Originally Posted by Norah
This is a good article. Kind of wierd in that it seems that if I make a quilt from the 30's and publish it with instructions, and a fancy border, is it mine for 75 years? Don't anyone make a Dresden Plate with ice cream cones in the border. What?? What am I missing?
if you want to get good and confused, go to the official government page. pour a stiff drink first. LOL
i'm not a lawyer but i think -if the ice cream cone idea is your original design - you could copright your overall quilt design, any elements of the quilt that were your unique design(s), the instructions and the illustrations, but not the block itself unless there was something unique about your adaptation of that block. most commercial quilt patterns tweak publlic domain blocks, put them in unique settings, colorways, and things like that. it ticks me off to see high prices on those.
on the other hand, i've seen some really intricate, obviously 100% original patterns that sell for really reasonable to surprisingly low prices. i guess it all depends on what the designer has the courage to charge, and how much the customers are willing to pay. i saw a pattern online yesterday that costs $20. i wouldn't have wanted it for free. i saw some today selling for over $30 that were nothing special. on the same page were beautiful, truly original designs selling for less than $10. go figure.