Nothing makes the collective hearts of the ACID team sink more than receiving the email:

“ACID MEMBERSHIP DOESN’T HELP WITH BEING COPIED…”

We get it.

Dealing with copycats is the worst, most soul-destroying, rubbish whack-a-mole part of running your own business. It makes trying to get through to HMRC feel like a joy.

Sometimes you think, what’s the point?

But that’s exactly the point. Imagine if everyone who had ever been copied thought ‘what’s the point’ and gave up?

That’s why the ACID Community exists. Talk to us, reach out. You’re not alone.

When we get this kind of email from a member, 99.99999% of the time it is the first we learn of their struggles. Sadly, it’s also the point at which the member is so deflated, defeated and fed up they have taken the decision to cease their membership.

We know, it feels like you’ve exhausted all the options:

• You’ve used the deterrent logo – but somebody still isn’t deterred.
• You contacted a Legal Affiliate (LA) – it worked, but now there’s a new copyist or the same one is back.
• You spoke to SnapDragon – that worked too, but, again, there are more copyists/the same copyists/ the platforms don’t listen about unregistered rights…
• You’ve uploaded your work to the Intellectual Property (IP) databank for third party evidence of your unregistered rights and audit trail. But these copyists seem to be everywhere and aren’t taking your unregistered rights seriously.

Nothing is working, so why bother?

Well, there are so many reasons.

• Strength in numbers. The more of us get cross, the more evidence we get, the louder we shout.
• Never stop fighting against unfairness. As exhausting as it is, think of the successes that have come from our work together as a community. And we’re still going.
• Don’t stop doing something if it’s worked. If you’ve had success taking down a copyist, you can again. Don’t think just because it’s happening again you’ve failed, or things aren’t working. You wouldn’t think paracetamol doesn’t work if you get another headache one day would you?
• Talk to us! If you feel like there’s nowhere else to turn, we’ll find an avenue. We can write to the copyists, their local MPs, copy in MPs, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO)Share your story. ACID is built on  naming and shaming and a shout out on behalf of our members. Leverage our social media channels, that’s what we have them for. We’re there for YOU!
• Contribute to our campaigning. We need your stories to add fuel to our fire! We can’t continue to lobby for change without evidence. Tell us your story, let us take it to the top.

The Design Consultation is coming up and we need your help to keep pushing for the criminalisation of unregistered design infringement. We can do it!  But we can’t do it without you. Let’s keep pushing for IP ethics, compliance and respect.

So, please, keep talking to us. We can jump on a call and together help you find solutions. We cannot promise to have all the answers but we’ve certainly found a lot along the way in 25 years.

Our united voice is a stronger voice. Don’t give up; ACID are here for you.

If you’d like to sign the ACID IP Charter, you’ll be adding your name to strengthen our voice to campaign for YOU.