It’s something we are seeing more often. It’s far from rare, is it? Someone has an idea — let’s say, for a documentary — and someone else ends up creating it. How does this happen so often, and how can creators best protect their ideas?
There’s a metaphor from the 12th Century that refers to dwarfs “standing on the shoulders of giants”. It’s a concept that rings ever so loudly in present times, especially as we hear more, and more, of artists having their work stolen by others. Effectively — in many circumstances anyway — artists are being ripped off, or not even receiving any payment.
Examples can be seen in the fashion industry, music industry, and so on. In this example above, an independent artist had her designs continually stolen by Zara.
But, it isn’t always a case of a major company stealing the work of an independent artist, right? Sometimes we have peers carrying out the same ideas.
On numerous occasions, Circular users have asked us to discuss the topic. Some have been victim to ideas being taken, while others have seen it happen. Other times it might be a case of work not being paid for — this is something that is seemingly happening quite often. In fact one of our users — Faisal Tre Shah — recently spoke about the Topic on Twitter, telling the story of an occasion a client did not pay for work.
“The client owns a gym… I spent 4 hours working… Now he tells me he needs 200 pictures… Then he tells me he needs 30 pictures ASAP for his website and leaflets… He hasn’t paid me since then. He’s been ignoring my messages, and ignoring my friend’s messages too.” — Faisal
Speaking with our users about how to protect your ideas, the most common response stressed the importance of the execution. Circular user Efosa said, “No such thing as a new idea, it’s all about execution”.
“An idea cannot get better if it’s stuck in your own bubble, it needs to live and breathe in the real world to really grow… just execute [it] better.” — Efosa
Perhaps telling the World isn’t the greatest idea, especially if you are revealing all of the intricate details of your plan. Zai says, “only share what you are willing to give up to others in the off chance they may steal,” and reiterates that execution is more important than ideas. In effect, if you are to discuss any details of a project you should only discuss what you are willing to sacrifice. Because, well, anyone could try to steal the idea and if you give all of the information, they can steal all of the idea. Then you definitely have to execute it better!
Others on Circular feel it is best to share the ideas to help them grow — much like Efosa said. Sandy said that “it’s not about others stealing it but more so giving insight & helping you,” and that an idea being stolen is “healthy competition.” Similarly, another user
A final thought from Kojey Radical echoes that of some of our users, too.
Have you ever had any project ideas stolen and executed by someone else? What is your go-to method for protecting your ideas? Let us know as a Response below, or over on Twitter ⛵️
Interested in contributing or signing up for updates? ⛵️
