Copyrights, Trademarks, and Lawyers, Oh My!

First of all, thank you so much for being a Mary Engelbreit customer. I can't tell you how much we value your support!

I thought I'd take a minute and explain how our business works because we've noticed an increase of unauthorized products on Etsy, eBay, and elsewhere on the Internet.

What we produce here at ME Enterprises—our artwork—is our "product". Our livelihood and the products you enjoy depend on people respecting our copyrights and trademarks. Artists, writers, people and companies with great ideas all pay to have their work copyrighted and/or trademarked so that they can insure that, not only will they be compensated for all their hard work, but so that their unsuspecting customers will be protected from spending their hard-earned cash on poor quality bogus merchandise.

Think of it this way—say you painted a beautiful watercolor for a friend's birthday. What if that friend (well, alleged friend) took that painting, had it copied, and put it on everything from fabric to pillows, lamps, bedding, etc., and made a fortune off of it, without giving you a dime of her profit. You wouldn't be happy, would you? Neither are we when it happens to us. Luckily, it's against the law.

Our customers are one of our best resources for discovery of unscrupulous people fraudulently using Mary Engelbreit artwork and trademarks.

Please let us know if you find goods or services that are not authorized products. We want both our brand and our customer's pocketbooks protected against poor quality merchandise. Some of the products showcased on eBay, Etsy, or similar sites are unauthorized sellers of unlicensed products, and we ask that you refrain from purchasing from such vendors.

Thanks for your help!