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Originally Posted by bearisgray
There are some patterns and designs that appear to me to be truly original.
Where things get stuck in my craw is when someone takes old stand by blocks - like 9-patch, shoo-fly, variable star, rail fence - and then claims a copyright for the pattern. I'm not a show quilter so I don't pay much attention to the copyright notice. When our local guild has a show they ask that we state the pattern name/source on our labels. I do what I want to do and part of the fun for me is to get out my graph paper (not EQ) and plan out a top. |
I guess I've been more sensitive to this subject lately but on another site I noticed a embroidery design to download free that I had paid for LOL, how many of the 100 tie bags we see made on this site were the pattern bought? I guess I'm just going to forget the whole thing and do what I've always done...
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Originally Posted by amandasgramma
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? |
Originally Posted by amandasgramma
If they respond that we can't sell the quilts, inform them ...that you're on a forum with 1000s of quilters and will be passing the info on.....does this sound good?
you may not, however, mention this board or try to use us leverage. that is not one of our functions. |
Originally Posted by PatriceJ
Originally Posted by amandasgramma
If they respond that we can't sell the quilts, inform them ...that you're on a forum with 1000s of quilters and will be passing the info on.....does this sound good?
you may not, however, mention this board or try to use us leverage. that is not one of our functions. |
Well, I believe in clarification. I do feel it is being over worried for the most part. If it is mainly the copying of patterns and selling them to others, we all know we should not do that. Sharing my *bought* pattern with another is another thing, acknowledging the creator of the pattern on the label is one way to end fears of misrepresentation.
Free blocks and patterns are available online for the most part and creating your own "style" is an option and for the most part seems to be the norm here. Once some clarification is made, by the publishers as to what we can and cannot do, will we know to boycott certain magazines or to use their "free" patterns within. It will be interesting to see what they have to say on the subject. |
[quote=PatriceJ]
Originally Posted by cafegold2
there is no doubt, however, that they can copyright the patterns and instructions they write and illustrate showing us how to make those quilts. |
Not so fast.
Not everything anybody publishes has copyrights attached to it. I can e.g. in my own words write about the fun I had making my first quilt (doing it three times over), explaining how to do it right after losing that crazy idea that it is easy as pie and a full-sized quilt can be done in a day. I can write how I finally learned to make Ohio stars without mangling the corners. I just cannot go ahead and take somebody else's report on his/her experience and reproduce it as my own. Who would want to do it anyway. If you want to write your own quilting instructions in your own words the way you think is right, then go ahead. Doing it does not infringe on anybody's rights, copyrights or any other rights. The operative words are "reproducing somebody else's UNIQUE ideas" and "NOT COMMONLY KNOWN". There is no legal way of claiming copyrights or patent rights on COMMONLY KNOWN or COMMONLY AVAILABLE patterns. That's it. If you can prove that the patterns/blocks you use have been used for decades by thousands of quilters you will be fine. Nobody will find a lawyer who will take you to court for it. They know that they will lose every time. You cannot claim rights on commonly known facts, products or procedures. (Think about it. This would be rights based on a craft that has developed in the public domain.) Just don't reproduce the entire quilt stitch by stitch and sell it by the dozens. Always remember. The indignated designer can only sue you for the DAMAGES he can prove. (Nobody goes to jail for copyright infringement and you pay punitive damages only if somebody can prove bad intent.) Let's all go have fun quilting. Leave the designers dreaming about pie in the sky (like making money on a quilt design that has been around in many variations since the Civil War.) Meanwhile, you create something unique and beautiful the way people have done for centuries. |
Interestingly enough, the quilt made by Jane A. Stickle - completed during the civil war - seems to be a money maker for the author of the Dear Jane book, Brenda Manges Papadakis.
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Only because people scare easily.
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