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10/31/2004 2:34:44 PM
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Libby
Posts 7209
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if i sell something for profit it does it have to be of my own design or can I use stuff that has already been published? Just wondering as I am seriously thinking of selling my stuff.
Libby
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10/31/2004 3:59:15 PM
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Calamintha
Posts 563
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It`s my understanding that if you intend to sell the item that you need to obtain permission from the copyright holder if you use someone else`s pattern otherwise the copyright holder can sue you for damages. Things that you make for gifts are exempt. There is a Copyright FAQ for Knitters here: http://www.geocities.com/jbtocker/copyright/
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10/31/2004 10:02:49 PM
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Alice Trueman
Posts 1784
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Hi Libby
You need to be very careful, selling an item using someone else`s pattern is in a small way stealing that pattern. Traditional shapes are so generic that nobody owns the patterns, but as soon as someone publishes a traditional pattern with a specific motif, then that designer owns the pattern for that garment. Copying one pattern from an obscure designer who publishes one pattern very two or three years doesn`t sound like much, but if some entrepeneur takes a pattern by Kaffe Fassett or Alice Starmore and has a hundred knitters in Asia knock off even just one garment each, it`s the same crime, just more of it. Patterns = income = livelihood for many designers.
The solution is to contact the designer. For a small fee, you may receive permission to make a certain number of garments for sale. Get that permission in writing. It`s also good to include a short statement crediting the designer on a hang-tag on the garment.
When I occasionally post a pattern here, it`s one I`ve made up, and people are free to try it out for themselves - but, if someone wanted to sell items made from it, I`d want to be consulted. I probably wouldn`t charge anything, because `things to do with knitting` are not my principal source of income, but it would be good to have "Knitted from a design by - - - " on the tag or label.
The patterns I give to the knitters for the sweaters for the North, that are not my own, are ones people have given me permission to use for this purpose. Some people are very generous.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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11/1/2004 5:05:34 AM
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patw
Posts 2826
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Alice,
A number of years ago I used to knit for various people sent to me by a LYS. I always thought of it as being the same as a seamstress or tailor. The customer buys the patten and yarn and I charge for the labor of knitting it up. I didn`t think I needed to pay a commission to the designer in that case. But here if I intrepret this right, you are talking about knitting up a lot of items for sale at large to the public? I would appreciate your thoughts.
patw
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11/1/2004 6:41:53 AM
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Alice Trueman
Posts 1784
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Yes, if you provide the labour and the customer buys the pattern and the yarn, that`s one pattern purchased for one garment for one specific person, which is the intent of the designer. BUT if you then went ahead and knitted six more from that pattern on spec, and sold them, then, in my lay (not lawyer)opinion, that`s breaking the copyright law.
Here`s another example. In Canada, there`s a "right copy" law which allows people to make single photocopies of journal articles for their own use for educational purposes. Last year when I was doing my grad coursework, I did much, much more photocopying than I ever did when I was teaching. Reason, it`s legal for each person in a seminar group to make one copy for his own use of the articles under discussion, but the department/university cannot print up coursepacks to sell to a class, even if it is only recovering costs, without paying for the rights to so do.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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11/1/2004 9:08:24 AM
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patw
Posts 2826
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Alice,thank you for the clarification. At one time, I had toyed with the idea of offering my services to a very posh clothing store to knit up Adrienne Vittadini kits for the women who could afford the cost of the yarn and the labour. But then I realized that knitting for this type of clientele can be hazardous to one`s health. Luckily I came to my senses!
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