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Our recent series of articles on copyright law generated a number of questions. Here are two of the ones most commonly asked.
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You Asked For It
When traditional blocks are published in a recent book or magazine, are they copyrighted again because they have been republished?
Lizelot van Balgooy, Upland, California
Once a design enters the public domain, it cannot be copyrighted again. It enters the public domain through the passage of time and expiration of the copyright. Traditional quilt patterns dating before the 1930s are available now for anyone's use.
Confusion arises with copyrights claimed on published patterns that are based on a traditional block design. In that case, it is not the design that is copyrighted, but the text of the pattern and any new design elements which may have been used in the quilt, such as an original border or quilting design. The traditional design remains in the public domain.
So, the book or magazine publisher may freely print the block, and the quilter may make as many copies of the block as she wants for sale, exhibit, or teaching samples. She can publish her own pattern of the same design. She just can't photocopy the pages of the book or pattern, or copy the words as her own.
–––Janet Jo Smith attorney and QN editor
Can a quilt guild use a copyrighted pattern to make a raffle quilt? What if they make some changes in the design or colors?
Joan Unger, Spring Hill, Florida
We had many letters asking this and similiar questions. The confusion stems from the non-profit status many guilds have, and whether that exempts them from copyright law. However, the law applies to all entities, human or corporate, for profit or not.
The first question when deciding if permission is necessary is whether the design is one that is subject to copyright protection, or is it in the public domain? If it is protected, the copyright holder must give permission before any of her exclusive rights are exercised by someone else.
Raffle quilts are usually displayed publically to encourage the sale of tickets. This violates the exclusive right of public display. It is also a violation to make a copy quilt without permission from the designer, whatever the use of the copy. To make money from the work of another without their consent compounds the violation, even when the proceeds are used for charity.
As discussed in QN No. 303, changes made to a design must be great enough that the second quilt differs substantially from the original. A good rule of thumb is, would a viewer naturally think, "That looks like a quilt by Jane Doe"? If so, the changes are not substantial enough to take it out of the copyright of the original designer.
–––Janet Jo Smith attorney and QN editor
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