Another copyright question...
 

I asked this on another thread but it was the wrong place:
1. If I copy a block, such as "Swoon" in EQ7 and make a quilt with it, am I infringing on someone's copyright? Am I obligated to send them money? (I'm just using this as an example as it's a fairly distinct pattern.)
I ask this because I've been drawing a lot of blocks in EQ7 and doing a lot of different versions of coloring them.
How am I to know if I've got something that is copyrighted somewhere? I have no plans to sell any patterns but this question has been bothering me. I may get inspiration from a block I see, then fool around with it and end up with another block that is copyrighted.
When I was learning to quilt I make a quilt in a class. We all used the same pattern and similar fabrics. Someone I knew said that it was nice but she had designed her own quilt and (because she doesn't sew and never quilted) "just" had someone sew it for her. She said she even picked out her own fabrics. This was meant to be a left-handed compliment (given the source) but I just bit my tongue! What I'm guessing happened is that she saw a quilt she liked, asked someone if they could make it but add more of a certain block or something, then went with the woman to a quilt shop and selected the fabrics with her. I don't consider that she "designed" the quilt anymore than my picking out the colors and options for a new car means that I designed the car. (Okay, maybe that's a little much, I admit.)

I don't know the answer to this one either. My friend and I were shopping one day and saw a pretty quilt. We started to take a picture and were asked to leave the store. It really hurt my feelings. I don't remember now why we tried to take a picture, but the lady made us feel like thieves. I didn't even quilt at that time, so I never meant to "steal" her pattern. My guess is if you intentionally copy someone's pattern exactly without their permission, you infringe on the copyright. If you make some changes, then it would be your new pattern. There are so many quilt patterns out there now, how can we possibly know if a pattern is copyrighted?

It's all about 'ideas'. An idea cannot be copyrighted.

For example, think recipes. Quilts patterns and recipes are similar. It is a copyright infringement to copy the written pattern and to represent or sell that pattern as my own. Just like it would be against the law for me to copy down a recipe and represent it as my own recipe or to sell it as my own recipe. However...I can use that recipe anytime I want...I can even sell those cookies that I made from it...no copyright infringement. ....

If I tweak the recipe in a decidedly and substantial way and write that tweaked recipe down in my own words, I have not broken copyright law.

If I take a quilt idea and am inspired to make a quilt that is similar but decidedly different in a substantial way. . . that quilt is mine.

However...the key words are decidedly different in a substantial way. You can't make a minor change and call it yours.

It's all about ideas.

However...that being said...I'm with Shazeeda...don't worry about it...just keep on quilting. :)

most, if not all, of the blocks that come with EQ are in the public domain.
read the manual for clarification. in EQ7, they discuss the issue clearly on the first page after the Table of Contents.

if you buy any of the companion software make sure to read those manuals, too.

making minor changes to a copyright protected design makes yours a derivative.
it does not relieve you of liability under the law.
the owner of the first design could legally lay claim to your derivative and would likely win a lawsuit.

The answer is no and no. A simple arrangement of squares, rectangles and triangles can't be copyrighted in the first place. The pattern *instructions* are copyrighted. No you don't need to send them money.


Still not a copyright violation.

You violate "the right to copy" when you take somebody else's written instructions, change the name to your name and copy and sell it.

It is not a copyright violation. Did you copy words or sentences , or take an image to the copy machine, from a published document that has copyright protection? Then the answer is no , you are not violating any copyright laws.
Let just suppose for a moment you see a dress at the Academy Awards and the next day you dupicate that dress... its not a copyright violation. If it was many many companies would spent most of their days in court, as those "one of a kind " dresses are often dupicated within days and sold in major department stores.

How can the Swoon pattern be copyrighted when it's just a slight variation of
the Dutch Rose block?

Thank you all! One of the reasons I bought EQ7 was to be able to just have fun arranging and drawing blocks.

When it comes to copyright, it's dangerous to try to compare one thing with another. Patterns or designs for articles of clothing fall outside copyright laws. Lists of ingredients for making food (the major part of a recipe) can't be copyrighted either. Applying common sense to copyright is often an exercise in futility.

Yet, I think copyright is very easy to understand in regards to quilting. Don't copy someone's original work. Don't make copies of any published/printed pattern without written permission from the copyright holder. (If it's published somewhere, it's automatically under copyright protection.) Technically you're also supposed to get the copyright holder's permission to display a quilt made from her pattern, but that is seldom done except for major quilt shows. (I think it's unlikely that the copyright holder would complain about the display of a quilt made from her pattern, as long as you give her credit for the design.) That's about it.

Thank you. I checked your ebay link and that pattern is beautiful and sure looks original to me! Now something like this really can be seen as a copyrighted pattern as it is a distinct pattern and not something that just says "cut 5 inch squares of fabric...". Some of the other patterns being sold don't seem to have that original piece to them so for them it must just be the directions that they can claim as unique. Certainly you're not claiming the copyright on the log cabin block but on your particular variation. And it isn't just a matter of your saying something like "make a log cabin block that is 20 inches square" and claiming that as your variation. But I'm also not well-educated on patterns and so if your pattern was published elsewhere but you had just put a different shape to the quilt (your hexagon border), would that make it "yours"? I think not and if someone took your pattern and varied it just a little, it would not be theirs either.