This is sadly the way the year is starting off in the global kite world:
This letter is from our friends (and at least one of our kite makers is involved in this situation). It is a serious offense in the kite industry to have this happen, there is not money to be made in this industry-so for a company to be blatantly stealing designs and then not owning up to it and shirking all contact about this sucks.
We are kite designers and builders.Please pass this along everywhere you can! (We do ask that you do a quick search to see if it has been posted yet on forums and to not double post).
Some of us develop our new designs professionally to support our income, and some of us make kites for fun. All of us love what we do and to share creations with our friends in the kite world. We are proud of our designs and work very hard to make them.
We are surprised, disappointed, and offended that the German manufacturer, KEWO, has copied our work and is selling them commercially. They do this without our permission, without compensation, and without even giving us credit for the many hours needed to make a new kite fly.
For many of us, this issue is not about money, but about the simple idea that stealing our designs for commercial gain is wrong and should not be tolerated by the kite community. And of course, the copies are often inferior which makes the problem worse.
We have asked KEWO to stop and they simply ignore our letters and emails. Some of us only asked that our names be noted as the inventor of a design and didn't ask for money. KEWO even denied this simple request!
This problem affects all kiters. If we are copied now, you may be copied in the future. And of course, there is less encouragement for any of us to work on new designs knowing that a manufacturer with no sense of honesty or honor can simply steal them.
It is impossibly expensive to patent each new kite design and lawyers take time and money with uncertain results, especially when dealing on a global basis.
We prefer to address this in the Court of Kiters rather than a Court of Law.
To ask you not to buy our kites from KEWO is against German law. But we hope that you will understand our irritation, frustration and incomprehension.
Please share this news with your kite friends. Tell kite storeowners, club officers, and event organizers. Please join us in objecting to KEWO Kopies!
Stealing from one of us is stealing from all of us!
Robert van Weers New Zealand
Ludovico Bertozzi Italy
Geoff Cambell New Zealand
Franchesca Caton United Kingdom
Peter Lynn New Zealand
Martin Lester United Kingdom
Charlie Watson New Zealand
Frank Schwiemann Germany
Hope that this year treats everyone well!!!!
Good Winds
WsK
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