Originally Posted by
lyndarva
I am a fiber artist and design art quilts etc. I am protective of my copyrights, but I do have issues understanding the controversy over traditional blocks in most cases. This is a very complicated issue. I know it is becoming more of an issue particularly when people enter a quilt that a "celebrity quilter" designed and that person wins a prize. Then a quilt guild makes a CD or book for sale with photos of all those quilts at their show (many copyrighted designs) and they have an issue making money off of that.
If you make the quilts for your own enjoyment, do not sell them, do not teach them, do not win prizes for them, do not convey that you designed them, then you may be safe. Very complicated issue, too bad we aren't in the simple days, right? I don't make light of this, but most people are making quilts as a hobby.
Designing art quilts is clearly your design, just like a painting; no one argues when someone paints an oil of a mountain for example because it is clearly theirs even though thousands of people in the past have painted mountains. But why is it so bad if a picture of that quilt that was an original design ends up in a book because it won a prize. Is the work of the person that did the sewing so much less important just because their work came last. I personally would be thrilled to see a picture of something I had a part in creating all over the place. I would be proud to think that so many people like it and that it was capable of winning prizes. What is the point of creating something and than basically hiding it away for oneself. I am not trying to me mean, just trying to understand. I personally don't think that someone has any claim at all over a finished piece of art if their contribution was the directions. We paid the due, gave you your money and bought the directions. That does not make the finished product yours. It belongs to the person who made it. We sell used cars all the time because we own it. Ford or Toyota does not own the right to the car even though they created it. As long as your name is on the project for an original design, the copyright law is satisfied. You cannot sell a Ford and say you created it and built it, you just sell it as a Ford. So if I buy a pattern from person XYZ and sell it as sewn buy me and created by XYZ I am perfectly within my rights. And with traditional patterns, since there is no creators name to place on it despite what people may claim, I can simply say it was sewn by me.
Someone earlier said something about simpler times. Nothing in the laws has changed from 20 years ago. People have just become greedy and lawyers are abundant.