Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A word on Copyrights

Copyright Law is a very complex field, and I am not a lawyer.  Coming from a background first as a University brat and now the wife of a professor (and I also work at a major University), I am very conscious of properly attributing credit where credit is due.  We live by the Honor Code in our household and in our lives.

For the most part, pictures shown on this blog are my intellectual property. And even if I don't take the time to watermark a photo, that doesn't make it less protected.

The exception to this will be pictures from the Quilter's Academy series of the completed quilts.  Because I feel that it will make my blog more colorful and informative, I wrote to Harriet and Carrie on Sunday, August 1st in order to request permission to use pictures from the book. Within hours, I received a gracious note from Harriet allowing me to put the pictures on my blog.    Any time I use one of the Academy Quilt pictures, I will cite my source.

In the September/October issue of McCall's Quilting magazine, they address copyright in relation to quilters.  There is also a wealth of information on the web, so no need for me to repeat it here - but I am going to provide a few links.

  • Copyright FAQ: http://www.quilt.com/FAQS/CopyrightFAQ.html (Quiz is based on Australian law)
  • e-Quilters FAQ: http://www.straw.com/equilters/library/quilt_issues/quilt_copyright.html (the second page has several excellent links)
  • Lost Quilt Come Home: Copyright your quilt:  http://www.lostquilt.com/CopyrightYourQuilt.html
  • Lost Quilt Come Home: Copyright Infringement: http://lostquilt.com/index.php/protecting-quilts/copyright-infringement/

The bottom line for me is this:  if it is not your original idea/original work - then give credit to the original designer and everyone wins.

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