vicki reno

Thanks! I had read the article that Patrice gave the link to, but did not know where to go to research a pattern. Now I am informed and I appreciate your help.

plfreitag

Patrice said:
i think i'll just do as my instincts suggest and wait to see who sues. i don't have much anyway. wouldn't be worth what it'll cost them in legal fees. LOL

I couldn't do that, knowing what I know now after looking some of this stuff up. I simply couldn't sleep with myself. I'd far rather write the designer or make up my own version altered enough that it's not a copy of the one I saw so that I don't violate the unspoken honor rule. I know if I made a pattern and was making part of my living selling it, I'd be really ticked off if I knew someone was making countless copies of it and selling it without credit, thereby selling it as their design...it's like lying.

Trisha in MO

Carla P

Here is a solution Vicki... Ask Patrice to design all of the quilts you want to make & send her however much yardage she wants as payment for her permission to sell them. Then everyone is happy, can sleep at night, & no one is being sued. :D (She does have a gift for that sort of thing)

patricej

this is a direct quote from the copyright.gov site:

"Works Originally Created before January 1, 1978, But Not Published or Registered by That Date
These works have been automatically brought under the statute and are now given federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works is generally computed in the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978: the life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms apply to them as well. The law provides that in no case would the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047."

Huh? if i translate this correctly, if it was created before Jan 1 78 but not published before 31 Dec 2002, it's protected until at least 2002. however, if it was created before Jan 1 78, and published before 31 Dec 2002, it's protected until 31 Dec 2047.

i have a headache and kitty just fainted.

plfreitag

It's the life of the designer plus 70-120 years but at least 2002.

Trisha in MO

patricej

You can't ask the designer's permission unless (1) you know who that is and (2) that person is alive. in which case you already know for sure it's copyrighted, so of course the right thing to do is ask. that's a no-brainer. same holds true if the person died fewer than 95 years before you want to use it. the right thing to do is to try contacting the designer's heir(s).

the questions surround those patterns of unknown origin and age.

i'm forkin' out the bucks for the quilt encyclopedia. the book is under $30. the companion software for EQ is (yeeps!!!) around $70. seems a worthwhile investment for anybody who might want to sell something - or give away more than one copy - some day.

and that getting me to design it idea ain't half-bad. i'm not famous yet, so you could probably get it for a steal (but not from a steal. that would start the confusion all over again!) :mrgreen:

plfreitag

I'm thinking if you see something and draft your own interpretation of it, knowing it's not a copy, that's not a violation. However, if you take a picture, and make yours just like it, or only move a thing or two around, that's infringement. It's about making something that looks just like someone else's work and taking credit for it as your own. Think plagiarism. Either quote and give credit, or rearrange the ideas in your own words. :-)

If I remember I saw something and I liked how the blocks looked and make my own version of those blocks in my own setting, using my own technique, without making it exactly the same, that's not making an unauthorized copy.

It's kinda like the ladies who go to a store and see a dress they like and go home and design one like it for a lot less than, say, $600...it's their creation, and it's not a piece by piece copy, so it's cool. :mrgreen:

Trisha in MO

patricej

the new version must vary from the original by at least 20% or it's considered "derivative" and therefore still and infringement unless you get permission. don't ask me how to measure that 20%. i have no idea.

Carla P

I think you just hit on something... "from the steal" Develop a pattern line & call them the "PGA Quilts... From the Steal" & start with your own version of the "Drunkards Path", then "Jacob Fell Off of the (Wagon) Ladder", "Back on the Wagon (Wheel)", and on and on and on it could go.

I'll set up the website you can sell them from (copyrighted of course) and you'll be famous in no time!! What do ya say??? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :lol:

mpeters1200

I get the copywrited and not copywrited stuff...

My question lies solely in the question of public domain. How are we supposed to know that for example a 4-patch is copywrited or public? Is there a list somewhere or am I just supposed to be scared to give away 30 of the things lest I create infringement?? I would never sell a quilt, they just aren't pretty enough (I mean the ones I make not quilts in general).