Copyright is Confusing

I was thinking of writing a piece on “tips and tricks” to share with you. One of the “tips and tricks” I use for nearly every project that I was going to share is to make a “working photocopy” of your pattern. I know it seems like a no-brainer, but I run into a lot of people who haven't thought of doing this to save their books from the wear and tear they are subjected to in project bags, not to mention giving you a handy place to jot down notes.

But I was having a dilemma. I couldn’t just put that tip out there and not include a note on copyright as it pertains to both personal uses and Springwater uses. So, here are the bones of copyright laws as they pertain to your own fiber endeavors and at Springwater:

Copyright law is a serious consideration for Springwater. Unfortunately, it is easy to violate (as we have seen with the music industry), but violations are still illegal and could carry hefty fines. As a non-profit organization concerned with community and educating people about all the joys of fiber arts, we also need to be sure we are not doing so at another’s expense.

Whether a pattern specifically has a big, bold copyright notice on it or not, it likely has a copyright owned by either the author or the publisher. Patterns, I think we would all agree, are undoubtedly artistic and intellectual works. The government copyright website (http://www.copyright.gov/) defines copyright as:

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of ‘original works of authorship,’ including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. . . . It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright.

~ Quoted from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci

Things we MAY do include:

• We MAY make a copy of a pattern we have already purchased for our own personal use. For example, I usually make a copy of a pattern that I am working on so that I may make notes, highlight the size I am working on, or make alterations to the pattern for myself.
• We MAY print out a copy of a free pattern on the internet for our own personal use. For example, patterns on http://www.knitty.com are available to print out for person use, but are not available to sell or distribute.
• We MAY tell customers where they may obtain a free pattern on the internet.
• We MAY make a copy of a pattern that we have sold the last copy of. This copy should not to be sold, but used only as a reminder of what we need to re-order.
• We MAY write a pattern and copyright it ourselves. If you do create and wish to copyright a pattern yourself, the correct notation would be: © 2006 Jane Doe or Copyright 2006 Jane Doe. Under the current laws, technically you do not need to register your piece nor put a copyright notice on it in order to secure copyright protection, but it certainly helps to avoid any confusion.

Things we MAY NOT do include:

• We MAY NOT make copies of free internet patterns to distribute to our customers. These patterns are under copyright protection by the author or publisher and may not be distributed by a store (even if we don’t charge for them) without express permission for the copyright holder. We can, however, tell a customer where to go to make their own copy for personal use.
• We MAY NOT make a photocopy of a pattern from a book we have not purchased, nor allow our customers to do so.
• We MAY NOT sell a photocopy of a pattern.
• We MAY NOT sell something we have made from a pattern that is copyrighted by someone other than ourselves.
• We MAY NOT make a slight adjustment (i.e. change the color of the yarn) to a pattern and call it altered sufficiently as to no longer be protected under copyright law. This is covered under the “derivative works” section and would also require permission from the copyright holder to distribute.
• Unless you are certain it is in the public domain, it is always safe to assume that if you did not write it, draw it, photograph it, compose it, etc., someone else did, and therefore, someone else holds the copyright, and we need to obtain permission (by asking or purchasing) to distribute it.

For more information about copyright, visit: http://www.copyright.gov/.