I worked in a LYS for 11 years. Almost daily we interacted with 1 or more customers on issues of pattern copyright. [This was pre-digital pattern era.] Once a customer came in looking for a specific pattern that a store owner in Florida had given to her free with yarn purchase. She lost the pattern and came to us for a replacement. When we explained that it was not a free pattern, that we could not "give" it to her, and she would have to purchase it, she was outraged. Explanations of coyright fell on deaf ears, and she demanded over and over to be given the pattern. Many times we caught people trying to take photos of patterns instead of purchasing.
The only thing that worked [mostly] was explaing that patterns represent someone's livelihood.
copywriting, patterns, knitting has been a bug of mine. My last job in publishing was that I had to check all the art for books. I can't tell you how many snake, birds, mammals, insects pictures I reviewed. Think on the order of thousands. Sometimes people would take pictures of posters and say it was a particular bird. Yes it was the bird but the photo sent off alarm bells because it looked like a poster, photograph, it was too perfect. I did alert the powers that be, but who knows.
When someone asks me to make a copy of a pattern for them I reply that it is a paid pattern and they have to pay me so I can pay the creator. I hear "no one will know, I don't have the money you have, I don't care." For some people I have paid the designer out of my pocket, I refuse to "just print them a copy," and as I age I find that I also forget to make "their" copy. When I talk to them about copyright they simply do not want to hear it. I think to myself "you are a thief, you will not get anything from me." It also amazes me that these are the people who can go on international cruises, have the latest electronic gadgets, will not chip in for snacks or travel the world. MIND.Blown.
I have experience a lot of people demanding free this or that. They are every age and I feel like it is getting worse. Everyone wants free, but someone has to pay for your freebie. This concept is completely foreign to them. It is stealing because you think you are entitled, too poor, too rich, or just want it. Frankly it angers me greatly.
Call me naive, but I choose to believe that when people know better, they will do better. I think in most cases it's really just a matter of thoughtlessness, not maliciousness. All we can do is continue to point out that if people can't make a living designing patterns (or doing any other sort of creative work you care to name), we will soon have no more patterns.
I just read your post - we must have been on the same wavelength today. I mentioned subversivefemme.com, a seller of vintage patterns. A search yielded some best practices for those digitizing and selling vintage patterns - and cited subversivefemme.com as having a clear copyright policy statement, and as being among those whose approach is in line with best practices in this area. I also researched key things to consider for anyone thinking of digitizing and selling patterns, and found these - for anyone interested:
1. Verify Copyright Status: Research and confirm that patterns are in the public domain before reproducing or selling.
2. Keep Documentation: Record your copyright research and decisions for each pattern.
3. Respect New Digital Work: Set clear terms for your digital reproductions and watermark files to prevent unauthorized sharing.
4. Be Transparent: Clearly state your copyright policy and invite copyright holders to contact you with concerns.
5. Consult Experts if Unsure: Seek legal advice when uncertain about a pattern’s copyright status.
I think we have, courtesy of our media and consumer culture, lost an understanding of what "free" actually means. We are bombarded by advertisers telling us something is FREE. The acronym BOGO means Buy One Get One (FREE). Of course none of these things really are free, they are simply being paid for by someone else.
Along with FREE and the sense of entitlement (You DESERVE this! - SPOIL yourself!) it's no wonder we get people acting like five year olds.
In most cases, I agree with you. However, I have published knitting patterns which are always free. The difference is that I chose what to give away as a gift (such as my Warmest Regards pattern) or chalk up as a marketing expense (such as the free pattern download you get when you become a paid subscriber). When yarn companies publish free patterns, they are absorbing the cost of producing those patterns—design fees, tech editing, photography, layout—in order to entice you to buy the featured yarn.
Sandi, I agree with you. I love it when a designer offers one or more free patterns, especially if said designer is new to me, has not published many patterns, or has few or no projects knitted from a design. A free pattern allows me to get to know how the designer formats their patterns, whether they offer charts or only row instructions, do they use standard chart symbols, and how much guidance they provide on ease, gauge, and...well, you know.
Sandi, I appreciate you explaining pattern copyright. Sadly, I don’t think many people fully understand the value of another person’s labor or all the costs that go into running a business, whether the business of an employer or one’s own business. Patterns might seem cheap relative to yarn, thus inconsequential, and so some people think, “where’s the harm?” But it adds up and quickly becomes consequential to a designer’s livelihood.
By the way, I finished listening to The Matrix. I enjoyed it although I sometimes got miffed at Marie for abusing her power. But that’s usually a sign that I’m engaged, when I get angry at a character 🙂 And just as I got miffed at Marie, she at those times regretted her own pride and then I’d feel sad for her. I know Groff is very concerned about the environment so it was fascinating to hear her draw lines between people’s relationship to the environment and nature in the 12th/13th centuries to now. Thank you for recommending it to me.
Mrs. Dalloway. Gosh, it’s been ages. For my master’s in English, I wanted to write a thesis on Virginia Woolf. I was rather consumed by her when I was so much younger. At one point, I had every volume of her diaries, of her letters, every novel and collection of essays. I did try to listen to an audio of Mrs. Dalloway, years ago, but it lulled me to sleep. Have you read The Hours by Michael Cunningham, or seen the movie? I enjoyed the novel. The movies was good, too (gave me a new respect for Nicole Kidman).
I'm so glad you enjoyed Matrix. I like that Groff wrote Marie as a 3-dimensional person, with ample faults to balance her strength and nobility.
And yes, I both read The Hours and saw the movie. I don't really remember the film, but the book lives on my shelf, nestled up to my copy of Mrs Dalloway. I should pull it out and re-read it.
Most of the patterns I've seen on Etsy don't have an "author". They were published by yarn companies, probably designed by employees or designers working under contract (as I often do). Remember, before about 2000 and the easy availability of digital photography and publishing, it was rare to find designers independently publishing patterns. The patterns published by yarn companies are "works made for hire" and copyright protection extends for 95 years after the date of publication.
I worked in a LYS for 11 years. Almost daily we interacted with 1 or more customers on issues of pattern copyright. [This was pre-digital pattern era.] Once a customer came in looking for a specific pattern that a store owner in Florida had given to her free with yarn purchase. She lost the pattern and came to us for a replacement. When we explained that it was not a free pattern, that we could not "give" it to her, and she would have to purchase it, she was outraged. Explanations of coyright fell on deaf ears, and she demanded over and over to be given the pattern. Many times we caught people trying to take photos of patterns instead of purchasing.
The only thing that worked [mostly] was explaing that patterns represent someone's livelihood.
Exactly! and gently asking how they would feel if someone demanded access to their work without paying them.
Yes! We used that line also.
copywriting, patterns, knitting has been a bug of mine. My last job in publishing was that I had to check all the art for books. I can't tell you how many snake, birds, mammals, insects pictures I reviewed. Think on the order of thousands. Sometimes people would take pictures of posters and say it was a particular bird. Yes it was the bird but the photo sent off alarm bells because it looked like a poster, photograph, it was too perfect. I did alert the powers that be, but who knows.
When someone asks me to make a copy of a pattern for them I reply that it is a paid pattern and they have to pay me so I can pay the creator. I hear "no one will know, I don't have the money you have, I don't care." For some people I have paid the designer out of my pocket, I refuse to "just print them a copy," and as I age I find that I also forget to make "their" copy. When I talk to them about copyright they simply do not want to hear it. I think to myself "you are a thief, you will not get anything from me." It also amazes me that these are the people who can go on international cruises, have the latest electronic gadgets, will not chip in for snacks or travel the world. MIND.Blown.
I have experience a lot of people demanding free this or that. They are every age and I feel like it is getting worse. Everyone wants free, but someone has to pay for your freebie. This concept is completely foreign to them. It is stealing because you think you are entitled, too poor, too rich, or just want it. Frankly it angers me greatly.
Call me naive, but I choose to believe that when people know better, they will do better. I think in most cases it's really just a matter of thoughtlessness, not maliciousness. All we can do is continue to point out that if people can't make a living designing patterns (or doing any other sort of creative work you care to name), we will soon have no more patterns.
Maya Angelou: 'When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
A quote that comes to my mind. A fair amount of people understand but want free, or you to pay and share.NOPE.
I just read your post - we must have been on the same wavelength today. I mentioned subversivefemme.com, a seller of vintage patterns. A search yielded some best practices for those digitizing and selling vintage patterns - and cited subversivefemme.com as having a clear copyright policy statement, and as being among those whose approach is in line with best practices in this area. I also researched key things to consider for anyone thinking of digitizing and selling patterns, and found these - for anyone interested:
1. Verify Copyright Status: Research and confirm that patterns are in the public domain before reproducing or selling.
2. Keep Documentation: Record your copyright research and decisions for each pattern.
3. Respect New Digital Work: Set clear terms for your digital reproductions and watermark files to prevent unauthorized sharing.
4. Be Transparent: Clearly state your copyright policy and invite copyright holders to contact you with concerns.
5. Consult Experts if Unsure: Seek legal advice when uncertain about a pattern’s copyright status.
Great post as always, Sandi!
Thank you for this.
I think we have, courtesy of our media and consumer culture, lost an understanding of what "free" actually means. We are bombarded by advertisers telling us something is FREE. The acronym BOGO means Buy One Get One (FREE). Of course none of these things really are free, they are simply being paid for by someone else.
Along with FREE and the sense of entitlement (You DESERVE this! - SPOIL yourself!) it's no wonder we get people acting like five year olds.
In most cases, I agree with you. However, I have published knitting patterns which are always free. The difference is that I chose what to give away as a gift (such as my Warmest Regards pattern) or chalk up as a marketing expense (such as the free pattern download you get when you become a paid subscriber). When yarn companies publish free patterns, they are absorbing the cost of producing those patterns—design fees, tech editing, photography, layout—in order to entice you to buy the featured yarn.
Sandi, I agree with you. I love it when a designer offers one or more free patterns, especially if said designer is new to me, has not published many patterns, or has few or no projects knitted from a design. A free pattern allows me to get to know how the designer formats their patterns, whether they offer charts or only row instructions, do they use standard chart symbols, and how much guidance they provide on ease, gauge, and...well, you know.
Sandi, I appreciate you explaining pattern copyright. Sadly, I don’t think many people fully understand the value of another person’s labor or all the costs that go into running a business, whether the business of an employer or one’s own business. Patterns might seem cheap relative to yarn, thus inconsequential, and so some people think, “where’s the harm?” But it adds up and quickly becomes consequential to a designer’s livelihood.
By the way, I finished listening to The Matrix. I enjoyed it although I sometimes got miffed at Marie for abusing her power. But that’s usually a sign that I’m engaged, when I get angry at a character 🙂 And just as I got miffed at Marie, she at those times regretted her own pride and then I’d feel sad for her. I know Groff is very concerned about the environment so it was fascinating to hear her draw lines between people’s relationship to the environment and nature in the 12th/13th centuries to now. Thank you for recommending it to me.
Mrs. Dalloway. Gosh, it’s been ages. For my master’s in English, I wanted to write a thesis on Virginia Woolf. I was rather consumed by her when I was so much younger. At one point, I had every volume of her diaries, of her letters, every novel and collection of essays. I did try to listen to an audio of Mrs. Dalloway, years ago, but it lulled me to sleep. Have you read The Hours by Michael Cunningham, or seen the movie? I enjoyed the novel. The movies was good, too (gave me a new respect for Nicole Kidman).
I'm so glad you enjoyed Matrix. I like that Groff wrote Marie as a 3-dimensional person, with ample faults to balance her strength and nobility.
And yes, I both read The Hours and saw the movie. I don't really remember the film, but the book lives on my shelf, nestled up to my copy of Mrs Dalloway. I should pull it out and re-read it.
The ones on Etsy probably don’t meet that criteria, but copyright on knitting patterns do expire. In the U.S., it’s 70 years after the author dies.
Most of the patterns I've seen on Etsy don't have an "author". They were published by yarn companies, probably designed by employees or designers working under contract (as I often do). Remember, before about 2000 and the easy availability of digital photography and publishing, it was rare to find designers independently publishing patterns. The patterns published by yarn companies are "works made for hire" and copyright protection extends for 95 years after the date of publication.
Interesting. I would think the yarn company is considered the author in those cases but there’s always a fine line 🙂