JJ quote < Another thing that blows me away is when some 'designer' copies a design from somebody else or uses an OLD public domain design and does something then claims the design - that's disgusting and they should be zapped by lightning LOL>>
I was thinking the same thing - there are so many 'sampler' type books and patterns out right now that have taken quilting blocks that are in the public domain and that have been around for a very long time. Granted the author/designer has collected these 'historic' patterns and published them but now they are 'copyrighted' as their patterns and we can not legally share these whether it's making copies of the blocks, sharing block templates or piecing foundations of the blocks. There are some samplers being worked on right now on this board where these cautions have been given.
I don't think it is fair to lay claim to these blocks that have been in the public domain and that do not have any 'copyright' attached to them. I understand and appreciate that these 'designers' have researched and collected these lovely blocks and that they should be acknowledged by buying their books but when there are further restrictions and laying 'claim' to these blocks it bothers me that they can do this. These are not their 'original' designs.
Can these authors/designers copyright historic blocks that are in the public domain and restrict use?