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#21
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copyright covers the original and any derivative. If
your quilt looks like a quilt made from my published designs then it is a derivative. I have thought about this a bunch, and in general, I'm confused. For example: I am about to finish a baby quilt. The pattern was a double pinwheel. How do I know if this is copywrited? By who? At what point does a pattern become general use? There are lots of pinwheel patterns in books.. If I lay it out the same way as any of them, did I violate a copywrite? How do I learn which patterns are copywriter? Log cabin? What if I see a boarder or a quilt, and take the concept - triangles and squares, and re-design it with changes? I have more questions, but the above I think covers my confusion on the topic. This is related to, am I never allowed to sell a quilt b/c I have no idea if I saw it once somewhere and am now using ideas from it... Thanks, NS |
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#22
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Thanks for all your thoughtful comments.
Best, NS BRBR Ok, let me see if I can ease your pain and confusion with a bit of plain talk. There are many patterns that have come down through the ages that are in general use. Barbara Brackman's book of blocks is a wonderful resource of block designs and their source. When you set out to make a quilt, you either come up with on your own or you are making it from a pattern or picture. If you come up with it on your own, then you are have created the quilt design. You also could rely upon readily common use blocks such as log cabin, shoo fly, pin wheel etc. There is absolutely no way to know if someone else came up the same or similar design in the past or will in the future so it is not an issue that would be definitive. However, let say you make a complex quilt that looks exactly like a published design except for say, color or size. The copyright holder could assume that you made your quilt from her published design. If you did not, simply state that you did not. End of story and you can go on your way with your quilt. If you did but just changed a few things and it still looks essentially like the published design then you made a derivative of the published design. If the design you purchased stated for personal use only and you wanted to sell it, simply ask for permission to do so. Let me give you an example of one of the very few times I have ever addressed the copyright issue of my designs. Many years ago, I made a quilt called Comical Country. This quilt was chosen from a field of 1,000 quilts to be in Great American Quilts. It was a medallion style quilt with a barn, sheep, bunnies, apples, flowers, cows, ducks and trees. We published the pattern in a national magazine, booklet and in Great American Quilts. There was a crochet magazine that ran a contest for afghan designs. One of the winners was a replica of my quilt. The afghan used the exact setting, all the objects and colors that I used in my quilt. This quilt had been in several national quilt magazines and books so the image was readily available to the public. I resented the fact that the winner not only never mentioned the source of the design but claimed it as her original design and also won a contest beating out others who did submit their original work. I wrote the editor of the magazine and included pictures of my quilt. I never heard from the magazine or the winner and that was fine. I just didn't want the winner to have unfair advantage and not play fair. Now, what do you think the odds are that the maker of the afghan came up with such a complex setting, color, style and objects on her own? NS, the bottom line is just play fair, give credit where credit is due and don't sweat the small stuff. Most of us quilters are pretty reasonable people and we really are fun to play with. All the best, Carol Doak http://quilt.com/CDoak |
#23
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Great answer, Carol!
In a twist on this discussion, I had a really difficult time convincing my publisher that I WANTED to allow photocopying of my book under certain circumstances. Totally goes against the grain for craft books, though it's often done for curriculum materials. Since I want my book to be used in women's ministry in churches and by missionaries, the copyright notice says "may be reproduced for use in a local church..." No doubt someone somewhere is ignoring my notice anyway: there's one woman on the internet who has posted a picture of a quilt made from my patterns as an example of her original DESIGN service! She claims that, because she used different colours from the original, she designed the quilt. Not worth pursuing her [okay, I admit, I'd be more upset if her colour choices weren't downright homely!] As for making a living from my copyrighted material? I'm figuring that sometime in the next decade, I might break even [but only if I stop buying fabrics for samples!] -- Kim Graham http://members.shaw.ca/kigraham Nanaimo, BC, Canada THE WORD IN PATCHWORK "Carol Doak" wrote in message ... Hi Julia: Houston, we have a problem. Julia, when the teacher copies and distributes these copies, she has violated the copyright of the book and has infringed on the exclusive rights of the publisher. When I sign a publishing agreement, I give the publisher exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the work. When the teacher copies the pages of the book, she is infringing on their exclusive rights and they have a right to address that issue with the teacher. If the shop owner is aware of this situation and permits it, they are not only being poor business people because they are in the busines of selling books, but they are knowingly permitting an illegal activity in their shop. Many years ago when I taught frequent classes a local quilt shop, there was a large sign on the top of their copy machine that stated, "If you copy any published material on this machine, you are fired!" I think the shop owner took a definite stand on this issue and there was no doubt about the fact that they would not tolerate such activity. If I were a student in that class, morally I would feel compelled to publicly announce that distribution of copyrighted material without permission is illegal. The reason publishers need this type of protection is logical because if their product can be reproduced and distributed by others, they would not be able to stay in the business of publishing and if they can't afford to publish then I can't afford to create and design. All the best, Carol Doak http://quilt.com/CDoak |
#24
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I understand that and apparently some don't , as you can see by the postings
some think that it is their artistic property to use as they will . Mary "Pat in Virginia" wrote in message newsBWRc.2220$73.1374@lakeread04... Mary: I would think that *anyone* who goes to the trouble, time, and expense of writing a book or publishing patterns would also consider it a business, not 'a little hobby.' Do you know people who do this for a little hobby? PAT, who also appreciates Carol's input on the topic MB wrote: Hi Carol...Thanks for the clear answers ! I figured that you must have had restrictions concerning your patterns, as I know you have a lot of hard work in producing them and , after all, you are in business and it isn't just a 'little hobby' for you. Mary in VT " Hi Mary: Since you asked the question....It states in my books that the purchaser may reproduce the designs for personal use and not for commerical purposes. However, over the past dozen years I have been contacted many times requesting permission to use my designs for raffle quilts and limited sales such as craft fairs etc. and I have always given permission for these types of commerical uses. I only ask that the source of the design used is stated and that it is being used with permission. Many times I have seen quild raffle quilts using my designs where permission was not requested and I do nothing because I would have given them permission if they had asked anyway. The "personal use" statement protects my publisher and myself from a large business using the designs that I created to make products that I would not approve of or flooding the market of discount houses with large numbers of quilts made in China using my designs. I am sure that quilters understand that the effort and funds that a designer and a publisher put into producing a book has to be protected by copyright laws otherwise there would be no books produced. However, the current discussion about the Dear Jane quilt top is not about copyright, it is about a trademark issue. The ebay seller of the quilt used the registered trademark "Dear Jane" and the owner of the trademark is the only one who can use it unless she gives that right to another. Although this issue has created quite a bit of discussion, it is important to keep things in perspective and if in doubt, just ask. All the best, Carol Doak http://quilt.com/CDoak |
#25
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Natalie wrote:
This section was interesting to me b/c it is a constant battle in schools... I've had professors copy material for us to read, and then return it b/c it was copywrited. I've had professors read 5 page articles out loud in class... On professors compliant was that it is very hard to keep up with recent events and obey copy write stuff b/c it can take a very long time for academic publishers to reply on the subject... All kinds of stuff. Most publishers will allow personal copies for the interest of education. They will also allow quotes for inclusion into academic work or into reviews. Most of my college professors photocopied the text, then put that copy in the library "on hold"- so you would have to request it from the desk, read it, and give it back. They would also do this with out-of-print books if they had the book. I'm not sure what the law is. I have taught informal classes on the history of plumbing where I photocopied pictures in books and shared these with my class, because it was easier than showing them all of the books proper. I gave them all my bibliography. I think if I did charge them for photocopies of the pictures from books that I'd be in violation, even if I was not making a profit. Although the items pictured are well out their copywright, the photographs *aren't*. The few pictures I have of garderobes that I have seen- I can distribute those as I wish. -georg |
#26
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Most of my college professors photocopied the text, then put that copy in the library "on hold"- so you would have to request it from the desk, read it, and give it back. They would also do this with out-of-print books if they had the book. When I worked in the Reserves section of Circulation at Florida State University, the professors were allowed to place articles on reserve for one semester without copyright approval. If they wanted to use it for another semester even if they skipped one, they had to fill out a request for copyright approval and have it to us before the semester started or the articles in question were removed. Same applied for electronic reserves. Ginny in Tallahassee where we are waiting for Tropical Storm Bonnie. |
#27
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Natalie,
The University I attend (Concordia in Mtl) has solved that problem by using the svc of a company that takes care of the copyright stuff and royalties are paid accordingly (stated on the cover of the crse package). As Carol stated, one has to "wake up to one's self in the morning". Well put Carol. Carole (Champlain, NY) Who is finding this thread quite interesting "Natalie" wrote in message ... This section was interesting to me b/c it is a constant battle in schools... I've had professors copy material for us to read, and then return it b/c it was copywrited. I've had professors read 5 page articles out loud in class... On professors compliant was that it is very hard to keep up with recent events and obey copy write stuff b/c it can take a very long time for academic publishers to reply on the subject... All kinds of stuff. Thanks for all your informed comments. Best, NS |
#28
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"Taria" wrote in message ... I paid for the book too. I have a lot of historical quilt books that I enjoy. The DJ one will probably go to the guild raffle table next month. I just have a bad taste for the whole thing now. I have recreated old quilts but I would never take on the ownership she has. Just a different opinion than yours Sandy. Legally she is in the right but I still think the whole thing is tacky. Taria I'm still not entirely sure she's in the right legally. From what I understand (and I have to tell you I don't find the Dear Jane type quilts attractive) this Brenda person made up templates or a book or both and sold the templates and/or book to make this quilt. As far as I am concerned that is it. The purpose of templates and pattern books is TO MAKE QUILTS. She was paid for the templates and/or books, so she was compensated for her labor. End of story. Disney and other companies tried to stop people from selling items made with their licensed fabrics. A company called Tabberone took them on in Federal Court. Federal Court said Disney (and Nascar and Warner Bros) couldn't tell people what to do with their fabric. Once Disney etc. put their fabric into the "stream of commerce" they no longer have control over what happens to it. They have been paid. The purpose of fabric is to make things. Once the things are made, they belong to the people who made the things, not the people who made the fabric. They can be given away, they can be sold. They can be sold by people they are given to. Iris |
#29
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On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 17:05:51 GMT, Taria
wrote: The way she represents it the 12% sort of seems like ransom. She will take the amount not to sue I guess. I understand the need to protect your work but the whole thing makes the author look pretty cheap to me. I would look at it different if she herself had made the original quilt. Yeah she put a lot of time into the research but I bet dollars to donuts she makes a bunch at shows and lectures and classes. Taria I for one, will NEVER buy any of her books. |
#30
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I am right with you on this.
-- Sugar & Spice Quilts by Linda E http://community.webshots.com/user/frame242 |
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