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Attn: Copyright Law Experts

Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply wrote:

What would be handy is if more designers were very explicit about the rights they were granting, and more are becoming explicit as they themselves gain greater awareness of copyright law. The point is that if you want to know what is absolutely, positively permissible, it's to stitch one copy as directed from the chart. That's absolutely solid ground, even in the absence of clear direction from the copyright owner. Once you step beyond that, either making changes (such that you're creating a derivative work) or making multiple copies, then you're in a gray area. The copyright owner has the *right* to prevent you from doing any more than that. Most designers don't intend that limited a license, but they *could* if they wanted to. So, in the absence of a clear statement from the copyright owner, you either have to make a judgment call yourself or ask the designer. Asking the designer is always the safe route. Making a judgment call entails some risk, though many calls are very low risk. Making multiple copies for personal use is very unlikely to be a problem, but getting to the point where you're mass producing them almost certainly will be a problem. Keeping it yourself or giving it as a gift to a friend is very unlikely to be a problem, and maybe not even putting it in a charity auction, but selling them by the dozen is almost certainly over the line. Making a few changes is extremely low risk, but using the design in a completely different way without permission might be more than the designer is willing to tolerate. Hanging it in your home is not a problem; hanging it in a gallery might possibly be, particularly if you've stretched the limits of your rights in other areas. Note also that in the case of licensed characters (like Disney characters and such), there are additional limitations.

Best wishes, Ericka

Reply to
Ericka Kammerer
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I'm actually wondering if it's considered reasonable (in the legal sense) to use the pattern multiple times. Isn't it dependent on the copyright holder to specify whether or not it can be used more than once? A "reasonable" person would assume that it could be repeated, just as a book can be read more than once, a cd can be listened to more than once, etc. Besides, I figure there's a reason that Disney says "only once" but very few other designers do.

Allura

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Reply to
Allura

My *personal* guess is that yes, multiple copies for personal use from the same pattern would probably be a reasonable assumption unless the copyright owner specifies otherwise. I doubt you'll find anyone in legal hot water for doing that, even though it is a judgment call rather than something that is explicitly spelled out. However, I think the reason most designers don't specify anything is simply that they're as unaware of many of the details of copyright as everyone else, not because they've made a conscious decision about whether or not they want to allow someone to stitch multiple copies from a single chart.

Best wishes, Ericka

Reply to
Ericka Kammerer

My guess would be that stitching multiple items for personal use or personal gifts from a pattern you purchased would be perfectly fine, but taking the pattern from a kit and purchasing additional materials to make more of the same item without purchasing the kit could possibly be treading on thin ice.

My rationale for this is that nobody would expect you to purchase a pattern book and only use each pattern once, but the designer of the kit could possibly have done this to limit distribution.

Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

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