Ok, so you found the perfect easy knitting pattern. But does that mean you're able to use it? The thought never crossed my mind that a pattern might be copyrighted. I suppose it would probably be ok to use the pattern as long as I'm not trying to sell the end product, but I'm certainly going to keep an eye on this issue!
"I believe that the complete pattern with all the words can be copyrighted in the same way as all my other postings are copyrighted. If it’s original content that I created, and I haven’t assigned the copyright to anyone else, then I have the copyright. So the main question is, can the straightforward description of the stitches
(i.e., the “k1, p1″ bit) be copyrighted? Mark claims it can’t, because you can’t copyright the design and stitches
. A related issue is whether you can impose licensing conditions on someone making the article described in the pattern (in the case of the cushion I designed, giving attribution)."
As always, you can read the whole article here.
I think this brings up a pretty good question. When we find things in books or on the internet, I'm sure the last thing most of us think about is who owns the copyright. I realize and appreciate that someone had to work very hard to come up with a unique pattern, and while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, where does it stand legally? And if you can copyright a super complex pattern, could you also copyright even the most basic, easy knitting pattern?
Let me know what you think about copyrighting a knitting pattern.
By the way, here's a great book that really helped me get going with knitting!
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