woody

Lucky I have a thick skin, there is so much good advice here, you just got to look on the bright side.

honeybea

Thanks BellaBoo.....Good answer to an insensitive comment.....I have learned something new today. We have a terrific supportive community of quilters where no question doesn't have merit.........

Christine-

The following website debunks false information given out about copyright issues. It's called Tabberone's Hall of Shame, which spotlights companies who spread false copyright information.
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/...aftSites.shtml As seen on this page, companies such as McCalls magazine, Etsy.com, Cricut, Provocraft (and many more) get it completely wrong.

You see, this is a hot button for people who earn a living in quilting. Conversations such as this hurt business. One person who hears gossip from so and so (in this case, the quilt show director who invented a ridiculous rule that has nothing to do with true copyright law). The rule requires innocent people to perform the equivalent of 'go jump in a lake' in order to submit a beautiful quilt that took hundreds of hours to make. Of course they're going to jump in the lake! And those who find jumping in the lake annoying, simply skip entering a show completely.

So where does this lead us? The owners of the lake get tired of telling people to quit jumping in the lake, so they put up fences (I.e.: ignore emails asking for permission to jump in the lake.) And if the innocent people go public, disheartened because they can't get permission to jump in the lake, it gives the owner a bad reputation, which is completely undeserved. People stop buying quilt patterns, the numbers of quilts entered in shows dwindles down to only women who are artistic enough to create their own patterns (I'm not one of them, by the way) and the industry suffers, especially the pattern designers who so graciously share their talent with the rest of us!

While your innocent question could have received a more thoughtful response from me (and I apologize for not trying harder) I hope you can see why questions about copyright issues are mind boggling even for the 'experts'.

GrannieAnnie

Yet we have links to sites that insist the owners OWN those rights. @@

Christine-

I attended the Mid-Atlantic quilt festival in February and noticed there were far fewer quilts than the last time I was there. The last time the quilts seemed to never end! Quilts were squeezed into every spare inch and it took hours to view them all. I came home with 300+ photos, and even then I only took photos of quilts I liked.

This year, part of the convention hall was simply empty. Huge empty spaces. After I walked through the wallhanging entries I said, 'where are the rest of them?" It was still a very good quilt show, but I was a little disappointed in the number of quilts. Especially after knowing what should have been there. After the McCalls magazine article, could it be that quilters simply threw up their hands and said "Forget it!" We'll never know, probably, but it would be interesting to know if other quilt shows had reduced numbers in quilt entries.

Hinterland

I don't know why there were fewer quilts at Mid-Atlantic, but that show does not require permission from the pattern designer. They do require that you appropriately credit the designer and quilter if needed...and that's something I believe should be done.

Janet

amandasgramma

I'm in agreement. I know of people that put copyright on anything and everything they post or do. It doesn't mean a thing. In fact, I know a woman that puts copyright on the web sites she creates......and it doesn't mean a thing. She said it just stops people and they believe it. As for copyrighting any designs in the quilt world....very few are unique.

Christine-

An acquaintance was the sister of a Disney copyright attorney. She told me he laughed when he heard the rumor-mill was churning again with stories of the little old lady who was sued by Disney for selling baby clothes she made with Disney licensed fabric. He joked 'big bad Disney' was at it again, which of course meant the story was hogwash.

I learned from the Tabberone website that some business people knowingly post incorrect copyright information at their businesses because it makes most people do what they want. Even if it's saying "when you buy my pattern you can only make 2 items that are for sale". Hogwash!

I'm thankful for people like Tabberone, it's so nice to see someone setting things straight.

Silver Needle

I am interested in making quilts for resale and a former legal secretary so copyright law was important for me to nail down. After extensive Internet research I have learned 1) it is infringement if you make a paper copy and give it to someone else to use. 2) it is infringement to sell a quilt made from a pattern without the creator's permission. 3) the presence or absence of the copyright symbol does NOT negate infringement. It is a simple matter to contact the creator and get permission. I now check with the creator for permission before purchasing patterns. Most have given permission, but some have declined which is their right. I just don't buy their patterns. It was suggested when doing show and tell at a guild it would be nice if you gave the creator of the pattern credit along with the long arm quilter if one was used. 4) A quilt pattern is intended for you to make for your personal use unless stated otherwise. If the creator really wanted to push it and was aware you made 5 quilts from the pattern and gave them to family members it would be infringement. If you kept all 5 at your house for their use it is not infringement. However, I would think this unlikely. 5) I also just learned it is infringement if you donate the quilt. So now I need to contact the creator of the pattern of a quilt made in a class because I intended to donate it for a raffle to benefit our local volunteer fire department. Now I will be asking about this when taking classes. Life is complicated when you try to follow the rules isn't it.

BellaBoo

My ignore list of posters is getting longer and longer. LOL