November 18th, 2012
Asking for your opinion....
So I was at a craft show recently and there was a women there who was selling toys, crocheted toys. I was looking at them and noticed I had seen the pattern before. I asked the crafter if she was on Etsy and she said yes but had bought the patterns. Bought the patterns.....really? I was confused. I thought it was wrong to make and sell a pattern, not legal wise but morally right? I thought the point of a pattern, besides making the item, is to learn new skills that yo can apply to your own creations. What do you think? Am I wrong? Is it okay? Or is it just an unspoken understanding that you don't use other artist creations? Let me know, please.
Unless the copyright specifically states that the work can be sold, legally it assumed to be protected by copyright laws. In Canada the copyright is assumed on any creative words and does not even need to be registered. Canadian laws are also recognized internationally.
ReplyDeleteI sell my patterns, and I cover all my bases by specifically stating that the any products created or based on my pattern can not be used for monetary gain.
You should probably let the person know that you saw their work at a show. If the work as been modified from the pattern it may not be protected. Also, the designer may have given permission for the work to be sold.
Specifically under Canadian Copyright law:
ReplyDelete3. (1) For the purposes of this Act, “copyright”, in relation to a work, means the sole right to produce or reproduce the work or any substantial part thereof in any material form whatever, to perform the work or any substantial part thereof in public or, if the work is unpublished, to publish the work or any substantial part thereof, and includes the sole right
(a) to produce, reproduce, perform or publish any translation of the work