A Shocking Case of Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism involves taking someone else’s work or ideas and presenting them as your own. While most people who plagiarise try to disguise the fact that the work has come from another source, a company I stumbled upon purely by chance didn’t bother.

After finding Stone Mania online, Lumina Jewellery copied several pages from my website detailing my business policies and pasted them directly into their newly created website. But it didn't stop there.

Based on my research, I’m fairly certain this company, who are located less than thirty miles from me, only came into existence after they discovered Stone Mania. 

When I landed on their website in 2017, the style of their jewellery immediately caught my attention. As I continued to explore, I noticed that everything looked strangely familiar.

At the top of their homepage, they had links to an 'Order & Returns Policy,' 'Shipping Policy,' a 'Terms & Conditions' page, and another, called 'Our Photos.' The names of these pages and the position of the links were identical to my website.

After following each link, I found myself reading information that I had written some years earlier. Even the links I had created to relevant pages on my website were still in place, but the landing page had been changed to pages on their own website. 

Astonishingly, this company was using the Terms and Conditions and Order and Returns Policy that I had written for my business. The only change was the company name.

The more I explored, the more shocked I became. Lumina Jewellery had copied the design of my site, the way my products were photographed, and even replicated photos that were taken during buying trips to India.

They also did markets and retail events, just as I had done for many years. From their photos, I could see that the way their stand was set up and laid out was exactly like mine. Even their display equipment was identical.

This husband and wife team set up Lumina Jewellery in 2008. Two years later, in 2010, they launched their website.

At the bottom of their homepage, they say, "Although this site acts mainly as a portfolio of our work we are more than happy to do mail order and can process payments over the phone."

By 2014, thanks to Stone Mania, they had a fully functional website with a whole new look.

Explaining how they came to set up Lumina Jewellery, Sara writes, "It was a very deliberate lifestyle choice for us. What we wanted was a way to work together which would allow us to use our brains and our creativity and also allow us to spend time together as a family. Neither of us have any formal training in jewellery design but we were both drawn to working with stones."

However, the truth was quite different. Instead of using their "brains and creativity" to create something of their own, they plagiarised everything from me. Their newly designed website was a replica of mine. 

I believe they saw me trading at one of the many markets or regional retail shows that I did at that time.

Like most businesses, I was aware of my competitors and familiar with the style of their jewellery. However, until discovering Lumina Jewellery, I had never seen another business whose jewellery was so similar to mine.

At this time, I mostly sold jewellery, and the focus of my collection was large and chunky gemstone rings and pendants. After choosing the gemstones on regular trips to India, the jewellery was then crafted by a small team of local artisans in Jaipur. 

Lumina Jewellery also only sold large and chunky gemstone rings and pendants, and, like me, offered a wide variety of gemstones.

On their website, they explained that each stone was carefully chosen during regular trips to Jaipur before each ring or pendant was made. Sara stated that they worked closely with local artisans and that everything was crafted by hand. The article included photographs of them selecting stones and of pendants being made.

Remove the name Lumina Jewellery, and I could have been reading about my own business. This was exactly how I had been running Stone Mania since the company was set up in 2002.

Using the internet archive service Wayback Machine, I was able to pinpoint when the plagiarism began. My pages first appeared on their website in October 2014. By March 2015, I had updated four of the plagiarised pages, but the text on their website was the original version.

My Terms & Conditions, Shipping Policy, and Order & Returns Policy, which were detailed and specific to my business, were clearly perfect for what Sara and Picky Saund needed.

In one article, they even kept the line, "All of our jewellery is sent in a stylish gift pouch." I wonder if they ever bought anything from Stone Mania to see what my gift pouches were like. Maybe they even bought the same pouches while in India. Picky is of Indian heritage, and their photos show them in different situations in India.  

The only page that had been rewritten was the one about my photos. This first screenshot is from my website, the second is from theirs.

Regarding the website's design, there were far too many similarities for it to be just a coincidence. In May 2015, my website was updated, but the design they copied was the previous version.

The banner at the top, featuring photos of their jewellery on a rotating loop, was the same as on my website. The only difference was the background colour.

Their company name, logo, the search field, shopping cart, and tagline were all in exactly the same positions. The light-grey separating bar with links to different sections was also identical.  

Their choice of colours was also uncannily similar. Their logo had clearly been designed for them and, unsurprisingly, featured an octagon-like shape.

When building a website, the designer needs something to work from; however, that person clearly lacked the skills to create something unique.

Even their tagline, “The natural beauty of gemstones combined with creative use of silver to breathtaking effect” was similar to mine, which at the time was, "Transforming magnificent gemstones into breathtaking pieces of jewellery.”

The way they organised rings on their website by size and stone type was the same as Stone Mania. They had a section called 'Stone Directory', but instead of writing about each gemstone individually as I did in my 'Gemstone Directory', there was just a long list of names.

I struggled to comprehend what I was looking at. These two individuals had found a business model they liked and decided to take what they needed.

Just when I thought I'd seen everything, I found a photo of their trade stand at a retail event, and finally, it hit me. I knew exactly who they were. I had seen them at several fairs I attended as a visitor, and had looked closely at their jewellery because it was so similar to mine.

The first time I saw them was at a travelling market. I then saw them at several other markets and retail fairs. At every venue where they traded, I had traded for many years before deciding to only trade online.

Upon seeing them at a Christmas Market where I had traded for the previous four years, I spoke to the business owner and mentioned that I had a business called Stone Mania, and my style of jewellery was strikingly similar. I asked if his pieces were made in Jaipur, and he confirmed they were.

Despite no other customers being present, he was aloof and unfriendly, and clearly didn't want to chat. I now understand why. 

Where Will it End?

Wanting to find out more about Lumina Jewellery, I turned to Facebook and found this photo.

I used to have many photos like that on my website and on social media. This photo is from my Facebook page.

This was now getting beyond a joke, but there was more to come.

This next photo is from Lumina Jewellery's Facebook page. It was clearly taken while they were in India choosing labradorite for their jewellery. 

This photo was taken by me while in India with my supplier. The photo has been on my website for many years. It was taken on January 6, 2007. Lumina Jewellery began trading in 2008.

From another photo of their retail stand at a regional show, I noticed how similar their setup was to mine. This photo is from one of the first regional shows that I did in 2002. The next photo is Lumina Jewellery at the Royal Berkshire Show in 2009. 

This photo is from 2007. It's my stall at the same Christmas market where I spoke to Picky Saund a couple of years later. Lumina Jewellery began trading the following year.

Copyright Infringement Notice Served

I had seen more than enough and filed a copyright infringement notice with Google. I then contacted Lumina Jewellery.

They were neither brave nor courteous enough to reply, but the plagiarised pages disappeared almost immediately from their website.

Sara believed that deleting the pages would remove any trace of them, but she's obviously not familiar with internet archive services.

Even though my original website from 2002 is long gone, I can still view most of its pages.

She removed the copied pages on April 17, 2017. This screenshot was taken eight months later from Wayback Machine.

This, and all other plagiarised pages on the Lumina Jewellery website will remain visible for many years. The Orders & Returns policy I wrote for my business is here. Being an archived page, it takes time to load.

The best part is that she even included a copyright notice! 

Protect Your Business from Plagiarism

When most people set up a new business, they want to create something unique, exciting, and original. However, that wasn't the case with the owners of Lumina Jewellery.

Despite copying everything from Stone Mania, they had the audacity to write on the homepage of their website: "It was a very deliberate lifestyle choice for us. What we wanted was a way to work together which would allow us to use our brains and creativity."

Stone Mania has come a long way since I started the business in 2002. Everything I've achieved has come from years of hard work, dedication and an unwavering desire to succeed. As this article demonstrates, Lumina Jewellery has a different mentality.

This screenshot from the reviews section of their Google business listing sums them up perfectly. If you're going to leave a review for your own business, at least use a pseudonym!

This final screenshot is from Lumina Jewellery's original website. It states that they wanted to work together and were drawn to working with stones. I'll always wonder whether that idea came about before or after they discovered Stone Mania.

My advice to them is simple: instead of plagiarising other people's work and ideas, use your "brains and creativity" to create something original of your own.