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Are you infringing on another person's copyright?

© Lisa A. Hamblin

The Internet has brought about a vast world of information. Whether you are in search of information on a childhood illness, the price of your dream car or a pattern for a crocheted dishcloth you can probably find it on the Internet. A wealth of information is at our fingertips but one fact that seems to elude many Internet surfers is that of copyrights. The word copyright is defined as the legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

Are you infringing on another person's copyright?

If you are a member of an online crochet group and you post a crochet pattern for the entire group to read then you are violating the rights of the pattern designer.

If you scan in a crochet pattern and email it to your friends you are violating the rights of the designer.

If you make a photocopy of a pattern and send it snail mail to your friends you are violating the rights of the designer.

If you make a photocopy of a pattern for your own personal use so you can mark your rows while using that pattern you are NOT breaking the copyright law.

If you send a friend an original pattern that you purchased but you did not make a copy then you are NOT breaking the copyright law.

If you are a member of one of the literally hundreds of online crochet groups and you post a pattern for the entire group to read, BEWARE! You are infringing on the copyright of the person who designed that pattern and legal battles could ensue. It would be a shame to end up in a court battle over a copyright infringement because you shared patterns, especially with people you have never even met.

So it is ok to make a copy for your own use or give away pattern books or leaflets that you have purchased; but if you post, email or snail mail a pattern to another person you are in strict violation of the copyright law.

Who does pattern sharing hurt?

Here is what happens! A person designs a pattern to sale. Another person buys the pattern and proceeds to send copies to all of their friends. This cheats the designer out of possible profits from pattern sales, which in turn may cause them to not want to design new patterns. This process initially hurts the pattern designer but the effect trickles back to the person who gave the pattern copies to their friends in the first place. As a result, the entire crochet community suffers because the practice cuts down on the number of quality patterns available for the crochet enthusiast to purchase.

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