Originally Posted by costumegirl

The problem that I had with this display was (although I appreciate the community's history etc) is that these designs and quilts were similar to something that my daughter would have made and did create when she was 6 yrs old. I am sure some of us have similar ones that have been passed down to us from long ago or if our children dabbled in sewing, when they were very young, some may have been created.

My point here is, now, these very simplistic designs, some of which have been in the public domain for 100 yrs are now 'copyrighted' . Where does the spinning wheel stop? If a children's group decided to make a few wall hangings or quilts that would definitely look similar and they raffled or sold them they would perhaps be in fringement of these designs.

This whole infringment area is really murky waters and can be argued either way. I guess the question becomes, "What is an original design"? What aspects of a design give it the 'original' label? Are past designs that are already in the public domian taken into account?

Even some of the more intricate designs have been around for a very long time - If you walk through the churches in Europe and look at the floor tiles and mosaics that have been there for hundreds of years you will see designs that are now being considered as new or original.