An Update On Knitting Pattern Copyrights
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The comments after my post about quick knitting patterns were great because they highlighted an issue that most knitters who sell their work will face, whether you can use a someone else’s knitting patterns to make knitted products to sell (even if the knitting pattern is free). So I’ve done a bit of research on copyright and how it applies to knitting and crochet…
Copyright is a form of legal protection for creators of original works (whether literary, artistic, dramatic or musical) which ensures they are credited (and/or paid) for that work for a certain period of time. This includes original knitting and crochet patterns.
Copyright laws were created because there needed to be a balance between sharing ideas and information, and making sure that the original creators of those ideas are credited for them. Without copyright laws, people may be much less willing to share their ideas for fear that others could use their creation to make money, with no credit or reward to them for their inspiration. But sometimes copyright works against the author, with people unwilling to use an idea or inspiration for fear of infringing copyright, and so the work is never widely known.
When you find a knitting pattern, whether it is in a published book or free on the internet, it is automatically subject to copyright laws, which are in essence the same around the world. If it says "All rights reserved", that means you basically can’t do anything but knit it for yourself or perhaps as a gift. If it just says copyright or says nothing at all, then the best course of action is to contact the designer and ask.
Obviously, you can’t just change a couple of stitches and claim a design as your own, but you can use the ideas and techniques in a pattern to create your own designs. Exactly how much different it needs to be to not infringe copyright is like asking "how long is a piece of yarn?". A lot of it is down to common sense and courtesy really – if you’re not sure, just ask the designer. The knitting world is generally a friendly and sharing community, and every author can decide what you are allowed to do with their patterns. If you ask, most are quite happy to at least discuss it.
There are also patterns available that are in the "public domain". This means that their copyright term has ended, and you are completely free to use them, reproduce them, modify them and resell them as you wish. Generally these are vintage knitting patterns published before 1963 (this is for the US, and providing their copyright has not been renewed).
These days there is a big swing towards "free licence", which means many people are putting their original ideas and works out into the world happy for people to use them as long as they credit them as the original creator. I really like this model because it encourages sharing and collaboration, which is something that sits very well with the knitting community spirit.
If you are a designer, it is also a great way to get your patterns known by lots of people, because they will be more willing to share and recommend them. You are also likely to make more sales worldwide with this model because it opens up whole new markets – especially people who want to make money from knitting and need unique patterns that they can sell from!
And when you think about it, the actual knitting pattern is really only part of the creative process of the finished knitted product. The knitter will choose the colours and yarns and fix mistakes or make small alterations to a pattern. So every finished piece will probably be a bit different from the original design!
If you have patterns that you are happy for people to sell the finished work from, feel free to post your web address and details in the comments section below and get some free traffic! Or if you have any comments or other information about copyright of knitting patterns, please post a reply and let us all know.
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Categories: Knitting Patterns, Make Money Knitting
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18 Responses so far
May 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Now here’s the law as I understand it:
Copyright applies to MAKING A COPY – for example, making a photocopy of a book. Or scanning it, or copying it by handwriting (which, incidentally, is expressly allowed for all books under German copyright law).
But when I am knitting a sweater according to a published pattern, I’m NOT making a copy of this pattern. I’m executing instructions to make something. Instructions that were published so that other people could make the item in question. I have paid money to get these instructions, I’ve paid money to get the yarn, and I’ve spent lots of my time to make the item – so I really don’t see why the item should not be mine to do with as I please – whether that’s wearing it, ripping it, giving it away or selling it. To me it looks as if designers/publishers wanted to sell their patterns and keep them!
On the other hand, when I am copying a sweater I’ve seen in a shop window, then I am infringing at least French copyright law, because under French law clothing is expressly included in copyright legislation and in this case the sweater designer did not want me to make that sweater (she did not publish the pattern) but to buy it. (And incidentally, counterfeiting is a pretty serious issue in France – there’s a designer of in-handbags who makes probably as much money by sueing copyists than by selling his own bags).
On the other hand, under U.S. legislation, useful articles cannot be copyrighted. I suppose we could argue that clothing – i. e. most knitting – is useful. In Germany it’s similar: Copyright protects literary, artistic and scientific works – the pattern BOOK is protected (as a literary work), the ITEM made from the pattern probably not – unless the judge considers it a work of art.
Now obviously I can be completely wrong in my interpretation of the various COPYRIGHT laws, but that’s what I’d tell my lawyer if I ever found one who’s knowledgeable in the question. And I’d really like to know which laws the publishers you contacted based their interdiction on – I believe there are possibilities along the lines of trademarks, or registering a design, and possibly some I’ve never heard of…
May 12th, 2009 at 7:48 am
I looked into this subject some years ago now in the UK. I was told that the pattern itself, ie., the page of instructions were copyright protected and could not be reproduced and distributed, but, if you used a different colour of yarn,different make of yarn, or even just changed a couple of stitches, then the garment was not protected.
May 13th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Both great points, and shows how copyrights get tricky when it comes to knitting and crochet patterns. According to my sources, the copyright does apply to the product created from a pattern because that is what the designer has created – not just some instructions on a page, but the actual design of the finished product (the instructions are just the method used to show you how to recreate it).
I think it all comes down to common sense and decency, many people make their living from designing, just like you may want to make some money from knitting their pattern, it’s fair that they are acknowledged.
If you are going to use someone’s pattern for anything other than private use, contact them and start a conversation. Let them know what you intend to do, they may have some patterns that they are happy for you to use, or they may even design something especially for your niche, you may end up finding some great new opportunities together!
May 13th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I am a designer of patterns, both knit and crochet.. and while many pattern designers will say you can only use their patterns for personal use, and not profit, I am the total opposite!
I tell my buyers, to please feel free to sell their finished items anywhere they please!
And I am happy to see them reproduced (not the patterns, of course, but the finished items.
On my site on etsy, I also have 4 free patterns which are available right in the listing. They show that you don’t have to be a talented crocheter or knitter to produce cute things, that take very little time to complete. And that is my total purpose in designing a pattern, I try to produce an item that is so simple, than even a young person could do it! And I include lots and lots of pictures so that even without the written instructions, they might be able to figure it out,.. but with the written instructions along with pictures, if you don’t understand one, then you usually understand the other! Or at least it puts a light on things!
I have been designing and knitting and crocheting for years, and I don’t like a complicated pattern myself. Some of my neckwarmer/cowl patterns can be made up in 20 minutes!! That’s my kind of project… cause after all, we all have so much to do… so little time.. and that includes me. (But I always have one requirement when I design a pattern… I want the cuteness factor.)
Check out my patterns, and see 4 cute things you can make for free on my site at
http://www.Hectanooga.etsy.com.
May 14th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Thank you, M.E.! Seems you have understood what the publishers have not grasped: The people who buy knitted items are not knitters themselves and so wouldn’t buy the pattern anyway. Meaning, neither the designer nor the publisher loses a cent when a knitter sells an item they knitted from their pattern.
However, the publishers of the 1-skein books (and other pattern books) have lost me as a customer because of the copyright discussion (which crops up every now and then on every crafts-related website and it’s years since I’ve first been aware of the issue). Otherwise I might easily have spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on pattern books before finding out that I hate following patterns…
May 14th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Yes Klara, patterns just set my mind into a jumble!!! Especially the ones with abbreviations, it’s like hiroglyphics!! You read the line, and you wonder, “what the heck does that mean?” and so you go back and back, and then the frustration starts to build up.. and the wonderful, therapeutic, and meditative activity of knitting and crochet, become an irritation. And that is part of the reason unfinished projects remain in the depths of everyone’s knitting stash.
(I found one myself from 25 years ago the other day, at the back of my closet, in a large box of small balls of yarn. Hmmm, poor thing,.. it never made it to fruition… and it did have possiblities, it was a black sweater, with several blocks of wonderful colors, like fuschia, royal blue, and red, on the front. Ah well, I took it apart, and put the balls into a bin for some future use!
I want people to love knitting and crochet as much as I do.. so my patterns aim to be simple, easy, quick, and made for people to be able to make a profit from them. Because that is the final gratification… that you loved making it.. and someone else loves to have it,,, and then wants more and more from you! And my mind is full of patterns, so I think my purpose is to supply the whole world with wonderful patterns, so others will fill the world with pretties.
I have sold patterns to people in Australia, France, Holland, Portugal, and the U.K. And I love that they can make an item designed by someone across the world, and they can make it the same day, by just a click of the computer by email! I send them the PDF file, and the same day, they have clear pictures, as well as written instructions for something they would not have had access to before computers!
Oh,… well…. I shouldn’t go on and on! (Sorry about the length.)
Keep checking my site at http://www.Hectanooga.etsy.com, as I will be adding new FREE patterns, and I am always adding new patterns, as soon as I finish the tedious task of taking step by step photos, and then different poses of the finished projects, and then creating the PDF files.
Here is a little creative thing you can do with your computer. Has nothing to do with knitting or crochet…. it’s just a cute little fish: < Enjoy!
Emi
May 17th, 2009 at 11:31 am
hi liz i have been a fan of your blogg site and find it a great source of information. i of course affilliated with you through all my ususal haunts and even advertise you in the above mentioned web page. i think your a great inspiration to us women and men out there. keep up the articles as i like to be able to have a one stop shop. fran.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:53 am
Hi Fran, thanks so much for your comment – I’m so glad you find the information helpful and really appreciate your feedback! Yay for working at home!
June 1st, 2009 at 2:12 am
Seems to me we are all guilty of breaking copyright laws.After all we all Knit 1 Purl 1 slip 1 make 1 ect ect to create what ever it is we are working on.
We all own reference books to refer to when wanting a cable a trim or just a refresh on a stitch or technique we want to use,so although we are not using the same pattern form start to finish form a pattern book we are still using parts of what someone else has already created.
June 20th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I was to confused about copyright laws. Liz has made me see that I might like to go into the creative sharing. I design and had been afraid to publish without a publisher. Now I think I might be brave enough to try publishing myself. I design items that are crocheted out of recycled items. Including tambour on screen. Hope to set up a web site I still dont know how to do that but I am trying to get a store set up on makeminepink so this ought to be fun!
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:55 am
Hi
My Question is
What do you do when you buy a pattern from a knitting designer ,
only find the pattern is wrong
I purchased a pattern and the whole thing is wrong.
I have had to use bigger needles thicker yarn and change the way you increase so it will fit my doll.
the same size as the pattern
Is this then my own pattern?as i have had to change so many things.
Thank you for your time
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:03 am
Hi again sorry forgot to ask
how do you become a knitting pattern designer?
without coping some one else?
many thanks for any information you can give me.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
Hi Phillipa, thanks for your question – it’s a very tricky area and a difficult one to answer! I’m not a lawyer and I haven’t seen your pattern or the original so I can’t give you a “yes”or “no” answer. It is true that if you do enough changes to a pattern you can claim it as your own work, but I’m not sure what the exact percentages are that you need to change to make it different enough. There seems to be a “common sense” element to copyright – if it’s obvious that your pattern is a copy and you are trying to make money by riding on the popularity or reputation of the original, then the original creator may ask you to stop (an example is recognisable brands like “Thomas the Tank Engine” or “Harry Potter”). But a lot of needle work uses the same stitches and patterns, they are all built from the same blocks so to speak. If you become a designer, you will be putting those stitches, patterns, yarns, colours and techniques together in a unique and original way so the design is then yours. Hope this helps!
December 29th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Hi,
I have recently bought loads of knitting patterns that I wanted to knit up and sell. How do I find out if the patterns are protected by copyright or are in the public domain please?
Thanks.
January 6th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
"According to my sources, the copyright does apply to the product created from a pattern because that is what the designer has created…"
Both my undergraduate and master's degrees heavily emphasized copyright so I'm always interested to read how others interpret the law in areas such as this. I've yet to hear that a pattern copyright can claim to OWN item that was made from the purchased pattern (particularly if it's a useful item such as clothing). You're absolutely correct that copyright is tricky. With that in mind, would you mind citing your sources (or the exact copyright codes) here for those of us attempting to assess the authority of the information and read the exact sections of law being discussed?
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CopyrightLaw/Patterns.shtml
-KS
January 15th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Hi KS,
An interesting question – my sources were online lawyers and advisors, and since going back to them the advice has changed. This is a very contentious issue it seems and no-one wants to stick their neck out! If you have more information for us, please feel free to add! Actually I believe the real issue is not necessarily the copyright, but whether it is even possible to enforce it in any meaningful way (unless you are a corporation with money to throw at legal expenses)
January 15th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Hi Natasha, the easiest way is to contact the owner or publisher of the patterns and ask – many are OK with you knitting up and selling the items, they just don’t want you reproducing the printed pattern and re-selling that, but it’s always best to ask.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:00 am
I have on my web site two letters from the Register of Copyrights that state patterns are generally not copyrightable. And even if they were, the Supreme Court ruled over 120 years ago that a dress made from a pattern was not covered by any possible copyright the pattern might have.
While patterns are generally not copyrightable, one could possibly still be prosecuted under common law for copying and selling the pattern as their own.
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