I had an instructor in art school who said "all artists are thieves" My question is this; is it okay to copy ideas from folks on this web site? I have seen some of the prettiest blocks and designs made by you all. I
would love to try them, if it's ok.

Of course you can copy ideas off of this website. We are all very friendly and several of us have used the same pattern to make something. When we post a picture we usually tell you where we got the pattern in case you want to make it. If we don't tell you just ask and we will. It is not stealing in my opinion.

Ideas are generally free, but you may want to check out some of the threads on copyrights if you are marketing anything based on another person's designs.

well IMHO most is NOT istealing. Many patterns that we see have been around for years. As far as ART.... how many new ideas are there anyway?

Now if you copy something that is posted for sale in a quilt shop, quilt show or online, then technically it is stealing since someone is using the pattern / quilt as a business to make money, and by copying it instead of buying it you are depriving them of their income.

Many quilters, even professional ones, do not mind if you use their work as inspirational BUT you MUST give them credit on your back label or when telling someone about the quilt you made using the other person's work as inspiration. You should not let it be assumed that the idea is your own. Even if you BUY a pattern you should give credit to the original quilt artist.

I get ideas online all the time, but most are from patterns that have been around all the time. If I copy something from 'simply quilts' for instance, I give credit to the artist who presented the 'instruction' on my back label, but then I give it my own title, cuz I use fabric from my own stash, not the exact fabrics as were presented on the class. Does that make sense?

Anyone have a different take on this? And if I am WRONG in my thinking, please let me know!

keep on quilting, sue

QuiltNut.... oops, I just reread your original post and missed that the question was about copying from THIS website.

sorry for the long answer in my other response. CCbear gave an appropriate answer I believe.

sue

i'll use myself as an example. i've posted many things here in the past year. a few have been ... i hope ... original ideas using traditional (public domain) blocks. i can't claim copyrights to the blocks. i can - and do - state my claim to the copyrights of the instructions.

Trying to claim copyrights to layouts using public domain blocks is risky. You have to be able to prove something is unique. How do I know I'm the first person ever to to think of using that particular combination of blocks? I only copyright the layouts if i feel they are a new, unique combination of blocks or very significant variations. even then i consider the copyrights conditional. that is ... "to the best of my knowledge".

when i post here, i invite people to USE the ideas and instructions but ask that they not pass the instructions and ideas off as their own. do you see the difference?

sometimes i only post a photo or graphic image of a design, but no instructions. technically, anybody who copied one of my original layouts would be stealing my design - unless (1) i've invited everyone to do so, or (b) you've asked me for permission to copy it. am i going to come after you if i find out? heck no. too much like work. gotta hire a lawyer. gotta do lots and lots and lots of research to back up my claim of originality. OY! who needs the aggravation? :wink:

besides it's a risk i know i take by posting it.

if we like somebody's work so much we'd like to make one like it, too, we should find out whether they used a commercial pattern or their own design. if it's a commercial pattern, we should buy our own copy. if they believe it's their original idea, we should ask their permission. common courtesy. common sense. no worries. :wink:

deleted

I'm of a similar thought. I can only speak for myself, but as far as any patts and instructions I have posted on here, you are of course welcome to use them, for personal use, that's what I gave them to you for :D

If some one wanted to do a little more, like say run a class using my design, it's really nice to be asked and quite flattering too, I might add :wink:

I would say the key is to ask, if it seems new and orginal it very well could be.

I'm not sure how it works and call me zealous, but if I ever wanted to enter my ideas as "new" but someone else took my pattern borrowed the ideas, finshing their's first, then don't I loose my claim in a show to call it a original spin on an old technique?

as soon as an original work is published in tangible form it is automatically copyrighted to the original author. registration of a copyright is an official step that would make it easier to prove it, but isn't technically necessary. the key to your claim would be (1) is it truely original and not just derivative; (2) could the other person have been reasonably expected to know they were copying somebody else's work (3) can you prove you published first. if you never show your pattern in a public forum, and somebody else cooks up the same idea and runs with it, you woud not win in court. if you were the first to think of it, did show it publicly, but it isn't truely so unique it's unlikely somebody else would think of it on their own, you still might not win.

read the information at these two links.

this is a great article
http://qnm.com/copyright/index.html

this is an official site with all the gobbledygook you need to read if you decide to register a copyright. includes links to forms
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr