Copyright and Crafters

Posted by Michelle Dompierre Southern Aug 2, 2006

Copyright among crafters is a hot issue right now: quilters especially seem to be interested in finding out how to protect themselves and their work from being used inappropriately or flat-out stolen.

Just as you can't take someone's article and claim it as your own, or use photographs or images without the owner's permission, crafters must be aware of what copyright is.

You can't buy a pattern, copy it, and sell it as your own design. You can't take graphics or images from printed fabric and sell them (although you can if you're only doing so for your own use). You can't take a pattern, make copies of it, and give or sell those copies.

Just as copyright is a huge issue in the music industry, professional needle artists have a huge interest in protecting their rights. Have you come across any copyright infringements online? Or have you ever had someone steal your work? Tell me about it so we can spread the word about what's right and what's wrong to crafters throughout the world.