appropriation, copy, theft

To paraphrase Websters Dictionary:

Appropriation ( The act of appropriating ) to take possession of without permission.
Copy an imitation, reproduction of an original; to imitate.
theft an act or instance of stealing

Walter Benjamin believed that the modern age ushered in a "retooling" of the mimetic faculty and by imitating we are attempting to acquire the aura of the original or at least the attempt to get it within close range.

The copy, the authentic and the language that adheres to this dialogue has been a hot topic for some time. To get a background of this check out Wikipedia or other search engines as I don't feel the desire to ramble on this now.

As a craft, glassblowing has always anchored itself to the copy. The apprentice attempts to copy the master, the master respectfully copies the past.

The reason I am reviewing these notions is due to a theft that was committed to LBK studio not too long ago by a store where we sold our Chalkboard Vases. The store located in St. Louis by the name of UMA was a great customer of ours for quite some time. They even had a feature on the Blog Daily Candy with our Chalkboard Vases. We sold many through them and in turn had a symbiotic relationship with the store and I with the owner- Mike. (I even sent him a Holiday Gift) Through Daily Candy we were picked up by many many other blogs and websites. It wasn't long though that Mike grew tired of having to order these through LBK studio. In December he threatened me that he would get a local glassblower to make them instead of us!!! Yes, its astounding the shear audacity of it all. ( Shear as it truly cuts through me) I told him this was illegal as there is such a thing as Intellectual Property and Copyright. He got nervous and denied that he ever said/ or emailed this statement and purchased additional Vases from me, and like an idiot I continued to do business with him. He then told me he looked forward to seeing me at the NYIGF and would purchase other products for his other "store" the Dot Spot. I never saw him in NYC and so I emailed him- never heard back. I then employed a friend to email him with a request of Chalkboard Vases, so undercover, and he told her that LBK studio used to make them for him, but he now has someone else do them AND he could give her 20% discount!!
Chris, my usually silent partner, became instantly furious and called UMA/Mike up and expressed to Mike the illegal actions and our pursuit of Legal council. Mike grew frightened and agitated - spewing bazaar statements and yelling into the phone- loud enough that I took my 21 month old out of ear shot. Eventually Chris made it understood that what he did wasn't only tacky, underhanded, and despicable - it was theft! He was stealing our idea, my idea- making my Vases and besides all of this, he was taking food from our baby's mouth.
Mike, not a designer, or an artist, but a store owner just happened to stumble upon my materialized idea in my booth in the Handmade section at the NYIGF. He then had the audacity to believe that he deserved all of the money from the sales of these items. The disregard for us as artisans is blinding. Any crafts people or designers/manufacturers reading this beware of UMA and Mike- they did it to us - why not you?