Re: 3 quilt patterns


"Pati C." <Pati@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:g2iaoh$hl5$1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Brian, copyright is a very complex issue. Basically any wordage can be
copyrighted, along with the specific diagrams/illustrations/photos. An
original design can also be copyrighted as well as an original
interpretation/combination/layout/etc. of "traditional" blocks.
A technique cannot be copyrighted, but the specific instructions, written
out, for that technique is copyrightable. <G>
While many people have similar instructions for how to do something, the
fact is that writing instructions is a "creative" endeavor. And that is
what is copyrightable. Even "derivative" works are covered by copyright.
If someone looks at an item and can say "That looks like one of (fill in
the blank with a name) pieces." and it was influenced or created with the
help of a pattern/book/previous exposure to the original designer's works
then there may be grounds for copyright violation.
And yes, lists can be copyrighted. <VBG> DH was just telling me of a case
that went as far as the Supreme Court dealing with copyright of the phone
book.... a very long and specific list. <VBG>
One of the keys to copyright is whether or not something is a product of
intellectual and/or creative work. And it gets even more complex. <G>
So let's all just agree that if you see it in print, including on the web,
it is copyrighted. Any action that might deprive the designer of income or
???? is a no-no. <G>

Don't want to heat anyone up, but copyright is a critical point in this
household, in a number of ways. <VBG>

Pati, in Phx


I looked up this court case and read the actual court decision, and didn't
really understand all the legalese, but the site that linked to it said the
following: "Here an unanimous Supreme Court held that the alphabetical
listing of names in the white pages of the phone book was not subject to
copyright because it was an unoriginal selection and arrangement of mere
facts, the names, addresses and phone number or everyone in a certain
geographical location. "

A few years ago, I was messing around with the openoffice.org drawing
program, and drew a 8-inch square, then made a triangle connecting points in
three of the sides to inscribe a triangle in this, then inscribed a second
triangle in the first, making what I called a "triangle in a square." Even
if I could prove that I was the first to come up with this idea, which is
highly unlikely, and impossible to prove, , I really don't see what is
copyrightable.

The shapes involved are square and triangle, both of which have been around
long enough to be considered public domain. As for the pattern being
original, it isn't remotely original, it is just a minor variant on the
established pattern "square in a square."

I think the same 2 basic things can be said of the patterns from the OP.
They consist of rectangles and squares, both of which are most certainly in
the public domain. The pattern itself, as far as I can tell, is just a
minor variation on a fence rail pattern.

If I wrote instructions of how to make my "triangle in a square" and how to
put it together into a quilt, and you wrote instructions to make, it might
differ in formatting or something like that, but I really don't see how they
could differ in any truly significant way, so I don't see what can be
copyrighted here.

Perhaps a name such as "Brian's triange in a square" could be trademarked,
but trademark and copyright as 2 different things.

Brian Christiansen


.

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