Originally Posted by Mattee
JJs and Dodie,
I'm sorry if I offended you, or anyone else, but it just seems that a lot of people don't get it. People are complaining about copyright a lot on this thread, and writing about what they will and won't do, and the portions of copyright law that do and do not have "control" over them. Some people are also making it clear that they don't understand what a derivative work is.
If I was a professional designer reading this thread, I would be throwing my hands up in frustration and seriously considering throwing in the towel. I know that a lot of designers in many different crafting mediums have already done so because they are sick and tired of being ripped off by people who don't understand or don't care about copyright. It seems like there are a lot of people who fall into one of those two categories posting in this thread. I feel awful for those designers who work so hard and help bring me so many hours of enjoyment, and I want them to know that there are people out there who do care about their rights.
You may want me to stop correcting some people's misinterpretations and misinformation, but I suspect that there are some people who appreciate reading a clarification, rather than more complaints about how copyright laws just aren't fair. When people spread inaccurate information, it hurts everyone, and there have been a lot of inaccurate conclusions drawn and then spread in this thread.
This is only MY opinion, but I don't have a problem with the copyright laws, I just want them to be explained in plain English and let me know if I am truly breaking the law by making a quilt, giving it away and then it gets sold, or I make a quilt to be shown in a quilt show. I read a lot of web pages since this saga began, and 5 out of 10 said these laws were legal, but couldn't be enforced, and the other 5 of the 10 said they were NOT legal. I wonder why at this time McCalls printed that article, did they discover quilts out there that were made from patterns in their magazines and they were being shown or sold without permission?? It does make you wonder.
I for one, am sick of the whole issue, not because of this quilt thread, but because I don't know what McCalls is after, and now I guess I don't trust them. Are they going to track down everyone who buys the mag and check for unauthorized quilts? It's not like quilters are out to cheat everyone, but we buy these patterns in good faith, and expect to use them, and maybe it is the honor system, but how in the world can they police all of us? I agree with the others that have mentioned that when we buy a pattern, or magazine, give us permission to use the pattern and be done with it.