why do they keep ripping us off // knock off mermaid tails (part 1)
Cheap knock off mermaid tails, where they come from, why they suck, and why companies keep ripping us off. This is part 1...
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Please have an open mind and know that I have a different perspective as someone who does this for a living. 😘
You are spot on! It does matter. Keep your chin up and you rock Courtney Mermaid! Have learned so much from you and you deserve not to be ripped off since you do genuine work and have amazing talent. 🎉
@@migomez719 Thank you so much for your encouragement and support!
Hiya, I am trying to buy a tail for my 6 yo daughter. Can you tell me which company to try? I am so confused 😕. Thank you
@@emilymclaughlin2162 Fin Fun is a really good company like she said, they also have a lot of information on their website about how to use a mermaid tail safely
@@rachelschock8574 thank you! I'm about to check out the safety tips with my 6 yo mermaid 😀
Just a few days ago I came across a Mermaid INSTRUCTOR on TikTok and she literally swam in KnockOffs. When I made her aware of it, she just laughed and said how she does not care about stolen designs. This really was a WTF-Moment to me. Like, she is an instructor and therefore some kind of a role model and then she just does not care about the designers that made mermaiding what it is today.
WHO 👀
Please let the rest of us know?
She calls herself g_mermaid. I immediately unfollowed.
Thank you for speaking out about this! I’ve had my very personal, unique to me, tattoo copied exactly(they even copied my tattoo artist’s handwriting and added one of my freckles because they thought it was part of the tattoo). They didn’t even know me. They just saw it on Instagram and took the picture to a tattoo artist that was willing to copy. Then they tagged me in it and thought I’d be flattered. No. I felt violated. That tattoo was very special to me and it broke my heart that someone thought it was ok to copy it. So I definitely understand how frustrating it can be. You truly don’t know how terrible it is until it happens to you..
Now being a mermaid for about 5 years now I understand how important this is. But I am guilty..at the beginning of my mermaid journey I was very Naive , I didn't do my reach i clicked on the first cheap tail on my Google and the part I feel more terrible about is the fact in the span of my first year I had bought 3 and didn't know til I saw a video "don't buy bootleg mermaid tails" thats when I knew i F#$ked up. And felt so guilty about wearing them til after saving my fluke off I finally was able to get one of the first REAL FINFOLK FABRICS TAILS and burned the knock offs. It was a learning experience for sure but I wished that I had known from the start.
That's why it's so important for us all to work together so people don't end up with unsafe products or rip-offs! Thank you so much for your support! 💖
I’m glad you dropped the names in this video. People don’t always realize who’s being talked about when callouts are vague. Sometimes it’s important to be explicit.
oh absolutely, I know I would much rather know about and avoid the people nagging knockoffs here.
I cannot believe people would think it's okay to rip tailmakers off. It's litterally stealing their intellectual property! 😮🧜🏼♀️
It's a very unique industry that's for sure. 🤷♀
I'm currently in the process of making my first mermaid tail and I redesigned the fluke like five times now because I didn't want it to be too similar to other tailmakers' designs. It's not hard to jump onto google and look up what other people are selling and making sure you're not copying (even if it's accidental). Thank you for talking about this
Loved that you took the time to talk about this topic. This is such a point of contention in the mer community, and I'm glad that we got more of a human look at the effect of knock off tails from you. Just like you were saying, without the tail makers in the community there would be no community like we have today. I can't wait to see your next video comparing plagiarism, copying, and inspiration!
Thank you so much for your support! ❤️❤️
Never let the ups and downs along the way, stop you from doing what you know is meant for you to do.
🥰
“They just decided that I wasn’t allowed to have boundaries.” I’ve known people like that in the mermaid community. Someone threw a fit for weeks because I quietly removed them as a follower and got their friend to harass the non-profit organization I was supporting and then they made a public callout post about me with a screenshot of me saying, “I’m sorry, but your behavior is making me uncomfortable and I would appreciate it if you respect my boundaries.” It’s amazing. 😕
Thanks for putting out such solid, educational info into the mermaid community. It makes us all stronger.
Thank you so much for your support!
Thank you for speaking up for the artists in this community ❤
Thank you for your support Katie!
This really hits home for me because when I started getting into mermaiding, I got a knockoff tail and it almost ruined my entire experience
I'm sorry to hear that that happened to you!
It's okay now. I did my research and figured it out. Actually, you were one of the first to help with that and now you're one of my favorite places for info. So, thanks so much for that
Thank you for talking openly about this topic. When I started mermaiding I watched a lot of your videos and I was glad they warned me about knock offs. YOU kept me from accidentally buying a knock off tail!
I came across that KN mermaid tails website when I was first getting into mermaiding, and I'm really glad I did enough research to figure out they were ripping artists off. It was weird to me that no one was talking about them. I tried to email KN and they never emailed me back, their phone number goes to some hospital. I'm willing to bet their monofin situation is very unsafe. I'm really happy to hear you talking about this problem. Your work is amazing and the people who would rather have a rip off tail are seriously missing out.
They are supposedly made by Mermaid Sonoki.
Thank you for sure support with this!
I'm rooting for you Courtney as well as other artists who care to keep it going. These rip offs most of the time are not safe for swimming in at all. I've heard horror stories about these knock offs coming apart and so on. But above all I really feel it's wrong for them to take something and make it their own ☹️..
Thankyou for talking about this really hard and emotionally draining topic that happens way too often. There are so many more That are popping up and they just don't seem to care they are ripping off other artists who are putting time, money and passion into their work. Just breaks my heart, and it is the reason I haven't put myself out there as an artist. I'll try and keep an eye out and let each company know, including you if more designs are illegally being sold/changed.
Thank you for all you do! It’s is so appreciated when people like you bring up the hard subjects. It makes all of more aware and Conscience.
I’m so sorry that this is happening Courtney. I just wanna let you know I support you all the way.
it's a bit late to ask you where I should get my first tail, because I already bought one as well as a monofin from fin fun, but I still would really like your input on where I should buy tails and where I can find cheaper but genuine ones, instead of knockoffs. you are the second tail creator I've found right after finfolk and I've found both you guys very nice to watch and learn from, and I would love to hear your input if you're able to respond!
I JUST got into mermaiding, thats why i only looked at companies from Courtney, Faith and Zelda recommended
YES FISH! 💖
Courtney, we all learn so much from you; thank you for your time, effort, and heart. Truly. I hate that this learning comes at the expense of your IP & your calm, as well as that of other tail makers & artists, but I’m grateful to you all for the truth and the tea. There’s always somebody tryna get the $ without doin the work, more fulfilled by a rip-off than a deeply gratifying job well done. Sigh. May they all find better hobbies. Very Soon. 💜
Great video!! I’m a really big fan of you and your work!!! It’s really awful that people just rip off your work like it’s nothing, you work so hard on each of your tails and it makes me so mad that people take away your work >:((
Yeah, it's a pretty big bummer, but that's why I've decided to start making some content around it. Time for a change!
I think it’s a great idea to make the video about plagiarism and all. I would definitely watch that video.
It’s already filmed and I cannot wait to get editing!! 🎉🎉
When your hard work gets constantly knocked off it becomes your business... and not only are knock off tails morally wrong for stealing the work and property of someone who started from nothing; they can be dangerous😤. Do people not realize that if a tail isn't constructed properly that they could literally drown and die!?!?!? I just isn't worth it🙅♀. I'm glad that you're speaking out about those who have wronged you and others, hopefully the community will be better for it. I came into this community just recently so I was sad to see that Shellomermaid went out of business when their designs are so beautiful; but that would not make buying ripoff tails of them an okay thing to do. DO👏THE 👏RIGHT👏 THING👏!!! With all that said, have a beautiful day and I enjoyed your instagram stories with Alfie and the drone (and the ambience of your bathroom is goals)!! Hugs, Kisses and Well Wishes😊
Haha thank you! Alfie had such a good time with the drone but I think it stressed him out a little bit. He's not a big fan of technology it seems! 😂
This upsets me so bad. These mers work their tails off and to have those original ideas get stolen is sickening. It also dangerous because you know the knockoffs aren't made with safety in mind. They're just there to make money 🤬😡
You speak the truth 100% my friend.
I appreciate you talking about this and sharing your personal experiences. I would love to see a video about plagiarism vs copying vs inspiration
I just finished editing it last night! It will be coming soon! 💖
Hello! I'm glad you're bringing this to light. I'm completely new to the mermaid community, like probably yesterday. I'm an artist too but i have not really drawn mermaid tails well in the past. I did find Merfolk's way of water tail and made bases for designs that i'd one day like to have using it. I haven't posted them anywhere because I know that to do so would be wrong so they are staying on my pc and out of the public eye until i can get better at drawing mermaid tails myself. I honestly find it funny how close this problem is to another community I'm in. People just dont get that you dont have to get a tail to be in the community just like you dont need a fursuit to be a furry. there's other ways to be apart of and support your community.
I admire you so much for standing up for small artists in our community cause ots so infuriating knowing people get away with this. Especially young mers! Who literally don't know better and see a rip off that Is usually expensive and think they got lucky but they just get a cheap dangerous knock off. It's very dangerous and just wrong so thank you for standing up to this crap. Also thank you for mentioning the reasoning behind mertailor. People love to point fingers and say his egos too big But with how much he's been ripped off who wouldn't be paranoid?? More mers need to speak out on this to protect small businesses/artists and young mers who just don't know better.
It takes a lot of heart and effort to design tails, it sucks that knockoffs and ripoffs are so rampant
When I bought my first tail I had no idea it was a nock off until i got it and swam with it. Ripped the first hour of swimming. I fixed it and my janky self tought hand stitche have held up better than their machine stitches. It was a photo copy of a finfun tail.
For now on I am buying from well known tail makers instead of ones I found cheap on amazon.
I loved this video so much! I think that videos like this are so important. Thank you for making this I could not agree more. 😉
i have got a mermaid tail from mermaid Sisters from the Netherlands , the tails are very beautifull , greetings from Roberto van Vliet from the Netherlands
You know Courtney, its funny, you mention this today, I was just noodling around the internet looking at different mermaid companies and their tail designs, and I came across some company based in China, or chinese, I think, and after watching this video, I noticed how some of their tail designs looked quite familiar in design, now if they did this intentionally or not, it's hard to say, now since i'm not one for outing companies I will not name them here, but if some one from that company sees this , and they know who they are, buddy you are BUSTED!. Courtney and your fellow mermaid friend keep up the good work, and good luck in your further endevours, keep it up and good luck.
Thank you so much for your support Ted! I plan on doing many more deep dives into this in the future.
I love the rainbow faded mermaid tale you made can I use it for inspiration?
I started making my own fabric tails, from designing them in Photoshop to sewing them together. Now I don't do this for a business or to sell them, they're for personal use because tails are expensive. And though it's cheaper, it's a lot of work. I spend hours in Photoshop designing these tails and drawing the scales myself as well, it's all my work. But if I were to see someone take my art and make it their own I'd be so pissed off. Making art is so personal and time-consuming, so for you who runs a business making them to be ripped off is infuriating. Sadly it happens to so many artists, not only tail makers and it's honestly just... I don't even have the words for it.
Sorry this has to happen. Hang in There. You always have my support.
I really appreciate your support!
Obviously a major part of this is supporting the artists in our community, and that is incredibly important. But also keep in mind that the artists making the tails are making them safe for us because they're meant to be swimmable. Knockoff tail makers don't necessarily have a stake in making sure the tails are safe. If nothing else, don't purchase them for your own safety. (but also absolutely 100% support the artists)
THIS TOO!! 💖
i have always thought mermaid tails were beautiful and i've never thought about how this can happen! thank you for speaking up about this 💓 as someone who is interested in buying one but have never delved into looking for one, i don't really know where to start 😥 do you have any recommendations of where there's good beginner tails maybe? or where i could look for reliable/smaller creators?
If you are just getting into it, the Fin Fun is a great place to start! They are reputable and accessible! That said it will also depend on your budget and swimming experience. Should I make a video?
the full saying is "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that mediocrity has to offer up to greatness" so yikes for those who rip off other people's art.
Good for you. So many people don’t say!!!
12 years ago I started digital drawing. In my early days I got a request from someone online for a free Pokémon fanart. I did it, because I like the idea he had in mind. So I've drawn this picture ans send it to him and everything seemed perfect... Until a short while after that I discovered, that he'd posted the picture saying he did it and he also got rid of my signature. I was shocked and asked him why he did that, and that I think it's wrong... But his answer was "you made it for me, so I can do whatever I want with it". I reported him and the picture was taken down, but who knows where he puts it back up... I've never felt so betrayed until then.
I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you. Something like this happened to me once too. It feels awful when it happens. Sending a big hug!
@@CourtneyMermaid thanks! People often recommend to prevent that through putting a huge watermark over my artwork.. But I can't really get used to that, because for me it's okay when people download my art for personal use. As long as they don't edit it or sell it. I want do provide people with something nice to look at, and that would be disturbed by a watermark imo. The only artworks I always upload with a watermark are those people commissioned! When someone gives me money for art I'll protect it! xD
I was going to buy one of the tails that you mentioned were knockoffs. Never mind. 😳
It really is disheartening when you see people making the comments that they don't care about buying knock off tails and they're going to keep buying them no matter what anyone says, when the various tail makers put so much time, effort and money into producing their products and some copycat just steals their images to churn out low quality garbage. I mean, I actually remember Finfolk changing the design of one of their upcoming releases a while ago, because the colours resembled the design of another company's tail a little too closely and they didn't want to tread on anyone's fins after they became aware of it. And it was literally just the colour blend that was similar (I think it was an ombre rainbow tail design?), obviously the scales and fins and whatnot were their own designs, but they went out of their way to make it different enough, and I believe this was even after they'd made the first sample tail of that design. On another note, I wish I was able to get one of your tails, but unless I'm wrong I saw something about them not being available to purchase because I'm in Australia? I'm hoping that changes in the future, because I love that green pirate tail of yours 💚
Unfortunately that's right, I don't currently ship outside of Canada and the US (with the exception of custom tail orders). Thank you so much for your support on this though! It's so important to get the message out there!
I jumped on the notification 😂
I’m sitting here holding my breath and waiting for the trolls lol
@@CourtneyMermaid Lol, no, I think it was a good idea to talk about that, they should do that, it’s not respectful and tailmakers deserve recognition. I can’t wait for the next video!
Keep your chin up, beauty, you got this. And THANK YOU for being one of the "good ones"....
I mean sure, but also you can only do so much in terms of scale shapes or fin combinations etc. Do I think some could be a copy? I'd believe it especially if it's from sus cheap sites or from large manufacturers that flip designs to sell for cheap and you end up getting someone awful in quality; but as someone that wants to get into making tails myself I'm constantly nervous I'm going to get called out for "copying" or "ripping off" other makers designs or scale style and what have you....I'd never try to copy a design but if something looks kinda close I wouldn't want to be witch hunted bc I'm really not out here staring at other makers stuff. 😅
Don't get me wrong I do see where you're coming from, but my issue is that a lot of ppl in the community can be REALLY aggressive about going after other makers for "copying" when it was simply a similarity. If the design isn't a 1 to 1 rip off/trace then people shouldn't get up in arms about it. 🥲
That’s why this is part 1. Part 2 is going to explain this in more depth.
@@CourtneyMermaid OH okay thank you, I'm just paranoid about starting to make tails because I don't want to potentially step on other people's well....Tails. Haha
@@Rune_Fayhar It's a really important point that you bring up because very often the community can swing wildly in multiple directions and accuse people of plagiarism when in fact it is two companies using the same REAL fish as inspirations. Any similarities are due to using the same reference. There are a lot grey areas I hope to clear up with my next video.
@@CourtneyMermaid 100% and I'm glad to hear you'll be talking on that more too! You can totally tell when someone is making a direct copy of another makers designs for sure but I think a lot of people mistake that and those just using the same pallet etc. and that's where things might get a bit messy. 😅 Hopefully you explaining this to others will help them understand the difference more. 💚
I don't make my own tails or run a business I am still new to the mermaid community but I get why these companies/small businesses get upset when people copy their designs because those copies can get money for others designs that aren't theirs and those tails sometimes on wish or alley express are made cheaply and not safe for swimming that's why new mermaids like me should go with trusted brands and do research
is it only a rip off when you are inspired by a tail from a tailmaker, make tails and sell them ? or also when you just make a similar one for yourself because you can't afford to buy one from them ?
I was not aware swimtails was problematic
They were hugely problematic during their time.
I hope I'll never happen to me because my biggest fear is that someone some day will copy my "MerQueengdom" fluke 😢💓💓💓
I hope it doesn't happen to you either!
Does your mermaid name really have to be something no one else has used before? Like Aquarius feels like something a lot of merpeople might use. Or is it about using the name in your branding/social media handles? Not trying to be rude, just asking for clarification.
People not understanding that they have to pay for an artist's time. Mermaiding is expensive. I bought your books to learn to make my own because it will just be cheaper in the long run to make the tails I want. If you can't afford to purchase legitimate tails, learn to make your own. Don't support art theft. It's literally that simple.
I just saw they ripped of literally Mahinas, they dont even try to hide it anymore. Same with the Fish Fin. If you know where to search you will literally find like every creation every tailmaker ever made in a cheap copied version. Which is really weird like the mermaid community isn't even that big, why do they think its lucrative to copy MERMAID TAILS? I would have posted the link to these ripp offs but I think its better not make it that easy for people to buy this shit
interesting topic~ Popular mermaid designs are an easy target for china to mass product it. Then, they sell it to small mermaid business owners. If you noticed how the current trend of mermaid business is kindda booming now, many are selling the same designs. so i guess your other designs might be out there somewhere too, being bootlegted. or i'd say, your Pirate series designs get pirated. huahhahaha dont worry, bootleg version are usually cheap in quality and vomit-able. but then again... i still dont understand why people would buy it. it is still not 'that' cheap...
You make some good points too! It's all very true.
Too bad your shop is closed
Just for my winter break! It will reopen in the new year.
@@CourtneyMermaid That's awesome! I'll be sure to check out your link in the new year. Thanks for helping fulfill Mermaid dreams through your work and videos!😊
I have never understood wanting to buy a knock-off tail, and I don't know if it's because I grew up in Australia, swimming with Australian water rules, but buying a knock-off tail seems super, super dangerous. Mermaiding is dangerous, especially if you're new to it. If companies don't care enough to create their own aesthetic designs, then why should we believe they care enough to make the tails safe. Anyone who would rather buy a cheap knock-off tail, is also buying a dangerous tail
Exactly this!
Im so sorry but i like drama, ofc i dont like that they copy Hannah,Finfolk,Finfun or mertailor but still, i like that my dear hobby is not just swimming😈
Please don’t swear