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© 2009 Created by Bead Lovers Network on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
A community of bead fanatics sharing their love of beads!
© 2009 Created by Bead Lovers Network on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
Comment Wall (7 comments)
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Taking the directions and running copies off on a copier is copyright infringement. So is taking a free tutorial that is copyrighted and putting it on your website--something a site in France did with my Cellini Spiral tutorial. It was reproduced in total, except for the copyright language at the bottom. Nice. I asked the webmaster to take it down, and although I was polite about it, I was fuming.
Write the pattern with nothing in front of you, and you break no copyright. Do not copy instructions, use someone else's pictures or illustrations, and you're good.
The bracelet is one-drop peyote. A stitch cannot be copyrighted, as it is an idea. And the stitch has been around for ages. They are four colors of beads. The technique to make the flag wave is also one that's well known in the beading world. Colors of beads can't be copyrighted, and neither can techniques.
If you have read as many beading books as I have, you would know that instructions for doing the same type of work are published many times. However , each author has written the instructions in his/her own words, and used his/hers illustrations and pictures.
That being said, taking someone else's design, changing the colors, and then writing up the instructions, borders on breaking the law. It's certainly won't endear you to anyone.
Dixie is been selling her pattern for years. She also sells the pattern for matching pair of earrings. To my knowledge, no one has stepped up and said that she's taken anything away from a designer.
Certainly the matching pair of earrings is a design that is entirely Dixie's. What you would have to do, Marie, if you're writing up the pattern is make sure that you are not copying anything from somebody else, and be sure that you are expressing an idea or explaining a technique in your own original way.
There's nothing new under the sun. Certainly when it comes to beading, which is such an old art, nothing is really new. What's protected under copyright law is your writing, your pictures, your illustrations, and your own unique away of teaching others how to bead.
If you are getting into this professionally the best thing to do is consult with a lawyer.