Originally Posted by BellaBoo
If there is no copyright symbol or copyright statement on the pattern then you can share.
that's no safe indicator. what if there was a statement and the first pirate removed it? you have no way to know.
a block pattern has two major elements: (1) the block itself; and (2) the instructions for making the block. there are hundreds, if not thousands, of
blocks in the public domain (not under copyright). so you can use a public domain block without anybody else's permission. HOWEVER, the instructions are probably protected unless they were written before the 1970s (and then it gets
really complicated.)
a quilt pattern consists of the block(s), the way they're arranged (the layout), and the instructions. there are different schools of thought about whether a designer can slap a copyright on a layout made entirely of public domain blocks. i read somewhere that a few designers have won that argument in court. in any case, we are still left with the instructions.
most people share. i used to but don't anymore. i put myself in the designer's shoes now.
if a designer is giving away a pattern, it's usually to attract attention to the things she/he offers for sale. if we just pass around her patterns, we're taking away her opportunity to benefit from the pattern. why not just tell people where we got it and let them get their own legal copy?
if a designer is selling the pattern and we give away copies of it, then we are stealing from her/him. it really is that simple.
here's my personal "rule of thumb": if i didn't write the instructions, and there is no statement that gives permission to make and pass out copies to others, then i don't do it. if i know the block is in the public domain, then i write my own instructions and decide for myself whether or not to share them.