2ursula

I also doubt that most of the 'protected designs' could actually be CR. If they are in fact CR then somebody should challenge it.
100,000s of landscape painters paint trees using certain techniques. Have you ever heard of a copyrighted landscape picture?
Of course, everybody puts his/her own stamp, feel and artistic expression into the painted images.
Same with quilting.
Whoever sews simple geometric forms into quilts without duplicating a commercial design stitch by stitch, color by color should be perfectly safe.

If I wanted to sell a pattern that uses e.g. tesselated stars in a gradated color scheme I would be perfectly safe to do so even if this design is shown e. g. in the quilters cache where many old-fashioned designs are published with the remark "This is an original design ..... "

My foot! Most of their designs are all but original designs (It's OK, their site is marvelous.) It has been done for many decades by many thousand quilters. These socalled CR warnings are unenforcible, not at the least because the designs have no unique or new elements.

Same as Michelangelo painting angels. Everybody copied his angels to everybody's delight.

cafegold2

Once published , isn't a pattern in the public domain and therefore no infringement on a copyright. Any attorneys in the house to guide us?

majormom

I just wonder how many of these quilt patterns in the mags are really original from start to finish anyway. Maybe they are copying and using patterns from way back without permission themselves!
Quilting has been going on forever - new patterns cannot be that infinite! What an attitude they have anyway. Why bother to publish the pictures of the quilts with directions on how to make them if they are not to be given or sold? Just how many quilts do we each personally need in our homes, that's what I want to know.
I'm just disgusted that I had already reordered a couple of mags before this issue was brought up a while ago. Will not order again, believe me.

patricej

publication in any form is what creates the copyright ... regardless of whether or not it's registered with the feds.

designers cannot copyright blocks already in the public domain.

debate rages over whether they can copyright layouts they design using only blocks from the public domain.

there is no doubt, however, that they can copyright the patterns and instructions they write and illustrate showing us how to make those quilts.

Zoe

We continue on with this debate, don't we? I personally think it's the dumbest move in years, because quilters no longer are free to share anything.

When our quilt group made a quilt that was published in one of the Fons & Porter magazines for display at our local county fair, I wrote to the magazine to get permission to do so. I was informed that we all had to be subscribers to this magazine, and that we could not sell this quilt top. We were not selling the quilt nor were we raffling it off to raise money. Quilt members of our group had to work on the quilt top, and we then drew one of our workers' names as the winner of the quilt.

Here's where I think this magazine was wrong. Who were they going to sue? We were an informal group of seniors who were given donated space in a local building. Our group was not a guild in the sense that we did not have dues or bylaws or other financial obligations. Was this magazine going to sue a county agency, one without any monies to begin with? How stupid was their response?

I immediately canceled my subscription, urging others to do the same. Here's my position. I can go to any library and copy that pattern for my personal use. The magazine itself purchased that pattern from the original designer. By displaying this magazine and the completed quilt, we were, in effect, helping to publicize that particular pattern (and the magazine too). What more could a designer ask?

I am saddened that the quilt community is so wrapped up in this copyright debate. What ever happened to "fair usage" as a concept? Do the quilt police think they can control the consumers to that degree? If so, I will no longer purchase any patterns, looking to use those in the Public Domain. :cry:

Ps 150

Where are these statements located in the magazines?

2ursula

Why do you even worry about those lunitoons?

If and when they sue you (your club, your group, your whatever) they have to make a claim for DAMAGES. Don't settle. Let them prove that you have done damage to their commercial interests.

Have fun with them.

They can keep nice citizens in court for ever. Make it your entertainment project for your group to do the same to them. You don't need a lawyer. Just question their damage claim.

Sooner or later THEY will be thrown out of court.

amandasgramma

Okay -- now here's another thought that I don't see mentioned. I worked with a woman that was teaching me web design. She was very well known in her area and in fact, does web pages for some of the people on TV. I eventually decided I didn't want to do it (boring), so I'll share this with you. The first thing she had me do was create my own web page. She had me add a copyright clause at the bottom. I questioned how that would work, that it costs $$ to get a copyright. She said "I know, but the person reading this may not know it's a worthless statement".......TAAADAAAAHHH.....I'm not worried about copyrights now. And yes, I WILL credit a magazine/designer, etc when I make something.

quiltsru

what are the names of the magazines in question?

Kandy

rivka

Not true at all. You don't have to pay to have a copyright. Once you create the work, then it is copyrighted (see #8 on the link below). Registering a copyright is what you're thinking of, and it is not necessary for the work to actually be copyrighted and protected by the law.

http://www.keytlaw.com/Copyrights/top10myths.htm