Well said - I agree.

That's a good way to loose you're "friends". Sometimes for t he best. My "friend" saw a beaded suncatcher on my wall one day, and of course she wanted the pattern. "Oh, I can sell that for X$$-so can I. Annoyed me for 2 yrs.
she still hasn't gotten it. Glad she finally moved to Idaho. So beware and ask her to get her own next time--politely of couse.

do i understand this correctly? it's an embroidery pattern (from a book or a sheet) not a hot transfer pattern and the only way you can use it is to put fabric over the picture and trace it. i'd let her borrow it in a new york minute. i just wouldn't want her to xerox a copy of it. in fact i'd probably give it to her after i made mine because i've only reused an embroidery pattern two times & that was an ABC Baby quilt for my grandchildren. otherwise after i've used an embroidery pattern one time - i'm done. i'd probably take exception if i had a friend who ALWAYS wanted my patterns instead of buying them herself but i guess that would just be tacky because when i'm done with 'em i'm done. they don't do anybody any good just lying around my sewing room taking up space.

If she "works in a quilt shop" w/a light table,---couldn't the shop get into trouble, if multiple tracings were being made from 1 pattern? couldn't that open them up to copyright infringement fines?? just curious

interesting

OK, so how does this sit with you all, here in Australia patterns (& fabric & everything to do with quilting) are so expensive that if my sister and I like the same pattern we share the cost and share the pattern. We are usually making quilts etc. for family and as long as we acknowledge on the label who the designer is, ( so that when someone goes "oooh isn't that luverly" we can tell them where to get it). Isn't that better than neither of us buying the pattern. Sorry I'm a bit late replying, trying to catch up quick as after being away then sick, only up to March 14th and doing quick look, don't want to miss anything on the board, Jen

I'm going to take literally what you said in your first sentence "I have a good friend..."
You are asking for advice because you want to keep her as your good friend, and you want to be a good friend to her.
However, you are caught in a sticky corner. There is an honorable way out of this. Is your friend worth $12?
Simply buy a second pattern, wrap in in giftwrap and present it to her as as gift. Later, after she has begun to use it and is happy with the pattern, happy with you as a friend, only then in different circumstances, are you on solid ground to give her your thoughts about copyright. Having a good friend to quilt and shop with is worth hundreds of times more than $12. The true meaning of the word "wisdom" is living through love.

This post sums it up. You hit the nail on the head!!! I posed this question to the legal section here where I work and one of the lawyers said exactly what ghostrider is saying. The one pattern could passed on as long as it is not copied, sold and/or redistributed. Also, you can not use one pattern to teach a whole class. Each student must get their own original pattern to take to class. Not a copy but an original. Regardless of how many times a pattern is sold after the original sale the person that created the pattern only gets paid once. Same with textbooks.

Friends share things.

As long as you are not making a duplicate copy of the pattern so that you can each have it at the same time, you are doing nothing wrong. You can pass it back and forth all you like without any infringement of the copyright. It's admirable that you also put attribution on the quilt label.