Friday1961

Good grief! If people really do as her copyright page dictates, she must spend all her time responding to inquiries. Who would bother when there are so many other beautiful patterns available without all this hassle?

Judyr808

My understanding of copyright law is; when you buy a pattern of any kind you are not buying the rights to that pattern but the use of the pattern, such as a computer porogram you buy, you can't reproduce it and sell it. But I believe there are loop holes such as changing it somewhat, such as a writter can use a % of what someone else has written but can not copy it verbatim.

Pat G

Tracy, This whole topic makes me so angry every time I read something like her article. The jails would be full of not only confused people but full of "non quilters" since we'd all stop using patterns. They sell their patterns to the LQSs so how can they continue to control everything that happens when people use their patterns.
The whole topic has been so overblown. Yet some articles, supposedly from reliable sources, say it's much more open than some would lead us to believe.
I recently found a quilt grp. in my area & one of my first questions was what was the attitude about sharing patterns. They all replied "no problem". They seem to feel the same way I do. Once a pattern is sold, they no longer have control over its use.

Steamin' Pat

Pat G

I had to laugh at this one. I'm feeling it's like buying a recipe book but forbidding you from cooking for your neighbors. Or selling the cookies you made from the book. Or sharing the recipe with a friend.

Still steamin'

alisonquilts

I had a friend ask me recently why I don't sell a certain kind of fleece stuffed animals that I make (I give them away as baby gifts) and I told her it was because I think they are too obviously based on a particular book of patterns and I just don't want the hassle of potential copyright issues. She snorted, I snorted...but I'm still not going to sell them. You hear the most bizarre stories of people being sued for less...

Alison

MargeD

She has it wrong. When a pattern is sold to you, you can "reproduce" the pattern, but only for your own use. If you make a quilt from that pattern, sell the quilt or enter it into a quilt show however, you need to give the designer credit, just like you would give credit to someone who quilted it, if it wasn't you, or mention all who made the quilt as a collaborative effort. If you designed a quilt pattern I'm sure you would want to get credit for the design.

Judyr808

I did a little research (love doing it)and found this. According to Copyright laws in U.S.A. "17 U.S.C. ss 102 (b) " In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extent to an idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, princible or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is decribed, explained, illustrated or embodied in such work"
Pattern is a procedure, process or method of operation for making a quilt, so it looks to me like Diane doesn't have a leg to stand on!!!

Scissor Queen

There is nothing in the Copyright law that states you can only use a pattern for specific uses. There is nothing in the law that states you have to give a pattern designer, the fabric designer and fabric manufacturer credit.

Scissor Queen

Actually, the actual pattern is not copyrightable. The only thing pattern companies can copyright is the envelope art work and the instruction sheets.

AlaskaAlice

my 2 cents worth...there is nothing new under the sun...when we draw. sew, build etc. there is usually some where someone who has done something pretty close to the same..copying something to defraud ..best not to do it! This may be the intention of the law..
I make my own designs...lots of times I find someone else has come up with the same. maybe different technique. or some other interesting twist..but..all of us get our ideas from copying something..Discovery of "new" things and how to do them is what makes life worth while in my book..yet each one of us have a unique gift that I find fascinating. Some one has said a good teacher is one who releases the student to go beyond that which is taught to find a more excellent way.
Be all you can be and never stop..jump over the obstacles..help each other..don't fight on the way!! maybe some old indian said this! I know this old granny did! Happy sewing!!