There is one way that yes you can proove it by going to a notery and have your documents stamped before you put the pattern out. It dates it and it is the proof of ownership that it is your design and it becomes a matter of law. Once stamped it can't be changed for any reason.

Okay, what about this: Someone brings you a quilt pattern and contracts to pay to make it for them, is this a violation of the copyright? If so, it would mean no one could make a quilt for someone else for payment for their time. Kind of a scary thought.

I wouldn't think so. Afterall, the quilt is being made from a righteously purchased pattern.
The person who bought the pattern will own the quilt.
The person making the quilt will not own the quilt nor the pattern.

This is not so when you only buy the license to use a product (software is another example of the same thing). When you buy MS's Office software then you don't own the software. You have bought only the license to use it.
And yes, does MS ever restrict usage....

Just don't buy any patterns sold with such restrictions. There are a gazillion ways to put commonly used quilting elements together your way (the only right way).

The emphasis is on "commonly used" and "commonly available".

You can't have (and won't get) copyrights on commonly available patterns. Period. For a design to be protected it must be NEW AND UNIQUE.

The 'day and night pattern' on the quilters cache site for example is neither new nor unique. Don't worry about using it the way you see fit.

Why would anybody pay good money for patterns (or the license to use a pattern for personal use only) that your own head can produce for you by the dozens in an hour?

The problem with using software as an example is the fact that neither Microsoft nor any other company makes you ask permission to send off a letter that you wrote with their office program. You can even write the next Great American Novel and send it off to be published and Microsoft doesn't care a whit about it. All they want to know is, did you buy the program legally and did you make a copy of the program to pass around.

In fact, that's all that EQ cares about also - buy the program legally and don't pass it out (which you can't do anyway because of the way the programming is written)

Exactly. I don't question that notion.

It is the designers who use the same model for their copyright restrictions regardless the fact that the use of the license reproduces their product. They should realize that such a restriction renders their product (the pattern) almost useless.

There are in fact many programs similar to MS Office using the same programming language. You just can't copy the MS Office program and sell it or use more than one copy of it at a time.

I should have said that very clearly:
The notion that a "designer" claims copyrights on Greatgrannie's designs is ridiculous.
It won't stand up in court either.

Okay -- to keep this going. I have the June 2010 issue of Quilter's World in front of me. Page 4 says "This publication may not be reproduced in part or in whole without written permission from the publisher".......I take this to mean you can't reproduce the MAGAZINE....nothing about the quilts. But I'm going to write their customer service and CLARIFY that we can produce and SELL quilts from their patterns....while NOT selling the patterns.

I challenge you all, if you have magazines that say otherwise, WRITE the publisher and ask them to clarify.....If they respond that we can't sell the quilts, inform them we will NOT be buying their magazines and that you're on a forum with 1000s of quilters and will be passing the info on.....does this sound good?

Excellent.

That will work.

We don't need their magazines. This site is so much more fun. I get all the inspiration I need from this site alone.

BTW, some excellent designers publish their patterns for use without any restrictions. I try to buy their fabric as often as possible. Our money is the ticket. That's how we establish some honesty and clarity in this great craft.

We need to compile a list of these folks as well as writing to the magazines.

Support those who support us, I say.
.