Lending a pattern
 

Is it alright for me to lend a pattern to a friend....what if she makes a copy of it without my knowing?

you can legally lend somebody your original, legal copy of the pattern.
if she makes a bootleg copy behind your back before returning the original ...

she's no friend.

Thanks Patrice, I was thinking about lending a pattern to a friend whose daughter is interested but I'm a bit worried about that happening. Maybe I best not do it.

Yep,thanks Patrice and lyric girl. Thinking about it, and what you have said, I don't think I know them well enough to be comfortable lending it. Perhaps I will just show them where they can purchase it.

I have learned the hard way to not lend books or patterns that I am unable to replace.

Did you offer or did they ask to borrow the pattern?

I agree. Designers put a lot of work into their patterns. Whether you lend the pattern and she uses it or makes a copy it's still denying the designer a sale.

If you want to lend it, you could explain that it is against copyright law for her to copy it.

I think it's best not to lend something you wouldn't be willing to give away, because things lent are sometimes never returned.

It's not always the full reason but it is true when I say, "I've found I'm not very happy lending things, nothing against you of course but here's where I got it". Sometimes it's just the nicer way of saying "get your own, cheap-o!". But like most of us, I've had my share of good stuff disappear here and there, or I'm pretty fussy about how I treat books and most people are less kind than I am to them.

I'm big on copyright protection, partly because I started in advertising many decades ago and had to be aware of issues as the secretary to the creative department, also helped some with things like SAG and other contract issues, but also just because I feel it's a reasonable and just thing that I can uphold.

Although I drafted out my own Hazel Hedgehog pattern, because what I was doing is a copy of someone else's work, I bought the pattern on-line. I will always credit it as Hazel Hedgehog by Elizabeth Hartman because that is what it is. The "fair use" part of copyright especially when it pertains to images and art does allow us to make direct lifts from other people's work images but that doesn't make it original and then we are definitely not allowed to use their written text and images as our own. For me, it wasn't right to not credit the artist by not paying for the pattern even though I never would have thought of it on my own but that's why we have lawyers and for someone else that's just fair use.

It gets a bit more problematic for me when dealing with I'm cheap and I buy used books and music. The original author (or artist if music) doesn't get any extra coin, but the person who first bought it got the rights to use it, including to give it so someone else. Still, I like to make sure that I give credit where credit is due when I'm linking a book, or technique or whatever.

It is really best if you don't lend out your pattern. I have found that when I "lend" a pattern or book to someone---I never see it again. I think the right thing to do is that you tell that person where they can purchase the pattern or book. Good luck and I know this puts you in an uncomfortable situation.

I agree with what everyone else is saying. I have "lost" many patterns that way. I would tell her the complete name of the pattern and let her maybe find it on ebay if it is out of print.

Thankyou everyone.

I lent a pattern to my very best friend, because she absolutely loved the quilt I made. She then moved, and has told me she "knows" it's somewhere, but not sure where. I'd like to have it back, but I'm not in a hurry....It's still currently available....but she's had it for over a year!

With few exceptions, people just don’t put much value in stuff they didn’t have to pay for.

I've wondered if it would be "appropriate" to ask borrowers for the "replacement value" of an item before letting them borrow it - and the "replacement value" would be returned when the item found its way back home.

I agree with Patrice J. When I show a quilt, If I remember, I mentioned how a got the pattern, online order, picture in a magazine or the local quilt shop. Lend? , only to my daughter. That way I still own it and I know where it is.

Iceblossom, thank you for respecting the work of the designer. Although not a designer myself, I purchase the pattern before or during construction.

I don't lend patterns or copy them for anyone. I will tell them where or how I got it. Then it's up to them to track it down.

If the pattern is your original you can do what you want with it. If it's a copyright pattern I would not loan it to anyone. Designers spend many hours making their product. It belongs to them. Many folks just don't want to pay the pattern and use friends to accomplish that goal.

Thankyou everyone.

Ruby, you're wise to not lend to them. You have obviously a "gut check" or inkling that the friend might do something illegal. I would simply say, "I don't lend my patterns or equipment, and I encourage others to support the designer and the economy by purchasing a copy of their own."

I vote for your advice - sewbizgirl. No one puts value on items they don't spend their money for. If you get patterns, the pattern does mean something to you. (side note: I've loaned books with not perfect results, esp. having a hard copy book where someone else dog ears pages...sad). Besides if you loan a pattern don't they have to make pattern pieces, and if they did not buy it...what do we call that? They are still copying something they did not pay IP on. JMHO

I have never enjoyed being around anyone that says "I'm cheap". It's not anything to be proud of. Being frugal is not being cheap. Two very different things but most have no idea the difference.

It's the same as that person getting a book from the library. No stopping anyone from copying patterns from those. I'm not their moral compass and don't want to be. But I don't loan to acquaintances. I can say no in a second and not feel one bit I need to explain. My quilting group friends, all buy the books and patterns that any of us show each other we like. No one has ever asked to borrow from each other anything other then recipes. We can afford alike.

I am prone to making changes to almost every pattern I use. In order to keep track of my changes, I make a copy for myself to use and I write "working copy" on it to note any changes I make. I do not write in books or on original patterns, but I do want a record of changes I have made in case I desire to make the pattern again. My working copies are kept in a separate file. I never loan my patterns to anyone and if I want to make the same project, I always purchase my own pattern.

There may be some members of some guilds (and/or quilters that are not members of any group) that cannot afford to get whatever they want whenever they want it.

My sister and I share books back and forth however I believe we have equally purchased book over time. I have to chuckle because she recently moved and there are a couple books I would really like to be using right about now. I will give a pattern away before I would see it bootleged any more.

I let a friend use four of my patterns , ?? about six mouths ago . have not got them back yet . I have called about
them no return call. Let your friend buy her own . She can wright the name down and buy them. just tell her you don't loan them out ( sorry )

But like most of us, I've had my share of good stuff disappear here and there, or I'm pretty fussy about how I treat books and most people are less kind than I am to them.

Yup!

So it's okay to borrow because they can't afford to have one of their own? Asking to borrow is entitlement thinking of the person asking. I will offer to loan anything but I seldom will lend if asked outright. I don't want friends who ask to borrow what I have. If they can't afford it then they save until they can. That's what I do.

I will lend a pattern to a friend on most occasions, especially if I know their finances are tight. If they happen to make their own copy of it without my knowledge, I have no guilt. That would be on their conscious not mine. I do try and think good of my friends, so I don't worry about those things.

I’m surprised at the replies in this thread. I had a friend ask me to copy a pattern for her. I told her no but she was welcome to borrow the pattern. I didn’t think that it was wrong to do that. I’m like Grace creates. I like to share and help out friends that aren’t as fortunate as I.

I let a friend use one of my books at class once because she had forgotten to bring hers. I looked over where she and a friend were working and saw her writing in my book; I was furious. I went over and got my book, she said she wasn't finished using it and I told her she through using it because she wrote in it. She didn't think it was a big deal; but to me it was a very big No No. Unfortunately, some of the writing was in ink.

I would have been "upset", too, if someone else wrote in one of my books.

It took me years to allow myself to write in my own books.

When I went to school - back when the dinosaurs still walked the earth - we were assigned books - they were numbered - and we turned them back in at the end of the year. We were not supposed to mark them up - but some of the people did, anyway.

Wow, Aurora .... can't believe that "friend" wrote in your book. I would have been furious. How could someone do that? She should replace the book, but I'm not sure that will happen.

I would have been more furious at her for not realizing how wrong she was by writing in a borrowed book and not caring if you were upset about it. Not someone I would ever acknowledge was in the same room with me again.