DKY Knitters Forum.

There has been a lot of talk on other forums about copyrite. When people ask me for copies I refuse telling them that if we all copied patterns there would never be any new ones as it would not be worth anyone's time to design anything. I am not a goody-goody person but I am no good at design and rely on the talents of these people.

I am off my soap-box now

I do agree with you, but what about discontinued items?

I guess that would different if the pattern was no longer available.
What does anyone else think

If a pattern has been discontinued, or out of print, the copyright laws still stand. I believe the time limit is 70 years at the moment. You can usually sell the original but are not allowed to copy in any format - so called "Vintage" Patterns published after 1937 would still be copyrighted.

It also appears that selling the items you make from the pattern would also be illegal unless the designer has agreed.

We will contact Alan Dart and Jean Greenhowe to see where they stand on this issue - they are the patterns most often sold for profit or for charity.

70 years - WOW.

Alot of people online who publish patterns (myself included) stipulate that selling the free patterns is not permitted but that people can do whatever with the finished projects.

It's great when designers actually stipulate on the patterns exactly what can be done with them. There is a lot of misconceptions about what is allowed. Many people believe that if they have brought the pattern they can do what they like with it, but what they are actually buying is the right to make it - not to sell it or copy it.

Alan Dart has come back very quickly (as he always does) on this. As far as he is concerned copying the pattern in any way is against the law. As for selling the finished items - he is happy for the amateur knitter to make a bit of pocket money and is behind anyone who knits for charity. However he would draw the line at a large manufacturer using his designs for profit. He does point out on his website that anyone wishing to do this for designs that are not his own (such as TV or book characters) should contact the original character designer to get permission.

Of course Alan does not speak for all designers and you should get their written permission before selling any of their designs. This includes selling Garments made from pattern leaflets from major manufacturers such as Sirdar, Stylecraft etc and 'free' patterns from magazines.

When we hear back from Jean Greenhowe I will post their reply too.

I can see the point of all this but I do think that any designer who objects to items knitted by us being sold for charities is being a bit mean.

I know from other threads on here that a lot of us knit for charity but we are not all designers.

Nice to know that Alan Dart agrees.

Janet

I think most designers are fine with making for charities. But it would be against the law unless you check first.

Graeme at Jean Greenhowe Designs has come back to me and has pointed out that there is a Copyright Notice at the bottom of the inside back page of all of their booklets which states they are not to be made or sold for profit.

This will come as a blow to a lot of people who do this at the moment.

However he does say that they do allow their dolls and toys to be made and sold on a small scale to raise funds for charity where all of the proceeds do go to the charity concerned.

I guess they are expecting us to make things only for ourselves or to give away as presents - bit harsh on people who can't knit as all they can do is hope someone will knit them one for nothing. Guess we should be encouraging people to knit if they want a knitted toy

Nice to have it cleared up anyway. Have done a few for charity at my quilt guild and our charity table proceeds ALL go to our specified charity of the year. My conscience is clear