Needlework Piracy
There's been a lot of talk lately about Internet pirates. No, these aren't the swashbuckling, sword-yielding bandits that you imagine with the word pirates. According to the August 3rd ZDNet news article, these pirates are "renegade grannies".
I don't want to diminish the seriousness of the needlework copyright issue, but I do take offense to needleworkers being portrayed as a bunch of grannies. Most stitchers that I know don't fit that mold. Since my oldest child is only 8 years old, I believe I'm far from being a granny!
The August 8th Montreal Gazette was a little kinder to stitchers while outlining the copyright issue.
Most stitchers that I've associated with would not break the copyright laws on purpose. In my opinion, it's just a few people giving all stitchers a bad name.
Copyrights and Needlework
Perhaps it's a matter of education. I'm not an expert or a lawyer, but here's what I've learned in my research. It is not legal to scan or copy any needlework pattern and give it to someone else. If you want to give away the actual physical chart that you purchased, you may do so legally. You may also trade or sell that physical chart. The problem is in the copying/scanning of it.
Listed below are some sites that investigate needlework copyrights further.
Martha Beth Lewis - Copyright and Needlework
HeartBlossoms - Needlework Copyrights
About.com Needlepoint - A Consumer's Guide to Copyright (4/30/99)
Free Designs - Legally!
For those stitchers that feel they can't afford the leaflets, magazines or books of patterns, there are several designers who offer samples of their work for free. On-line shops often offer a freebie design as well.
Check out these sites for some great free patterns.
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