hey I hear ya, which is why I don't understand why ppl get all up in arms when youtubers are sponsored by companies or ppl begin to use their YT to advertise their company. BUT there is such a thing as business ethics and moreover - I'm sure using ideas in your business that originated elsewhere violates more then just ethics...
Unless she is stealing product formulas from someone then she's not violating anything.
And in fact, intellectual property law requires that in order to have a copyright, patent, trade secret, etc. (they are all different and last different amounts of time), you have to fulfill certain criteria.
Any idea has to prove that it is sufficiently original. So based on what you are saying, all of the natural hair care product makers would somehow be violating laws or would somehow be unethical b/c one of them was first. That's not how it works from a legal perspective.
She's marketing herself as a hair expert b/c she has really pretty hair and because black women place such a premium on that. It wouldn't work so well on women from other communities, but I can say that if you had a high SAT score or went to the right school, you would get people from other communities who would pay you a lot for your advice as well. It's not original, and lots of other businesses and companies offer the service, but in both cases, the unique aspect is merely the person involved.
Her business model would fail if black women collectively had different values, but they don't since it seems that she monetized her idea several years ago and still has kept it that way.
Hey, I'm not going to knock her hustle and if I thought she knew something that I didn't, I might pay for her services too, but thankfully I learned how to roll my own hair in middle school, I know that you can get mesh rollers just about anywhere, and never had problems growing my hair out.
I'm pretty sure that she's not selling people bottles of pond water and calling her her magical hair elixir, which would be unethical(but she could make a fortune if she did with that hair). She's just telling people the steps that she takes. They don't have to be original or invented by her since she's not trying to prohibit anyone else from doing the same.
In fact, you cannot try to trademark names that are deemed to be common names of items either.
I mean, I see a certain You Tuber frequently getting credited with having a "recipe" for a leave-in conditioner and yet the main ingredient in her magical conditioner is in fact a trademarked product that is made by another company. I'm frankly surprised that that company hasn't sent a "cease and desist" since their product's effectiveness is being overshadowed and credit is being given to a 2nd party. If you want to argue about ethics and legality there, then you probably would have a case. And people have gotten those letters for far less.
at least be original. don't capitalize off info you got for free SMDH
ohwell:
erplexed.
