10/04/2026
*THIS IS BEING POSTED REGULARLY IN COMMUNITY GROUPS ACROSS BC, GETTING LOTS OF ENGAGEMENT!
RETAILERS SELLING KNOCK-OFFS MAY WANT TO CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES TO THEIR BUSINESS REPUTATION.*
A Tall Tail of Plagiarized Quail
Have you seen this Family of Quail?
There are thousands of them out there!
I am the artist that sculpted the originals from clay in 2008, I have registered a copyright for the work with CIPO.
They were first reproduced in cast concrete with my licensed permission by Countrywide Garden Ornaments in Duncan for a few years until that business shut down/sold out and now I have a new production partner for the piece.
They are currently all acid stained black/brown, SEE FIRST PHOTO.
I am selling them on Etsy and in retail outlets.
The SECOND PHOTO, taken recently in Osoyoos Home Hardware by a lady who was shopping there who sent to me, is of COUNTERFEIT cast reproductions produced without my consent by a company in West Kelowna DBA “Quail Country Decor”. I have had many photos of FoQ retail displays across BC by random members of the public who are familiar with this story. They also show up often in retailers social media posts.
I have created a page called “Quail Country Decor” to capture Internet search traffic and expose the scam. Please visit! all the proof, documents, photos covering the past decade are there to view.
Louis Roka and Jana Durech are listed as owners on B.C. Corporate Registry. (Doc is posted on this page)
The business address listed is the home that Jana Durech is on BC Land Title as owner. I understand she was an accounting instructor at Okanagan College and worked for Kochhar & Co. In Kelowna.
I sent her just one message last year politely asking if she knew about it or had any information that she could share with me.
Her reply was reactive, accused me of “stalking”, threatened to sue me then blocked me before I could respond. (screen shots of that exchange are posted on this page)
Then she called the RCMP to claim that I was “harassing her” - an officer from Kelowna called me to hear my side of the story and was actually annoyed that she lied to him about it!
Nothing came of it.
These folks obviously bought a set in a store some years ago, made a mold and created a whole business identity around my work.
I have been trying to push them out of business for years - I had them booted from Etsy (Etsy has a strong copyright enforcement policy) and have contacted dozens of retailers throughout BC to inform them of this plagiarism grift.
Here’s a list of businesses I have already contacted.
They may not have known prior but they definitely do now and any of them that is still selling sets “Handmade in the Okanagan” is willingly complicit in this fraud:
Artisans of the Okanagan
Coyotes Gift Shop @ Nk’mip
Sheppard Home Hardware
Osoyoos Home Hardware
Davison Orchard
Chemainus Theatre Gift Shop
Studio on Water
The Artful Hand
The Spare Room
Good Gracious
Volegacy
Wild Birds Unlimited
Tickleberry’s Ice Cream
Quail’s Gate Winery
Quintas Ferreira Winery
Chemainus Theatre Gift Shop
Butchart Gardens
Artisans Attic and Fudgery
Laurel Packinghouse
Penticton Art Gallery Gift Shop
The Jammery
Vernon Wildlife Museum
Canadian Wildlife Museum
Plus a couple of Facebook Marketplace listings.
Most of them have responded with “Sorry to hear that, it’s not right and we don’t want our business to be involved with unethical exploitation of an artist’s work”.
Others have been less sympathetic, with “well we know it’s wrong but we’re making a profit so unless you hire a lawyer we’re not stopping sales”.
I am asking the public to help me out here:
- Please don’t buy the counterfeits. They are painted and have a “Hand Made in the Okanagan” sticker on the bottom. They are also “second generation” molds, and they have less crisp detail resolution.
- Let retailers who carry them know that they are counterfeit and that you don’t respect plagiarism.
- Message me with photos if possible what retailers are carrying them so I can contact them directly. Random members of the public have already flagged many on the list above.
I realize that there are wide opinions out there about the ethics of copyright and intellectual property, and the legalities of it are complex and potentially very expensive to litigate but make no mistake - taking original art and reproducing it commercially without consent of the artist is THEFT & FRAUD and I’m rather disappointed that I was told by the RCMP that it was “a civil matter” when I inquired about pressing criminal charges.
Seems like an artist having a “registered copyright” doesn’t really afford the protection I’d assumed it would... I’m not Walt Disney Corp.
So I’m hoping that a good ‘ol fashioned cost effective PUBLIC SHAMING can have some consequence to these scam artists/art scammers.
Louis and Jana, if you’re reading this - Profit aside, I put in the many, many hours to create the Family of Quail believing I was bringing something positive and light into the world. It had special meaning to me at the time, and it means something special to the people who take them into their homes.
You are a stain on that legacy.
I spent the years practising my craft to get to the point where I had the proficiency - unlike the artist you hired to sculpt you an “original” set (a rather rough copy of my design) that you proudly posted a photo of on Facebook in 2016. (that photo is posted on this page now)
Why didn’t you move those forward into production? You just went back to using my design.
You have made thousands of copies and $$$ from my art over the past 15 years and repeatedly declined the opportunity to quit, even going as far as to send ME a cease and desist letter in 2016. (Also posted on this page)
When you started your crooked venture you may not have anticipated the development and reach of the internet to what it is today. Now it is YOU who are being farmed for content.
I can only hope that this is embarrassing for you and the retailers who continue to sell them.
Please feel free to share this post, follow the Quail Country Decor page and reach out with/for more information.
