If you find a pattern that has rules do not buy that pattern. It's easy to spot. Read what all you can't do with the pattern and what you can't do once you made an item from the pattern. The rules will be right next to the copyright law. Never break the copyright law. Rules are expectations.

A designer cannot make up copyright law by publishing "rules" on their patterns. Laws are written by our elected officials, not individuals with a pen.

It's enough for me to send a pattern back, though. I'm not willing to spend my money with someone who tries to run such a stupid racket on me.

bkay

I design most of my quilts on graph paper, it's part of the fun for me. I may be inspired, and often am, by a quilt I see that someone else has made, but I also tend to make a few changes to make it my own. I will also often see a quilt similar to one I've designed later on, to just show that even when I think I've been original, the idea has been around. When someone likes one of my quilts enough to want to copy it, I am flattered and happy to share how I did it. If they give me credit, I'm even more pleased, and if not, I'm still happy they liked my quilt that much!!

i do not think this is accurate.
posting most likely grants unlimited license to the folks who own and run Pinterest but it does not constitute complete surrender of copyrights.

this was my thought also

It has to be true, I read it on the internet. :thumbup:

bkay

I don't do much on Pinterest as I read their Terms of Service. # 3 Your Content, Section B[h=2]b. How Pinterest and other users can use your content[/h]

to some of us, no, it's not rocket science to look at a quilt and figure out how to copy it. but however we copy, close inspection will find where the original & the copy differ. that area of "differ" is what, to my understanding of this frequently discussed and printed issue of copyright, is where the copier is not guilty of copyright infringement. also, there is at least one site i've found that gives all the instructions needed to do the heart thing with the storm at sea pattern. simple printed page of storm at sea quilt and color in the shapes you wish to create. unless specifically stated on someones page or pattern that they've "copyrighted" their pattern/block, quilt blocks are in the public domain. in the 90's there was a quilt designer, jeffery gutcheon, who started copyrighting common quilt blocks. one, deck of cards, or something like that, really stirred up a lot of controversy in the quilting community. nobody owns the copyright to quilt blocks. most have been in use & shared, passed around since beginning of 1900's.

this is not accurate.
if somebody designs a legitimately brand new, unique block that is 100% original (not a derivative) then they can claim copyrights to the design as intellectual property.

the confusion about that stems from the fact that so many people play with/modify blocks designed by somebody else (usually blocks in the public domain) and then mistakenly believe they can claim copyrights to the result.

Re: color placement.. would this be like quilting with a kit where fabrics are predetermined? And instead of purchasing the whole kit, the savvy quilter buys the same or similar fabric and figures out the construction? And in the case of the latter, would that be considered problematic?