Following the "laws" are not always easy. I think if you change a pattern or do it differently does not make it the same as the original. I have heard there are no quilt police and choose to believe it. As long as you don't publish it who's to know or care?

i think this is the post you were referring to.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-39263-1.htm

Did you really want us to think about it? Copying from a book is a clear violation of copyright. We are allowed to make copies of a few pages from books only under certain circumstances (for personal study, scholarship, research, or teaching needs). We are not allowed to copy something as a substitute for purchasing it. It's the same as stealing.

Lending a pattern or book is okay. That isn't copying.

As far as magazines, I picked up a quilting magazine at random (Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting) and right away found a copyright statement inside - "no part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher..." So yes, it is a copyright violation. If your friend needs something from the magazine, she should buy it, or you can loan or give her your copy. You can even tear out just the pages she is interested in and give them to her. Most magazine publishers don't have the time, resources or motivation to track down violators, but that doesn't mean it's ethical to copy from a magazine.

Actually, the more I read about copyright, the easier I think it is to understand. It actually makes sense. If someone writes something, she has the RIGHT to control the COPIES.

As far as whether a quilt design described in a pattern is itself copyrighted - only if it's an original design. (If I write a book about elephants, that doesn't mean I own the copyright on elephants! But you can't copy pages from my book, because I do own the copyright on that.)

Another good source of info - http://www.reddawn.net/quilt/copylaw.htm
<end of rant in response to the copyright vent> ;-)

My copyright "outrage" has to do with antique redwork & other embroidery designs. If someone obtains an old embroidered piece, I don't believe that gives him/her the right to copy the design, copyright it as theirs, and sell it for $15.00. In my opinion that is stealing. Antique patterns are in the public domain and should remain so. Original work is entirely another matter. If I buy a pattern, I would share it with a friend, but wouldn't copy and pass it around to a large number of people.

So if I understand this correctly I should copy what I need from the magazine and send the magazine on and not the copy.

??? No, you should not copy from the magazine.

Are you sure that the person who is selling the pattern is claiming the design as her own? Copyright does not give her that privilege. More likely, she is claiming a copyright on the *pattern*, meaning the drawings/instructions/etc.

Dunster that is a great icon. I'm really loving it.

I don't believe you can copyright something that is already in the public domain.

this is a good thread. I've enjoyed reading it.

i say....who cares??? who is going to track down all of us quilters and sue us for using their design or whatever??!!! i figure as long as your not making a thousand quilts and selling them at huge profit--no one cares!!

The person who cares is the designer you're ripping off, that's who.