You DO know that copyright infringement is a crime, right?

[Dave1982]

Oh, wait , of course you don't. If you did, we wouldn't be here.

I had a woman come all the way across the store to complain to me that no one was available to help her in the copy center. Of course, it turns out the the guy working back there had simply stepped out back to use the restroom, and she couldn't wait for him.

She asks me to make copies of a bunch of tissue paper costume kit patterns at 200%.

Now, ALL commercially-sold sewing, stitching, and knitting patterns are copyrighted. She had conveniently cut-out the patterns already, so the copyrights were missing, but that didn't change anything. Now, I know that making copies of them for your own use (assuming you paid for them originally) is OK; people do this all the time with cross-stitch and embroidery patterns because they're usually printed in a microscopic size.

BUT, as a matter of policy, we have to err on the side of caution and not allow people to make copies of any copyrighted materials in our copy center. We have no way of knowing if these are for her own use, or if she intends to give them to a friend or to sell them on eBay. And considering that the fines the store will get hit with if we're caught allowing it are considerable, we simply don't allow people to do it.

Rather than shoot her down on my own, I temporized and offered to go find the Copy Center Specialist. I intercepted him on the way up from the men's room and explained that I had a woman who wanted to copy copyrighted material. So he - being perfectly willing to be the bad guy since he was in a bad mood - told her that we can't do what she wanted for legal reasons. I took the opportunity to flee the scene and go back to my own department.

Well, apparently she didn't accept that answer and then tried to trick one of our office supply associates into helping her, but this time didn't show them what she wanted to copy. Not being aware of any ill-intentions on her part, the OS guy went off in search of some ledger-sized paper for her to use, but was stopped by the Copy Center Specialist and told not to help that woman because she was making illegal copies.

She then tried to swindle a THIRD associate (fourth, if you count me) into helping her, though I gather that at this point the CCS lost his patience with her and booted her out of his copy center.

She came stomping back over to me and - apparently thinking I was the Manager on Duty - loudly complained that "THREE young men wouldn't help me" and that this was "VERY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE" and that making the copies should have been easy and "no big deal."

She then walked out the door.

Lady, first of all, you wanted us to facilitate a copyright violation. That's a crime, you know, a big deal. Second, if it was so easy to make the enlargements, why didn't you just do it yourself on the self-serve machines? We don't actively police what people copy, so if you'd kept your mouth shut you may well have gotten away with it. Lastly, refusing to break the law does not constitute bad customer service.

So yeah, I was real shook up about her complaint. So much so that I made a point of not even telling the real Manager on Duty about it.

[Darkwish]

I just posted a similar thread about some of the stuff we see on eBay!

I don't know much about sewing, but aren't those patterns already the right size? And she wanted them enlarged??? Was she trying to clothe a giant? Or am I totally clueless about sewing patterns?

[Dave1982]

I'm not sure what the patterns were for, but they looked like they were for some sort of Halloween costume. My best guess is that she was trying to convert them from a child size to an adult size.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I've had people come into the bookstore asking if we had a copy machine. One time I was working with a girl who was in college, studying elementary education, and a customer asked her if we had a copier. She said to him in her sweetest kindergarten-teacher voice, "No, we try to sell the books."

[Nayeli_Sabia]

I am just appalled by the number of people who tried to get away with copyright infringement while I was working at a photo store. We even had a man who had scanned a calendar onto CD, and then wanted us to make that into a photo calendar.

[IEatCustomers4Breakfast]

This is perfect!

I had a guy come in today to pick up pictures, and when I pulled them out of the bin, there was a big note on the front of the envelope that said "COPYRIGHT RELEASE!" Meaning he needs to get a copyright release before we can sell him the pictures.

I opened the envelope and they were OBVIOUSLY professional studio-quality photos. He threw a fit at me about the copyright release because "THESE WERE TAKEN IN COLORADO! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET A $^t&(#%& COPYRIGHT RELEASE?!"

Sorry dude, not our problem. Have a nice day, and your pictures will be here when you come back.

[Sliceanddice]

I just posted a similar thread about some of the stuff we see on eBay!

I don't know much about sewing, but aren't those patterns already the right size? And she wanted them enlarged??? Was she trying to clothe a giant? Or am I totally clueless about sewing patterns?

um hi some of use arent a size 2 maybe she wanted to enlarge the pattern to make clothes for someone with curves
(wow that came out bitchy.....)
Maybe she was converting a younger kids costume (think tinkerbell it will help you)
for someone older(6 year olds costume now for a 11 year old maybe)
or maybe they are just bigger

now excuse me i have to deal with my insults form my siblings.

[Victoria J]

um hi some of use arent a size 2 maybe she wanted to enlarge the pattern to make clothes for someone with curves
(wow that came out bitchy.....)
Maybe she was converting a younger kids costume (think tinkerbell it will help you)
for someone older(6 year olds costume now for a 11 year old maybe)
or maybe they are just bigger

now excuse me i have to deal with my insults form my siblings.

You couldn't really change a pattern from a small size to a big size by enlarging it. I'm large - and I might be 200% width but I'm pretty sure I'm not 200% height. People aren't just bigger they are different shapes and proportions.

The same would apply to scaling up children's sizes, though to a lesser extent. Children aren't mini adults, they have distinct proportions a different ages.

Of course this woman was an idiot, anyone who tries the asking-3-members-of-staff-the-same-thing trick is an idiot. She may have thought it would work.

Or the pattern was actually sold to be enlarged ? It's possible, I guess.

Would 1 copy have been all right ? It seems harsh not to be able to make at least a single copy. I wouldn't want to cut out and pin an actual pattern, which would damage it, when you are allowed to use them multiple times. And a small increase or decrease in size could also be helpful.

Victoria J

[Dave1982]

Would 1 copy have been all right ? It seems harsh not to be able to make at least a single copy. I wouldn't want to cut out and pin an actual pattern, which would damage it, when you are allowed to use them multiple times.

Yes and no. If the kit maker had intended for the pattern to be copied and reused, and she had brought in documentation to that effect, then yes, it would have been OK, but she had no such documentation.

As I said, we have to err on the side of caution when it comes to copyright issues. For all we know, she was going to give away the copy, which would be illegal, and we'd be subject to a massive fine if caught allowing it.

[Sandman]

We had one photography studio that always made up copyright releases because they want the people to make copies of photos (it's a talent agency).

[protege]

We even had a man who had scanned a calendar onto CD, and then wanted us to make that into a photo calendar.

The model railroad society I belong to, always puts out an annual calendar. Even though all of the photos were taken years ago, we're careful to give the photographer credit. Most of the time, they're happy just to get their photos used...other times, we have to pay a small fee for them. Either way, it's a win-win for us. And yes, we have gone after people who have used our materials without permission

[Mamadrae]

I actually heard about this while attempting to get copies out of a book of mine.
Went to the copy place because the public copier at the grocery store was busted and it was Sunday so the libraries were closed. Figured the copy place would be able to help me.

Asked a girl if I could get copies and she said "Sorry we can't due to copy right laws. You can however do it yourself at our public copiers in the back."

This confused the hell out of me but I wasn't picky and just needed the copies. When the copier broke down she actually looked at what I was copying. Then she went and used their machine for me since the public one was having issues.

I doubt anyone will go after her store for copying 20 character sheets out of the 3.5 players handbook for me.

[lupo pazzesco]

Had a similar situation myself yesterday. See, a batch of accounting books apparently had a print flaw. Students would read chapter 7, get 12 pages in...and chapter one would start all over again. They were missing pages 13-59 of chapter 7. Now, a couple of them have come in, and we've traded them out for a book that has the correct pages. However, we had a girl yesterday that wanted to either get the second book for free and keep the first one, or for us to make copies of the missing chapter, becuase she wasn't giving up the book she already had, since she'd made notes in it.

After laughing at her (silently, of course!) for wanting to keep two $150 books for the price of one, I got on the phone with the vendor/publisher and explained the problem. I was given permission, via one of the managers to make a master copy of the missing pages in the chapter, and we could offer them to students in lieu of a book exchange, if they preferred. They'd already discovered from earlier reports what had happened at other schools, so they already had a system in motion.

Well, girly threw a fit because I had to take time to call and ask permission and didn't understand why I wouldn't simply unwrap the book and start making copies for her. I explained copyright infringement, etc, but she still railed at me. Whatever. Got the permission, then went to pull a book to make the copies (ironically finding another botched book in the process). Now, mind you, we're talking 50 pages out of a textbook, and having to photocopy each one individually, and make sure everything on the page prints out perfectly. This took me about a half hour to do, to make the master copy, and then run off a copy for Miss EW out there.

Naturally she pitched another fit about having to wait, and how atrocious the service was being, despite the fact I was bending over backwards to help her. She got her copies, and still stated it would've been easier to just GIVE her another book. I told her we'd swap it out, but no freebies, and she flounced off angry.

<sigh> Yep, I still hate people in general, thank you, ma'am for reinforcing that.

And SO sorry for threadjacking!! Why can I never keep things short?!

[NateTheChops]

Just what is it about customers that makes them think they're immune from the law?

I can't count the number of times I've told a customer that we can't do something because it is actually illegal. They look like I hit them over the head with a sledgehammer.

[RetailWorkhorse]

Why did she not just BUY a frikken copier??

I miss Mom's old copier.