question about copyrights--an innocent question not meant to start a war

Mirjam, we were not all drooling over the Martha Stewart poncho. Personally, I had no interest in making one like it. But I can see a positive effect in that it got more people interested in working with yarn. I'm enjoying the high popularity of knitting and crocheting because it means more yarns and patterns on the market.

One thing I've noticed is that publishers in other countries sometimes assert that a copyright gives them some control over the use of knitted items made from their patterns. It sounds as if they are talking about what we would call a design patent, and I tend to avoid anything that makes such a claim. I have no idea about their actual legal status, or whether the relevant issues have even been addressed by the courts.

I've seen that in the US and I chose not to buy the pattern book. The person even wrote that items made from the patterns were not to be donated to a charity sale!

=Tamar

In that specific example, I think it might be significant if you found the lace pattern elsewhere as well. I've seen a copyrighted lace shawl that used a lace pattern I found in a collection of knitting patterns published by someone else decades earlier. I don't know where the collector found it; most pattern collection books include patterns that were printed in the 19th century and are most definitely out of copyright now. The copyright is on the exact wording. Design protection is an entirely different thing as far as I know. My personal opinion (I'm not a lawyer) is that your adaptation is different enough so that you could honestly say you were inspired by the original to invent your own design.

=Tamar

Tamar , you read this

Really , that is just unbelieable ,,,, and extremely unrealistic , and elaborates on some of my ideas , that this whole matter has been taken too far ....Now let`s talk about this person`s prohibiting ,,,,, a person buys the book , makes the item , wears it a bit , can`t wear it anymore for any reason , and now decides [ since it still looks well] to sell it for charity , and by this mayne help a neddy person who would wear it and from the money maybe help a second person ....While cleaning her own closet and maybe buy and knit another Pattern from the Above designing lady .... Who will again profit ???? But she forbids it ... What next ,, cooking books with recipes that aren`t allowed to be eaten outside the house ? In fact this Forbiding to sell in cahrity ,, does look a bit unlawful to me ,,,, i am surprised she doesn`t chrage you for every time you wear the item ????

mirjam

Good for you! It's funny, the person who felt so strongly about his or her knitting patterns probably reads literature that is in the public domain and takes it for granted; uses traditional knitting patterns and techniques and takes them for granted. Even this very newsgroup uses software that people wrote and gave away. Knitting is a small thing, but I'd hate to see it go entirely commercial.

skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

Agree!!!! IF SO, I think it will die! Aud ;-))

Mirjam, it is just narrow mindedness. I think that everyone with some sort of honesty and decency in her or his soul, will know exactly when you are tresspassing on anyones designs, or textile ideas. They will know when they are profitting by stealing a real clean new pattern etc. Most likely, a person who deliberatly goes about doing that, is beyond straightning out, other than maybe taking it to court. Lots of hassle, and oh so costly. I can only see that when you take a pattern from say Debby Bliss, and mass produce it and sell it in major department stores.

For the rest, I would say relax, and do try new ideas based on old concepts, that is truly how the world does go around. Share, and learn, and teach and above all do not worry to much and enjoy your craft.

big hugs for all from Vancouver Island

Els

No way we will not let it.......right

Els

Most pattern books say the pattern is not to be used for commercial purposes. This would not stop you knitting up the item and putting it in a charity sale, or a church sale, or even selling it when you have finished with it. What they want to stop is a person taking a copyright design and mass producing it, and selling it to Walmart for example.

Anyway, the publishers have better things to do than try to police every bake sale in the world. They do want the clause there so that if they find the design on the shelves of Walmart, then they can do something about it.

Roger.

So do writers in Canada! In fact I answered another post a little while ago where I stated that it is called a "Poor man's copyright" and it is done by writers (including myself) all the time. Just make sure *not* to open the sealed envelope for any reason other than in a court of law, so that it can't be said that it has been adjusted in anyway since it was written.

Peace! Gemini

Speaking for myself, it's not that I worry about being sued. It's just that I don't think claims of that sort are legitimate, and I don't want to support publishers or designers who make them. If the design is of the sort that would be equally satisfactory in a cheap mass-produced knit I doubt that I would be interested anyway.

Thank you Roger, well said

Els

There's a very big difference between making something from a commercial pattern and then selling the finished item, and claiming a work is your own and selling the pattern.

I don't think the two can be compared at all.