and her bridal train outfits just to show my support for her since I didn't have much on me to give her at that time.

I took it upon myself to cut the outfit from scratch to finish, and I ensured I sewed it to perfection without demanding a dime.

She was indeed very excited about my kind gesture, but what broke me to pieces was what happened a few days after the wedding.

You know, when a craft is good, people want to know the brain behind such creativity, but guess what? My friend's sister claimed that her sister made all the bridal train outfits, and when I heard it, I almost cried.

It's so painful when someone else takes credit for what you did. I wasn't telling her to tell the world that the outfits were my way of supporting the wedding, but all I wished for was for her to help me market my handiwork. Was it too much to ask? I mean, why will someone ask you who made those bridal train outfits and you take credit for what you didn't do at all?

If you've ever been in that shoe, you would know exactly how it feels.

This brings me to the importance of intellectual property rights. Did I learn from my first mistake? No way, I still made yet more silly mistakes.

I make handmade brooches that are unisex and can be rocked in different ways. After making them, I sell them on request.

There's this friend of mine who ordered two brooches that he wanted to use for his friend's wedding, one for him as the best man and one for his friend,, who was the groom.

After the wedding, he sent me pictures of the groom and him rocking the brooches, and then I posted them on my business page to advertise my handiwork.

Would you believe that the groom slid into my DM on Instagram and said that the brooch he rocked for the wedding wasn't made by me? He said he bought it in the market alongside the tie he used for his wedding, and I was so gobsmacked, like, why do people lie?

I decided to reach out to the guy who made the order to verify what the groom said, but he told me honestly that the brooch was mine.

Do you see people? (Shaking my head.)

I never knew the importance of watermarks, like adding my logo to any outfit I make, especially when posting it on social media. Yet again, I posted a beautiful outfit I made for a client, and after a while, another designer whom I didn't know reposted it like she was the designer behind the design without giving me credit for it.

My attention was called to it by my client, who came across that post, and she demanded the designer take down the post or give credit to me for making the outfit.

After those experiences, I now see the value of intellectual property rights, and I never made the mistake of posting my designs or creativity without adding my brand's logo to them.

This is why I am working so hard to create a tag that I'll be attaching to my handiwork, like outfits, brooches, and any creativity by me that will be sold or shared in the public space.

This brings me to how I love Hive so much because I know for a fact that intellectual property is taken so seriously in this space that you cannot use anybody's work (a written quote, picture, or anything) without sourcing it properly or giving credit to them. That's really a thoughtful thing to do, give credit to whom it is due.

As a Hiver, I have also seen the importance of intellectual property which is why even if the images used on my blog are mine, I do well to clearly state it so that it serves as a protection for my digital properties.

This is why I do preach Hive to content creators around me, if you want a safe space? Join Hive, nobody will steal your creativity and act like it is theirs, your digital property is safe here on Hive so long as it is properly sourced.

As a business owner, I will also advice you to get your business name registered by the government before using it to avoid digital theft, some people just like to steal from others, they don't mind stealing your brand's name as well because of how successful you have grown with the brand.

Your creativity is you, don't let anyone steal that from you without giving credit to you, you worked hard for it.