A businessman is in the process of finding out the hard way that crafters do not sit quietly on their hands when someone has done them wrong. He has apparently done some questionable things that have just come to light---I am not involved, and am being cautious in my choice of words here. But I do know there are a lot of unhappy crafters.

We first heard that he was having problems, and would perhaps wind up going into bankruptcy--as I wrote here. Apparently it's quite a bit more serious than that, and the truth is just beginning to come to the surface. But I would not want to be in his place right now. There are quite a few clients of his who are most unhappy, and are planning to seek redress (I love that word).

And the spirit of helping in the group is wonderful to behold. Various group members are offering to share their skills and knowledge with the people who have had their businesses disrupted by the man's actions, in terms of moving existing websites, etc.

There are over seven hundred members of this particular group. We're spread out all sorts of places, doing all sorts of crafts. We take the business part of the crafts business pretty seriously. Most of us would rather devote all our time to the crafting end of it, but we realize that we have to pay attention to the business aspects. And that means we pay pretty careful attention to those pesky little details like copyrights and tax requirements, too.

My advice to those not quite sure what approach to take in dealing with crafters is quite simple: treat us fairly and honestly. Respect for our work (acknowledging that it is work) and being polite are good, too.

Treat us as you would want to be treated in any sort of business dealing. In other words, don't mess with us. We do not take kindly to anything that threatens our livelihood.