The big news on Twitter at the moment is how an artist on The Hidden World of Eloise has had some of their artwork copied and then distributed by Paperchase. Apparently they’ve contacted Paperchase who have promptly ignored them, they’ve also found taking them on too costly and so now they have resorted to the viral nature of Twitter and social media to spread their story and gain support. It is working.
I’ve been looking at the search term on Twitter and so far whilst typing this there are 84 more about Paperchase and how they are allegedly stealing artwork and selling it.
What is worse, when I jumped on the bandwagon to complain through their contact form, I made sure that I did not opt-in to their newsletter, yet they seem to have added me anyways. So they are also spamming!
If you check out their brand term, paperchase, you will see that the Hidden World of Eloise is currently number 6 for the term, but after today and all the links it will get, I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets to number 3.
So Paperchase, you have a real reputation management issue on your hands, well done 
Update: 20 minutes later and the complaint website is now ranking at #3 and “Paperchase” is now a Worldwide trending topic on Twitter, lets hope its not a fake like the whole Save Jon fiasco.
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This is the power of social media in action. Anyone can say anything they like about whoever they want – the little guy can finally fight back! It doesn’t surprise me that companies like Paperchase get caught up in this kind of allegation, I imagine though that this is only the tip of the iceberg though.
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Wow.. Social Media is becoming more powerful every day…
They’ve replied to the allegations it seems:
http://www.paperchase.co.uk/index.php?f=gform/gform.php&t=contact_1.htm
“We are the small design company that represents the independent artist who created the Paperchase design. We have contacted Hidden Eloise by email and are hoping to talk with her soon. We carry the work of designers who like Hidden Eloise are all trying hard to make a living through their art. We would never knowingly sell a design that infringes the copyright of a fellow artist. We have worked with Paperchase for many years and found them a great supporter of independent artists.”
Paperchase’s position regarding the allegations of ‘copying’ made against the Company today is as follows:
Above all, we would like to apologise to any customers upset or angered by this allegation against us. Paperchase takes all
reasonable precautions to check that designs we source or buy from individual designers or agencies are from reputable sources. In this case, we would like to confirm that Paperchase bought the artwork in question, in good faith, in October 2008, from a well-known central London Design Studio along with a number of other designs. The illustrator who is making the allegation made us aware of her concerns in November 2009 and we duly responded to her in early December, since when we had heard nothing….until today. Back in November 2009, we spoke at length to the Design Studio in question and they categorically denied any plagiarism.
It is worrying that such an allegation can create such reaction and again, Paperchase apologises for any ill-feeling caused.