Hi.
I have noticed that a lot of companies are selling fakes of your statues.
One particular one that I noticed is bronzestatues.com
They use that as a "front" web site for another web site and have your statue on the 1st page.
The web site is sponsored and owned by The Large Art Company www.largeart.com
I had called them and pretended to be a customer and they told me that they do carry this statue.
It looks like they are the biggest sellers of sculptures on the net since they show up everywhere online and
it seems that they manufacture it themselves since they have a foundry where they make other commissioned
work. I am surprised that you have not posted anything on them to warn people off. I hope this helps your cause.
Sincerely, M. R.
Dear M.,
we had a page up, but then Mr. Rist wrote us following letter AND WE DID REMOVE HIS NAME:
From: "Richard Rist @ LargeArt.com" <Richard@largeart.com>
To: <margaretdedecker@msn.com>
Subject: Copyright
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:30:10 -0500
Dear Margaret,
Last year you contacted me about two sculptures you felt were copyright violations of your sisters work. I told you that if your attorney could provide some documentation that a judge has ruled on that, I would be happy to stop selling them.
Your attorney was kind enough to send that material to me and although I had serious reservations about the similarity of the works, I removed both the three children on a log (Kids on a Log) and the two children reading a book (Learning to Read) sculptures from our web site in the spirit of cooperation.
However I noticed that several other dealers (www.frbronze.com, www.lifesizebronze.com, www.lifesizestatues.com) continue to sell these sculptures without a care. I would sincerely appreciate it if you are going to request this type of cooperation that you do so uniformly.
Finally, I would ask that you remove the references to my company as a violator of your sisters copyright. See this page link below. There are two references to our web site on there. I would appreciate it if you would remove these references as well in the spirit of cooperation. Our web site and photographs are also copyright protected. Here is the link that still contains pictures of our web site. I would appreciate your cooperation as well.
http://web.mac.com/impalaart/iWeb/AA7E66F4-E8A3-43EC-BD01-D40FF6EE5636/1BronzeXArtists.html
Thank you!
Richard Rist, Owner
The Large Art Company
(800) 785-4278
www.LargeArt.com
MARCH 3RD. 2007
Dear M.,
thanks for your support, Since it is a global problem we have, we need all support we can get!
Did the sales person from Large Art tell you that this sculpture is still for sale,
If yes, please let us know, since Large Art knows since 1 year that this one is an infringement and we will approach them through court
now, especially if they told you, that it is still for sale, because that is willful infringement.
The artist Jane DeDecker is already informed.
Please let me know soon,
thanks so much,
Impala Lechner
ANSWER:
Dear Impala,
yes, they said that they can get it.
They most probably say that to everyone that calls them.
I wish you had a page to warn people about them. Thank you. M.
LARGE ART IS STILL SELLING JANE DEDECKERS KNOCK OFF AND OTHERS, EVEN THEY KNOW SINCE SPRING 2006 ! THIS IS WILLFUL INFRINGEMENT !
LARGE ART HAS THIS STATEMENT IN THEIR WEB SITE, BUT.......
07/16/2007 03:56 PM WARNING-The BBB rates World of Bronzes an "F"
Page 1 of 1 http://www.largeart.com/fraud/warning-World-of-bronzes.aspx
WARNING
Dear Shoppers,
If you have been shopping for bronze sculpture on the Internet there is a good chance you have come across
a company named World of Bronzes (WorldBronzes.com). For several years we have been getting complaints from
their customers and for the past two years we have been investigating their activities. I have filed numerous reports with the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau related to their false and misleading advertising. The BBB wrote to the company several times asking them to correct their advertising and were unable to get an adequate response.
The consumer complaints piled up as well and recently the BBB gave them an "F" rating and wrote a scathing report on the World of Bronzes activities. Here is just an excerpt from that report: Click here to read the complete BBB Report on the World of Bronzes.
"Some complainants allege the company misrepresents the size or the quality of their merchandise, or that
ordered items arrive defective, or are not the same item they ordered. Other customers complain of excessive shipping delays, or the company fails to ship ordered merchandise at all. In other cases, complainants report the company fails to acknowledge receipt of returned items, thus, they are unable to obtain refunds. Several customers report poor or inadequate customer service, or inability to contact the company at all..."
If that weren't bad enough, the BBB went on to review their advertising and concluded that the companies advertising
was misleading.
Click here to read the complete BBB Report on the World of Bronzes
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReport_Details.aspx?CompanyID=100018339&sm=
