Four months ago, Dale Chihuly settled a federal copyright suit against a local glass artist he accused of stealing his designs. Now the artist, Robert Kaindl, is making chandeliers and other works that echo Chihuly's.

When Chihuly filed suit in 2005, accusing Kaindl and glassblower Byran Rubino of scheming to steal his designs, copyright experts said the suit could help determine the point at which inspiration becomes imitation.

But the famed glassblower settled, first with Rubino, of Shelton in Mason County, and finally with Kaindl, who remains an outsider among many in the glassblowing community.

Terms of the settlement were confidential. But it's apparent the conditions have not discouraged Kaindl from creating work in his Redmond studio much like Chihuly's.

The first chandeliers Kaindl produced post-settlement (one of which is pictured above to the right of Chihuly's) were titled "The Celebration Series."

Chihuly's publicist did not respond to a request for comment.

Seattle Times staff