When Inspiration Becomes Copying
An Independent Designer’s Original “I’m Baked” Tea Towel Appears on Amazon
There is a big difference between being inspired by a design trend and copying someone else's work.
For independent designers and small product businesses like us, that distinction isn't academic. It can mean the difference between years of creative work building a product and watching someone else reproduce that work and sell it for less price and quality.
That's why we were so concerned when we discovered a tea towel currently being sold on Amazon that bears an extraordinary resemblance to Lilybranch's “I'm Baked” Tea Towel.
Our original “I’m Baked Tea Towel” has been part of our product line for years, certainly before March 2021. It has been offered through multiple legitimate retail channels — our Etsy shop and our website — and available for wholesale purchase on our Faire portal.
The Amazon listing we recently discovered is for a product called “Retro Housewife Kitchen Towel, Humorous Baker Gift Dish Towel.” It is being sold under the Toastmuse brand.
Before last night, we'd never heard of them.
When you put the two products side by side, the similarities are difficult to dismiss as coincidence.
Take a look at the two designs
The original Lilybranch towel features a vintage-inspired illustration of a woman wearing an apron and holding a freshly baked dish. Beside her is the phrase:
“It's baked! Just like me.”
The Toastmuse product uses essentially the same visual concept.
But this isn't simply a case of two designers independently deciding to make a funny vintage baking towel.
The Amazon version reproduces the same basic character, same distinctive retro housewife aesthetic, same pose, same baking dish, same apron concept, same visual arrangement. and the same joke — “It's baked! Just like me.”
That's where the line between inspiration and copying becomes particularly important.
The original isn't simply an idea
Nobody owns the idea of making a humorous kitchen towel about baking.
Nobody owns the concept of a vintage housewife.
And nobody owns the phrase “I'm baked” or the general idea of using retro imagery on a tea towel.
That's not what we're claiming.
The concern is the apparent reproduction of the specific creative expression of those ideas.
That distinction matters under U.S. copyright law.
The U.S. Copyright Office explains that copyright protects original works of authorship once they are fixed in a tangible form. Copyright can protect illustrations, graphic artwork, and other visual works, while ideas themselves are not protected.
Even more relevant here, the Copyright Office specifically recognizes that artistic designs applied to useful articles can be protected when the artistic expression is distinguishable from the utilitarian function of the article. Textile designs are specifically included among the types of visual artwork that may qualify for protection.
In other words, a tea towel is a useful object. That doesn't mean the artwork printed on it is free for anyone to copy.
Originality matters
Our Lilybranch design is an original creative work with a documented history of the product being offered for sale well before the Amazon listing we are discussing.
That commercial history matters because it establishes that It is an existing product with an established history and marketplace presence.
Why copying hurts independent designers
Someone might look at a $12.99 kitchen towel on Amazon and think: "It's just a tea towel. What's the big deal?"
For a small designer or independent company like ours, it's a very big deal.
Creating a product doesn't begin when the first item is manufactured.
There is an investment in:
- Developing the original concept
- Creating the artwork
- Developing the product
- Sourcing materials
- Producing samples
- Photographing the product
- Creating marketing materials
- Establishing wholesale relationships
- Selling through retail platforms
- Building a customer base
The original creator assumes the financial risk.
The original creator spends the time developing the idea.
The original creator builds the market.
A copycat can potentially skip much of that work.
And when the copied product then appears on a massive marketplace such as Amazon, it can compete directly with the original creator for the same customers.
That's not competition based on creativity. That's competition based on someone else's creative investment.
“But it's not exactly the same…”
That's often where the conversation ends up.
- The colors might be different - they are, we use a single color
- The towel might be a different size - it is, ours is larger
- The fabric might be different - it seems to be (we have ordered one to test it against ours)
- The manufacturer might be different - it absolutely is different
- The seller might have changed a few details - it's smaller than ours and in color
But changing a few characteristics doesn't necessarily address the underlying issue when the creative elements that make a particular design recognizable remain substantially similar.
The question isn't whether two physical products are manufactured identically;tThe question is whether the creative work has been copied.
And that is precisely why copyright law distinguishes between an underlying idea and its particular artistic expression.
Independent design deserves protection
This isn't about saying that nobody can ever make another retro kitchen towel.
There are thousands of talented designers creating vintage-inspired products. There is plenty of room for everyone.
What independent designers should not have to accept is the idea that once they have done the hard work of creating something successful, someone else can simply reproduce the creative expression and sell it through a larger marketplace.
That's not how a healthy creative marketplace should work.
Independent designers make products because they believe in their ideas. They take risks. They invest their own time and money. They create things that didn't previously exist.
When those designs are copied, the damage isn't theoretical.
- It affects sales.
- It affects wholesale relationships.
- It affects the ability to continue developing new products.
- And ultimately, it makes it harder for independent creators to keep creating.
So what can consumers do?
The simplest thing is also one of the most effective:
- Know who designed the product you're buying.
- When you find a product you love, look for the company behind it.
- Look for the designer.
- Look for the original source.
- Support the small businesses and independent artists who actually invested the time and creativity into making the things you want to buy.
There's something worth remembering:
- A good idea is valuable.
- A good design is valuable.
- And the person who created it deserves to benefit from it.
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