I have a question regarding Copyright Laws. I’m considering entering the Cupcake Baby Set from Itty Bitty Nursery by Susan B. Anderson in our state fair - would this violate any copyright law?
Important question!
I don’t think so. If you were making them to sell that would be a different issue.
I agree with Jan!
Besides, [I]you’re not taking credit for being the designer. [/I]
(You’re the lowly builder, [B]she’s[/B] the designer and architect.)
Best Wishes for a BLUE RIBBON! 
well…its only taken me forever to respond!!! lol!!! i went ahead and entered the set…hat, mittens and scarf. unfortunately no ribbons…the competition was stiff tho!!! there were so many beautiful pieces!!! as disappointed as i was i just chalked it up to a new experience…and am already planning on what to enter next year!!!
Copyright protects the pattern from being copied or reproduced but does NOT protect finished items from being sold, ever. Even if the pattern maker says you can’t sell it, or that you must have a license, its untrue. Once you make the item it is yours to do with it what you want.
Interesting but how does this relate to patents? You also need to keep in mind copyright laws differ from country to country. Is there a link you can provide to back up this information? Im interested in knowing more about this.
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/patterns/1216882/1-25n There is a pretty long discussion on it there.
And you are right - this is in the US. As far as patent goes = Copyright only protects the words that compose the pattern. If you wanted to protect your rights to a three dimensional object created from the pattern, you’d have to file for a patent. And you can’t patent useful items, like clothing. And then as soon as anyone using the pattern changed anything about it, as in using a different colour, yarn, needle size, stitch, etc, it would nullify the patent. You would have to patent every possible incarnation of the pattern to cover yourself, providing what you were trying to patent wasn’t deemed a useful article.
Not to mention patents being obscenely expensive.
I saw on Rav where a lady was giving out an Angry Birds pattern, and she had received a cease and desist letter. SHe had to rename the pattern to “Angry Fowl” and she was all good.
I finally decided that if someone wanted to “hire me” to knit a sweater for them (pattern being a “copyright” design) I would ask the customer to purchase the pattern, and the yarn. Then they would only be paying me to knit it. The designer is happy, she got her $6.50 for the pdf pattern, the LYS is happy, they made their profit on yarn. I’m happy, I’ve been compensated for my time.
I know this scenario can’t apply to all possible situations, such as what if the design is in an out-of-print book? But then there is always the Library, and Ebay.
I’d never want to tangle with some designers, even if I’m in “the right.” Some designers are real nut jobs, totally paranoid about losing their “living”. Why borrow trouble? One designer in particular stalks my Ravelry projects, and jumps down my throat if I say anything she considers “revealing” about the pattern stitch counts when I’m describing a modification I had to do. Even though I’m totally “in the right” and “within my rights” according to Ravelry guidelines, this designer persists in sending me nasty, threatening private messages, and went so far as to dig up my personal email and continue her hysterical rant. The lady is C.R.A.Z.Y. It’s very upsetting, even though I am not breaking anything close to copyright laws!
So I really do speak from experience about crazy designers, and their paranoia! You’d never want to run into one of them, and you’d never guess who the nut jobs are!
Another precaution I’d personally take is: Keep my business to myself and OFF THE INTERNET. I’d work with customers one-on-one, face-to-face, when working out a suitable agreement for a knitted item.
The second her design hits the internet in any way, the designer knows how to find out. Search engines are powerful tools. The crazy paranoid designers would spend the time to gain this information even before they’d eat breakfast.
Thanks for the extra info Kayhold
[B]@ ArtLady1981[/B] : Very good advice, if I ever knit well enough to have someone want me to knit for them Im doing it your way. 
That’s an excellent way to handle it, Dollyce! I doubt I’ll ever knit for anyone for money…for one I don’t knit enough or fast enough and two I don’t like making what I do for a hobby become work. It’s not fun anymore that way IMO. 
I think there may be some confusion…i didnt make any profit by knitting this item…i simply entered it in the state fair. there have been a couple times that someone has asked me to knit something for them…i simply have them buy the yarn…its pure enjoyment for me to knit - and time really isnt an issue!!! granted its only been baby blankets…so not too time consuming! 
Dollyce, what do the Ravelry site leaders say, have you taken this to them?
Yeah, I would call that harrassment and isn’t tolerated by Ravelry guidelines.
No, I haven’t taken it to the Ravelry brass. It is too upsetting. However, upon the most recent snarky message she sent to me… what I did was DELETE my project entirely. I kept working on it, but I deleted it from my Ravelry projects. THAT was my answer to her. Basically, “stick it up your a**.” I didn’t respond to her message at all. Just deleted the project.
However, when the project was done, I needed to re-entered the project to track my knitting, and account for the yarn. But, in the notes section, I posted: [B]“I didn’t enjoy knitting this sweater and I wish I had never cast on for it.” [/B] Of course the reason being that part of my enjoyment was taken away by her. Until this recent attack, and my subsequent deletion of the project, I hadn’t realizde how much I enjoy notating my knitting process! My notes section is sort of like a blog, a knitting diary. And I’m quite surprised at how many comments I receive that my notes have helped others! That’s gratifying, but not the reason I share my knitting experience. I just like to.
WOW! Did I ever get a lot of people messaging me, asking me WHY didn’t I enjoy knitting
this sweater? They were worried about ‘is there something wrong with the pattern?’
Well, knowing full well that she stalks my notes, I was careful what I replied. She could have spies asking me WHY, and being paranoid, she would be looking for me to say something she could pick a fight about. I wasn’t in the mood for another message from her…so I played it cool. She can be very passive-aggressive, and sometimes just plain hysterical, IMO.
So far, so good. The witch has not commented or messaged me about anything since.
I will continue to knit her designs because they are well-written, error-free, and darn good designs. It’s a shame that she’s such a nut job. Attacking your own customers is so OUT THERE…it’s unbelievable.
I do notice that her Ravelry Group has little activity. No doubt others have felt the sting of her paranoia, too. But I’m a special target because I notate so much about my knitting experiences with any given project.
I read that Ravelry says HANDS OFF a knitter’s notebook. A knitter can say whatever she wants to about a project in their own personal notes for that project. The guidelines are a bit more strict about posts in the public arena, like the Group for a design, or designers. [B] But hands off the personal project notes. [/B] Well, that doesn’t stop the witch. She can’t help herself. I really believe she doesn’t like me. It hurts my feelings. All I’ve ever done is buy dozens of her pdf patterns, and knit them! Oy.
I am done with her. If and when I start another of her designs, I’m going to say whatever the I want to,
and just let her try to message me again. I’ve had it up to here.
The next time, I will contact Ravelry. I’ve saved all the personal emails she’s sent me over the past 2 years. Plus her snarky private messages at Rav. I have proof of harrassment, but for the time being…I’m just not spoiling for a fight. It’s very upsetting, and I’m thin-skinned.
Being a business women (my art consulting business) for the past 32 years, I can’t fathom mistreating customers. It’s just unbelievable. But then I’m not crazy.
You have done the wise thing Dollyce, saving all correspondence, a paper trail is a must under these circumstances. If she doesnt like people making notes on their projects she shouldnt have her projets on Ravelry in the first place, you cant have your cake and eat it too. The whole beauty of Ravelry for the designer is the advertising but the down side is anyone can critique, praise or change your pattern, if she cant take the good with the bad she needs to start her own blog where people can blow fairy kisses up her *** and she can live in her fantasy world.
I encourage you to tell that princess to suck it up Dollyce, the beauty of the internet is your anonymity, just keep in mind the childrens rhyme ‘sticks and stones’, all she has is her keyboard, but admin has the big red ban button, Im sure with a theatening email from the Ravelry bosses she’ll crawl back into her hole.
Can you just put up the project but not link to it? That would show her… lol
Oh, I know what you mean! Hmmm, that is a good thought.
However, linking to it has advantages. But next time I knit one of her designs, I will try your suggestion!
If she’s really hardcore stalking me, she’ll be subscribed to anything and everything I post…and she’ll know anyway.
I don’t know how people do that…subscribe to someone’s knitting new posts, new photos, etc…but there are a few people who message me whenever I’ve done something like post a new project, or post a new photo for a project. I don’t know how they know! :??
Is that was RSS feeds are about? :shrug:
When you friend someone you can tell when they’re online; maybe where they’re at too and what activities they’re doing.
eta - yeah, I just went to my Friends list (you’re there) and you can search for them in your groups, search their projects and their stashes. So maybe that’s how. If she’s on your friends list, take 'er off!
Ewww, running over to Rav right now to see! Thanks for the tip!
I always thought that you couldn’t take someone else’s pattern that they created, knit something, and sell it. I thought that was the way that copywrite went?? I’m confused by this thread now!!