Counterfeit Calendars are Back. Again.
The short version: if you see my National Park Monsters calendar promoted on Facebook or Instagram and it’s not through my account - it’s probably counterfeit.
The longer version: This is the fifth year in a row that I’ve printed my National Park Monsters calendar, and the fifth year in a row I’ve had the artwork stolen and sold by counterfeiters who aggressively promote on Facebook, sell through knockoff e-commerce sites based in China, and either print terrible knockoffs or simply steal the money and don’t deliver anything. I had hoped that the tariffs would perhaps make this criminal enterprise not economically viable, but clearly I was wrong.
I have tried every avenue, consulted with lawyers, sent emails, reached out to politicians, registered trademarks and copyrights and the bottom line is that nothing works. The counterfeits are a firehose that I cannot turn off, I can only report each occurrence to Facebook and watch as ten more sprout up in its place. I am exhausted, depressed, and drained by the thought of going through this year again, but here we go.
Enough bellyaching: what does this mean for you? Well if you see my calendar being sold through a promoted post on Facebook or Instagram and it’s not through Alternate Histories - 99.9% it’s fake. And if it IS being sold through a real vendor, it’ll be obvious. The site selling it will have a real website with contact information and a brick and mortar store; it won’t be through a website called “Leaderiship.”
Beyond that there isn’t much you need to do; reporting the fakes doesn’t help. Only I as the copyright holder can issue a takedown, and I can find the ads through the Facebook Ad Library. I wish I could do more to help folks who just like my silly calendar, want to buy it, and instead get tricked. And I wish our entire system wasn’t structured to take all the blame and responsibility away from the billionaire corporations and place it on me. Yet here we are.
And this isn’t just me; BE CAREFUL buying from ads on Facebook and Instagram! If you’re not sure, google the product and buy directly from the manufacturer. It may cost a bit more, but you won’t be ripped off. Thank you ❤️
