the law sounds complicated but the underlying issue is actually very simple. it's a concept taught in the earliest grades.
math has been math for centuries. the correct answer to a test question is the same no matter who figures it out. but get caught copying from the kid at the next desk and you'll find out how fast the teacher can plaster a big red "F" on your paper.
once you get a
legal copy of a pattern you may do pretty much what you please with whatever you make from it. a lot of designers mistakenly believe they can tell you what you can and can't do with the finished product, but they are incorrect. obviously, you couldn't claim to have designed it yourself. obviously, you couldn't enter it into any show or contest that requires entries to be the original work of the entree. and you definitely can't claim to have written the instructions and created the illustrations yourself. but if you're allowed to enter things designed by others, and you give full and proper credit where it's due, then you are still doing the right thing.
when patterns are made available for free, they are still protected. the designer/magazine/site is offering
you the opportunity to print a copy for
yourself to use. if you want to share it with friends, don't give them prints or copies of yours. tell them to go to the same website (or other source) you went to so they can get their own.
you cannot control other people. when you set out to do the right thing, the right thing will usually get done. ;-)
Originally Posted by dsb38327
But see, the part I don't get:
Quilts are not numbered (1,2,3,4) like sewing machines, cars, etc.
Quilts are fabric cut into squares and/or shapes. There are a billion, zillion patterns putting these shapes and squares into a determined parameter.
Is there even a rule of thumb someone less than an attorney can use to know if they are free to sew the pattern for their use, to gift or to sell? What is the rule.
I read the 'free' pattern and see it on their website. At the bottom it notes copyrighted. Then it gives the 'printer friendly version' option. Do I need to get their permission to print or does the 'printer friendly version' option constitute permission for me to have a free copy?
I buy a pattern and create a quilt from the purchased pattern. Does the pattern tell me it is to be made for personal use only not for gifting or sale?
How do I know the pattern I purcashed is not a duplicate of someone else's pattern who was a duplicate of someone else's pattern. ???????
It makes me crazy trying to understand it.