:? I was playing with EQ7 and thought I'd make a Christmas design using two simple blocks. It never got further then the EQ program. I saved the pattern and forgot about it. I saw this:

http://www.piecenquilt.blogspot.com/

That's the exact same pattern I came up with! Now if I had made this quilt and did all the things that copyright said I could not do with a published pattern how could I have proved it was my own design? What if I wanted to send my pattern to anyone free who asks for it? What if I wanted to post it online? To beat all it's almost the exact colors. Now this quilt will be copyrighted once it's published. If anyone wants to see the block construction I used pm me. Here is the one I designed.

love the design

Very pretty and I love your design .

I can see lots of issues coming up now and in the future :shock:

Great minds think alike I guess.

I'm not upset someone has the same design and it will be published. Good for her! Just that if I wanted to copy, give, or post the one I honestly designed myself I could have been targeted as a thief without knowing anything about it. I loved the machine quilting on the other one. Isn't it beautiful?

Really pretty design....as far as the rest...I am SO confused?? Why couldn't you have copyrighted it back when you designed it?? I must be missing something :/

I think a lot of the copyright issues we see are over who got their version copyrighted first. :(

I never intended to copyright it. I like designing patterns on EQ7 for the fun of it and giving them to others. That's the point. If the pattern is copyrighted by someone who came by the same design honest, how can I give copies of mine away?

When you saved it in EQ7, it is dated. That proves it:)

and now it would look like a copy, right? Can you give it a significant twist?

You know what's odd, the colors are almost exactly the same. O_O

Ahhhh.....I got you. You designed it for fun..to share, etc. and now if you say....do a tutorial on here with that design or something like that where it is "free" you would be at risk of getting in trouble for "stealing a copyrighted design". Is that right?

Its a really pretty design!

I used the basic fabric library in EQ. I think most who use EQ uses the basic colors first. I planned on loading the Christmas fabric library if I ever got back to it. It will be fun to see if the construction of the blocks will be the same or if the two blocks I used are the same. You may not be able to see but the two blocks I used are a four patch on point and a square in a square on point. That's all.

Actually it was only quilted by the lady at piece n quilt. It was designed and sewn by Julie from Jaybird Quilts.

http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/09...ons-quilt.html

hmmm....does it count that your design creeps into the border? that makes it a little different. maybe she stole it from you. is your design dated? maybe you should claim copyright infringement. LOL!

I love the design

both designs came from blocks in the public domain. neither design can be protected by copyright. she can only copyright her instructions and illustrations.

This is a beautiful quilt block pattern arrangement made from traditional patches. Presumably others might conceivably come up with this combination too, without ever having seen the "other" person's version, just as you did - whether they even had EQ or not.

***All the "other" person can copyright is the specific INSTRUCTIONS she wrote down for making her version of this quilt, not the quilt.***

I would have no hesitation making the quilt, even selling it.

This is a case of arrangement of long-standing old traditional blocks, so no problem.
.

Bella, I think that pattern would probably fall into the "General Domain" category. It is simply blocks and triangles (although very pretty) so I wouldn't consider it "unique". I wouldn't worry about whether someone else has done it first for that reason. Just because they put the copyright symbol next to their pattern/design, doesn't mean that it is truly copyrightable (is that a word?) Does that make sense?

Plus, once it's published in a magazine, it's open to all to do with as they wish.

sorry, but that is not true.

You are right Patrice, that statement was much too vague. I should have said that once it was published in a magazine, (if you purchased that magazine) that you can make that pattern without any problems. See this thread:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-62448-1.htm

But I still believe from looking at it that the pattern indicated is not unique enough to actually be copyrighted.

And copyright exists when something is 'published', yes, but digital media counts as publishing these days. It does not have to be on paper to be copyright protected. For instance, all of Marcia's instructions and original blocks on Quilter's Cache are copyright protected and they are all digital.

Oh that is soooooo pretty!!!!!!!

This is not actually correct. See the Tabberone website. It has lots of great information.

http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/...Patterns.shtml

I guess I should pull out some of my designs and send to magazines! They are all from EQ's block library, all public domain. I rather just play and give the design layout to anyone interested. I showed the quilt design to my guild today and it's going to be our group quilt for the quarter.

It's very nice, but it's so simple that I would never buy a magazine or a pattern to make one -- you can tell how it's put together by just knowing very basic block construction.

That's where the copyrights of quiltmaking get murky -- how can a blogger or a magazine claim copyright on a design which is a combo of two blocks that have been around for hundreds of years? They can claim it, but the reality is that a four patch and a square in a square, alternating and set on point -- it's been around for a long time.

RST

BellaBoo,

I was sent the link to this site by someone who read's my blog and wanted to let me know about this. I don't know when you designed your holiday quilt but I did mine early this year. It started as a sketch in my notebook and then I took it to EQ and imported the fabrics in February. By no means do I claim to have invented the four patch or square in a square! I was asked to submit a holiday piece to the magazine and wanted to create a design that looked complex but was made from simple blocks.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKI59C_Ebp...ns_article.jpg
I actually wrote an article that went with the quilt and is available on McCalls's site. In the first part of the article I wrote... "I designed Holiday Ribbons to be a bold quilt that looks much more complicated to put together than it really is. The quilt is constructed using just 2 simple and very traditional blocks, a basic broken sash and a four-patch. By setting the blocks on point and carefully choosing my fabric placement I was able to create a quilt that looks like I worked on it all year!"
{they changed square in a square to broken sash}

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKI59C_Ebp...unquilted2.jpg
The fact that we both picked the same colors is funny to me.. and I think of it as we both got it right! In reality there are only so many colors red, green, blue, and white if you are thinking "holiday."

Re: Your Copyright Questions
Q: What if I wanted to send my pattern to anyone free who asks for it?
A: You are more than welcome to provide your pattern to anyone.
Q: What if I wanted to post it online?
A: You can. {I'd prefer you don't.. but I can't stop you from posting yours}

As people have said in the comments... the copyright covers a few things.
1. The name and the actual photographs of my quilt
2. The instructions and directions for the specific size, scale etc that I designed. {I don't know what block size you designed yours as but chances are we didn't do that exactly the same.}
3. The specific layout I designed. As in the 2 borders at the measurements that I designed etc.

I've had my work "copied" intentionally and un-intentionally in the past. I've accepted that the un-intentional is going to happen, like this, and I have no hard feelings. {i hope you don't either} It's the intentional ones that hurt... when people knowingly take designs from others.

If you would like to submit work to a magazine let me know. I can give you some helpful info on the process and the contact info of a few editors. Please e-mail me if you have any questions about this process.

-Julie
http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

EQ software dates your file...it's in the Properties of the file. Your original date will be Created: (date). That's how you prove it! :D

You know, I just got my McCall's Quilting magazine yesterday, and I saw that quilt and thought to myself that it looked like the kind of design that more than one person could think up, easily, and get into copyright trouble over. Guess I was right!

And it's a nice looking quilt, too. The colors, the simple design... just very classic.

Thank you Julie. I have no hard feeling at all. I thought it was a hoot! But I was a little cautious about giving my EQ file away free since the pattern was going to be published, that's all. I never once thought you could have possible seen my file. :lol: I think it's a compliment to me to have actually thought of something that is considered good enough to be published. I do like your colors best!

I'm glad there are no hard feelings!... and yes I didn't crawl into your computer... LOL!