On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 16:08:05 GMT, "Kathy Applebaum"
wrote:

I've been rather bothered over the last few days by the posts indirectly
addressing copyright issues here. This is a subject that's been hashed over
many times before, and not a lot that's new is ever added to this debate.
Still, I feel I need to vent.

I've seen several posts advocating the position that it's okay to use
copyrighted images or patterns without permission because the designer
"should" share with everyone. What I don't get is why permission isn't
asked. It's really not that hard to write a simple email. I've asked for
permission numerous times, and only been turned down once. (That one time
was funny in retrospect, because the design was not particularly original.)
Most designers I've talked to are incredibly generous and very flattered
that someone would ask. That's the important part: asking.

If my neighbor wanted to use my lawn mower, I'd let her borrow it in a
heartbeat. But I'd be mighty ticked if I found she had gone into my garage
and used it without asking first, as would most of you. Our very own Dr.
Quilter is upset because someone went into her house without asking, and
rightly so. Many of you know that I'm always happy to spend time answering
questions about quilting and longarming. I'm glad to share what I've spent
many hours learning because I'm grateful that others were willing to share
with me. But I've also had aspiring longarmers call up, posing as potential
customers, and try to take my knowledge on the sly. Believe me, that's a
VERY unpleasant feeling, especially when I would have been willing to help
them out if they'd been honest.

Yes, there are times when it's not easy to ask for permission. But there's a
real human being on the other side of the equation, who has real feelings,
and could feel hurt if someone takes something without permission just
because it's inconvenient to ask. Doing the right thing isn't always
convenient, but it's still important.

Okay, I'm off the soapbox now. You can safely read the newsgroup again.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/co...3/stitch.reut/

Interesting article.


-- Jo in Scotland