We continue on with this debate, don't we? I personally think it's the dumbest move in years, because quilters no longer are free to share anything.
When our quilt group made a quilt that was published in one of the Fons & Porter magazines for display at our local county fair, I wrote to the magazine to get permission to do so. I was informed that we all had to be subscribers to this magazine, and that we could not sell this quilt top. We were not selling the quilt nor were we raffling it off to raise money. Quilt members of our group had to work on the quilt top, and we then drew one of our workers' names as the winner of the quilt.
Here's where I think this magazine was wrong. Who were they going to sue? We were an informal group of seniors who were given donated space in a local building. Our group was not a guild in the sense that we did not have dues or bylaws or other financial obligations. Was this magazine going to sue a county agency, one without any monies to begin with? How stupid was their response?
I immediately canceled my subscription, urging others to do the same. Here's my position. I can go to any library and copy that pattern for my personal use. The magazine itself purchased that pattern from the original designer. By displaying this magazine and the completed quilt, we were, in effect, helping to publicize that particular pattern (and the magazine too). What more could a designer ask?
I am saddened that the quilt community is so wrapped up in this copyright debate. What ever happened to "fair usage" as a concept? Do the quilt police think they can control the consumers to that degree? If so, I will no longer purchase any patterns, looking to use those in the Public Domain. :cry: