Unos llevan la fama y otros cardan la lana

[ROBINDESBOIS]

It means that some people have a bad-reputation for sth, however, some other with no bad reputation are worse than those who have bad-reputation.:rose:

[JPablo]

I'd just say,
some do all the work and others get all the credit
Some people do all the work, and others take all the credit

I also heard it like this,
unos cardan la lana y otros cobran la fama
uno siembra, y otro recoge.

In Catalonian you have, Uns alcen la caça i altres la maten
[There are the guys go get game in the out and there are other ones who kill it]

One man sows and the other reaps.
Some sows, other mows.
Some do the sowing, others the reaping.

Then, something a bit different, (I think the above answers your question already)
Something like "to set a herring to catch a whale"
Who ever caught anything with a naked hook?
Venture a small fish and catch a big one...

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Y cuando se trata de algo negativo , ej los X tiene fama de chorizos, pero roban mas los Y.

[JPablo]

Uy, qué despiste, no me di cuenta de lo que decías...
Lo cierto es que normalmente es en el sentido "positivo", pero en "negativo" sería algo como,

The X-guys get all the blame, but others [the Y-guys] are getting away with exactly the same thing (or worse).
Or,
The X-guys get the reputation of small-time crook (or punk, if you will), but the Y-guys are stealing even more...

Not totally sure if there is a specific idiom in English... but I would express it as I noted above.

[poli]

Some guys have all the luck. Some guys have all the pain.

[Perikles]

It's the same the whole world over....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmoTeP9H9e8