was commissioned As the designer, Simone Brewster in July 2018 by the British furniture manufacturer, Swoon Editions, with the design of some pieces of furniture, they looked at her great opportunity: Finally, let’s see how professional producers work. The job was unpaid, but that did not bother her more. The pieces would successfully go into production, it was said, would you ever design a flat rate. Brewster agreed the draft again and again with the manufacturer, got a rare as an answer. A contract is also not. Eventually they hooked up the topic. One and a half years later, the bad awakening: In January of 2020, she discovered that Swoon Editions produced their designs and sold. “And, without giving me notice to pay let alone. I was shocked.“
The manufacturer, of the offers according to its own information “beautiful Design at a fair price” and “astonished about the high cost of” other design firms is, had Brewster’s Sideboard brought almost identical on the market. The designer took a lawyer. Swoon Editions offered her a severance, the covered costs once the attorney. The case disclosed a structural Problem in the industry: many manufacturers Profit from designs by freelance designers or interns who do not have the money to fight back against it.
With Instagram against theft of intellectual property
But in the meantime there is an App that has already proven successful in other cases: Instagram. Published Brewster, after consulting with your lawyer a long post in which she wrote that she was upset and feel taken advantage of. Tens of thousands agreed with her. And suddenly, movement came into the matter. Debbie Williamson, co-founder of Swoon Editions, publicly apologized. “Incorrect processes” in the payment processing be responsible for the alleged lapse. She wanted to, “that Simone and the design industry know that we appreciate all the designers that work with us, really, and responsibility”. Uncertain whether the more than a lip service. In the meantime, both parties have agreed out of court – the manufacturer pays Simone Brewster, a fee, your attorney’s fees and compensation. The designer wants to devote now with a free head new projects.
